8 Ways to Build Collaborative Teams

8 Ways to Build Collaborative Teams.
By: Gratton, Lynda, Erickson, Tamara J.,
Harvard Business Review,
Nov 2007, Vol. 85, Issue 11

Executive Support

Investing in signature relationship practices
Modeling collaborative behavior
Creating a "gift culture


Focused HR Practices

Ensuring the requisite skills
Supporting a sense of community

The Right Team Leaders

Assigning leaders who are both task- and relationship-oriented

Team Formation and Structure

Building on heritage relationships
Understanding role clarity and task ambiguity












Lynda Gratton (lgratton@london.edu) is a professor of management practice at London Business School and a senior fellow at the Advanced Institute of Management. She is the author of Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy - and Others Don't (Berrett-Koehler, 2007). Tamara J. Erickson (tjerickson@concoursgroup.com) is the president of the Concours Institute, the research and education arm of BSG Alliance. She is based in Boston and is a coauthor of several articles for HBR, including the McKinsey Award winner "It's Time to Retire Retirement" (March 2004).