5 Benefits of extreme collaboration

I was recently part of a team that deliberately took a very different approach from the norm to completing a project. The project goal was big and running it conventionally wouldn't get it complete in the time needed. The idea was to build a fully working MVP in a week. The scope was big and we weren't sure if this could be complete in the time we had given ourselves so to get it done we had to work in a way that was completely different to how people had worked in the past. We needed to move the team out of the comfort zone and build collaboration into the heart of the project. After completing the project (the team managed to get a fully working MVP in a week which was tested with customers and it worked) I had learnt more than just how to complete the MVP in a week; here are the top five lessons I learnt from working differently.

1. The Power Of Collaboration!

Working with people from different backgrounds and different perspectives was a huge positive. It was great to see how different people approached tasks from entirely different angles - it opened the way for the team to work through issues quickly and together. Small groups formed as problems arose and then dispersed as the problems were solved. It was great to see this happening organically without the traditional 'let's have a meeting about that' type of mentality.

2. Look With A New Perspective

Doing things 'as they have always been done' isn't always the best way, sometimes when a project or piece of work comes up we look at it and think of the ways we have done it before and do it that way. During this project, we took a step back and looked at the different possibilities, it wasn't the 'this is what we normally do' approach and that opened the door for a better end product. The whole feel to this project was different, it was purposefully in a different location; it was working differently and with teams who don't normally sit together and it allowed the individuals in the team to explore new ways of working and experimenting. It was like the team had the freedom to move away from the 'but we always do it that way' mentality and the project benefited from it, massively!

3. Learn From Others

Working in new ways with new people created an environment where the team could learn from each other. Ideas, problems and solutions were discussed openly and were encouraged. This was a new way of working and it felt like people were ok with not knowing the answer immediately as it allowed the team to have open conversations and explore solutions; the team were encouraging each other to learn.  

4. There Isn't Just One Way To Do Something

Doing the project differently opened up a world of doing things differently, showing there’s more than one way to do something. The snowball effect of 'doing something differently' helped show more opportunities and the open discussions meant each team member could propose a solution based on their expertise, which often then evolved based on input from different team members. This way of working stopped one person bulldozing the project with 'this is the way we will do it and no other way will work'.  

5. Unity In Fast Paced Collaborative Work

Working to a tight deadline and with an uncertain scope of work can bring the team closer together. The team were invested in the outcome and wanted to get the project finished in time. This sounds like an obvious one but having the shared vision about the project meant the most important tasks were done first. We used a scrum board that was in clear view for everyone to see. Having all of the work clearly visible in priority order was a huge help! The tight deadline helped get the work done quickly, the team time boxed possible solution ideas, if something overran the timebox it was quickly talked about and either took a new direction or some help came from the group. There wasn't time for solutions that weren't working or 'busy' work. Each day counted and the team wanted to have something to show at the end of the week.

Working in a purposefully different way, with a tight deadline was a great experience. The project benefited from it and on reflection, I learnt a lot in the process. Have you had any experiences with purposefully working differently and mixing things up? Let me know how you got on and if you had any different experiences.