How to Build Incredible Collaborative Relationships at Work with Deb Mashek
Dec 3, 2024
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In this engaging conversation, Dr. Deb Mashek, a social psychologist and author of "Collabor(h)ate," discusses how to foster incredible collaborative relationships at work. She breaks down her Mashek Matrix, explaining its two dimensions that impact teamwork. Deb highlights the significance of the Big Five personality traits in workplace dynamics and offers practical strategies to enhance relationship quality. With a focus on self-expansion theory and the balance of formal vs. informal interactions, she emphasizes the essential investment in relationships for meaningful collaboration.
Deb Mashek emphasizes that effective collaboration requires a shared understanding of individual perspectives and needs to achieve common goals.
The Mashek Matrix illustrates that high relationship quality is crucial for enhancing interdependence among team members in collaboration.
Mashek highlights the importance of training in collaboration skills, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills to improve workplace relationships.
Deep dives
Deb Mashek's Background and Expertise
Deb Mashek is a social psychologist with a rich background in academia and non-profit work, focusing on collaboration and close relationships. After leaving her tenured professorship at Harvey Mudd College, she transitioned to consulting, applying her expertise to help individuals and organizations improve their collaborative capabilities. Mashek's journey also includes launching Heterodox Academy to promote open inquiry on college campuses following the 2016 election, showcasing her commitment to fostering diversity of thought. Her book 'Collaborate' delves into building effective workplace relationships, even for those who prefer working alone.
Defining Collaboration
Mashek defines collaboration as two or more known individuals working together toward a shared goal. She emphasizes the difference between collaboration and broader concepts like democracy, stating that true collaboration requires an understanding of fellow participants' perspectives and needs. Many people struggle with collaboration, reporting negative outcomes such as stress and tension. Through her research, she highlights the importance of fostering high-quality relationships to enhance job satisfaction and overall productivity.
Challenges in Collaboration
A staggering 70% of survey respondents reported having experienced a horrendous collaboration, illustrating the widespread issues in workplace teamwork. Common pitfalls include misaligned goals, lack of accountability, and dropped responsibilities that can derail a project. Contributors may unintentionally pull in different directions, leading to frustration and inefficiency. Mashek categorizes these challenges, noting the troubling trend of 'zombie collaborations,' where meetings fail to produce actionable results and become monotonous.
Contributing Factors to Collaboration Issues
Mashek emphasizes the lack of training and professional development in collaboration skills as a significant barrier to effective teamwork. Many employees report receiving little to no training in how to engage in collaborations, which can lead to misunderstandings and frustration in group settings. Inadequate support to develop these crucial skills means individuals often struggle to manage collaboration, leading to poor workplace relationships. Mashek stresses the need for organizations to prioritize training in collaboration, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills.
The MASHIC Matrix for Collaboration
Mashek introduces the MASHIC Matrix, which aids in understanding relationship quality and interdependence within collaborations. The matrix highlights how relationship quality (trust, connection) and interdependence (how much team members rely on each other) impact collaboration effectiveness. It is essential to cultivate high relationship quality before expecting high interdependence among team members. By focusing on building strong interpersonal relationships first, teams can better navigate the complexities of interdependent work.
Increasing Collaborative Effectiveness
To improve collaboration effectiveness, Mashek advocates for regular evaluation of both relationship quality and interdependence. Teams should strive to create an environment that fosters trust and open communication, encouraging members to express their needs and expectations. Interventions such as social activities to build rapport or structured meetings that foster accountability can enhance collaborative efforts. Ultimately, creating a culture of collaboration requires intentional effort, continuous feedback, and alignment of team goals.
Enjoy this re-release of one my top listened to episodes with my guest, Deb Mashek.
Our guest today is Dr. Deb Mashek, a social psychologist who helps business leaders navigate the relationship headwinds that tank timelines, bottom lines and well-being. She is an experienced business advisor, professor and non-profit executive. She is the author of the book Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you’d rather work alone)
Timestamps:
[05.50] Collaboration – Deb shares a brief bio on herself and defines collaboration in her own terms.
[15.02] Hierarchy – The collaboration of every member is important in a collaborative workspace.
[21.03] The Mashek Matrix – We go through the two dimensions of the Mashek Matrix.
[28.47] OCEAN - Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are the big five personality assessments.
[36.16] Relationship quality – We talk about ways to improve relationship quality.
[46.19] Self-expansion theory – Deb explains the psychological theory of self-expansion.
[59.26] Frequency dial – We talk about formal vs. informal time on the frequency dial in interdependence.
[01.05.52] Invest in relationships – Collaboration is far from easy. We talk about the importance of developing relationships in order to collaborate.
[01.20.27] Best behaviors – We talk about the best behaviors to have when we are building a team for collaboration.
