www.esi-intl.ca

+1 (866) 374-4501

Tearing Down the WallsBlocking Collaboration and

Better Business Performance

2

As the economic recession continues, it is more critical than ever for organizations to opti-

mize performance despite tighter budgets and fewer resources. Organizations stand the

best chance of getting the most from their projects and initiatives, with current resources,

by utilizing and supporting collaborative teams.

True collaboration within organizations means that team-oriented, rather than individual,

problem solving adds real value to initiatives, improving bottom line results. In this sense,

the sum is really more than its parts.

To find out if organizations are truly leveraging collaborative teaming efforts for measur-

able performance and productivity gains, ESI International conducted a survey of nearly

900 industry and government professionals involved in project activities across Canada.

The survey set out to determine:

• How successful organizations are in meeting the challenge of eliminating hierarchies, titles and silos to work collaboratively.

• How well organizations support project leaders and team members so they can deliver to their fullest potential and improve project and organizational performance.

Major Findings• The majority of organizations, in fact, do not work collaboratively, despite the value

that they realize would come from better teamwork.

• Rigid work structures exist within companies that keep people from working together.

• Organizations are not investing in the right mix of skills training needed to improve collaboration on projects and initiatives.

3Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

Survey Summary

Less Than One-Third of Teams Effectively Drive Project SuccessThe survey results show a huge gap between what project professionals believe about

collaborative teams and how effective they are in putting collaboration into practice.

• 65.5 percent of respondents believe that their organization’s project performance would improve if their teams worked more collaboratively.

• Yet, only 27.8 percent of teams are actually working collaboratively and realizing satisfactory project performance and outcomes.

Collaboration Has Positive Impact on Project Performance

Source: ESI International

Canadian project professionals say project performance and outcomes:

Would improve if our teams worked more collaboratively

Are satisfactory since our teams already work collaboratively

Don’t know

Wouldn’t be impacted since we don’t currently work across teams

2.1%4.6%

27.8%65.5%

4

Collaboration Hindered by Work Structure, Hierarchy Just over one-third of teams in Canadian organizations (35.5 percent) work collaboratively.

The great majority who are not using collaborative teaming for improved performance

point to specific reasons why not:

• More than half of respondents (54.6 percent) do not consistently work collaboratively in teams since their work structure is dependent either on the project, the team or the sponsor.

• An additional 9.9 percent are hierarchical with little or no collaboration between project roles.

Hit-or-Miss Collaboration Between Project Roles

Source: ESI International

In our organization, the roles of project leaders and team members are:

Project dependent

Non-hierarchical/collaboration

Hierarchical, with little or no interaction/collaboration between

Team dependent

Other

Project sponsor dependent

1.7%3%

35.5%

42.3%

9.9%

7.6%

5Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

Strong Communication Skills Essential to CollaborationBusiness skills, such as communications and strategic thinking, are the foundation upon

which teams need to work collaboratively.

In addition to an overwhelming majority (80.9 percent) who say their project teams need

to improve communication, in some cases, half or nearly half say their project professionals

need improvement in the following skills for better cross-team collaboration:

• Communication (80.9 percent)

• Leadership (49.6 percent)

• Critical thinking (47.3 percent)

• Coaching and mentoring (44.1 percent)

• General business acumen (35.4 percent)

• None of the above (4.1 percent)

Dire Need for Essential Business Skills for Project Success

Source: ESI International

Canadian project professionals said the critical business skills project professionals need for better collaboration are:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

None of the Above

General Busin

ess Acu

men

Coaching and M

entorin

g

Critica

l Thinking

Leadership

Communicatio

n

80.9%

49.6%

4.1%

35.4%

47.3%44.1%

6

Organizations Recognize Need for Skills That Drive Organizational Change 81.7 percent of respondents believe their organization sees value in ensuring people that

work on projects have the right combination of business skills, as well as technical skills, as

they drive new innovations, such as cloud computing.

Organizations Value Balance of Skills for Success of Key Initiatives

Source: ESI International

Canadian project professionals said their organizations value providing the right mix of business and technical skills to ensure

the success of change initiatives, such as cloud computing:

Agree

Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Don’t have an opinion

Disagree

Strongly disagree

3.1%

7.4%

30.3%

32.2%

19.2%

7.8%

7Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

Organizations Ineffective in Providing the Right TrainingDespite valuing a mix of business and technical skills to support key initiatives, organiza-

tions fail to provide the appropriate skills training that would strike the proper balance.

• Only 38.4 percent of project professionals believe their organization actually provides an appropriate mix of skills training.

• 61.6 percent report no training at all or various combinations of training, as noted below, that may not meet the skills requirements needed for effective collaboration:

Ț A good mix of technical and business skills training (38.4 percent)

Ț Mostly technical with some business skills training (25.8 percent)

Ț No training (14.6 percent)

Ț Mostly business skills with some technical training (12.9 percent)

Ț Only technical skills training (4.7 percent)

Ț Only business skills training (3.6 percent)

Majority of Organizations Don’t Provide the Right Training, or Any Training at All

Source: ESI International

Our organization provides the following training to project leaders and team members to enhance the technical and business skills they need to effectively work across teams:

A good mix of technical and business skills training

Mostly technical with some business skills

No training

Mostly business skills with some technical training

Only technical training

Only business skills training

3.6%4.7%

25.8%

38.4%

14.6%

12.9%

8

Turning Collaboration Theory into Practice Based on the survey results, there is a wide gap between the idea of collaboration and the

reality. In the current business environment, organizations should have an even greater

incentive to support collaboration.

Unlike people working within traditional hierarchal roles and responsibilities, team-

oriented collaboration brings with it greater agility to solve problems, improve processes

and foster innovative thinking.

The first step is to offer team members the right training for a balanced set of business and

technical skills.

To further ensure that teams attain their greatest potential, organizations will want to

follow established best practices for collaboration, including:

1) Model collaborative behavior, starting at the executive level.

2) Develop unique relationship-building practices customized to your business environment.

3) Ensure employees have the skills of collaboration.

4) Support a sense of community.

5) Assign leaders who are both task- and relationship-oriented.

6) Build on existing relationships.

7) Assign distinct roles to team members.

8) Provide individuals with autonomy over discrete pieces of the project.Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007, November) “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” Harvard Business Review.

9Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

SummaryWhile a majority of Canadian organizations agree that team collaboration enhances busi-

ness performance, very few are actually providing the right training mix to ensure teams

have what they need to thrive in a collaborative way. Furthermore, even fewer teams are

making a positive business impact through collaboration, although most would agree

collaboration leads to success.

Applying best practices such as more autonomy within projects, tearing down organiza-

tional barriers and designating specific roles to team members can lead to more collabora-

tion, better project/initiative outcomes and, ultimately, higher overall business impact.

10

Survey MethodologyESI International sent an email survey of eight close-ended questions to project manage-

ment and business analysis directors, managers and staff, and other professionals in

Canada involved in their organizations’ projects.

Source: ESI International

Which of the following best describes your job category?

Project Management—Manager or Staff

Other

Business Analysis—Manager or Staff

Project Management—Director and above

Business Analysis—Director and above

1.7%6.6%

21.9%

47.5%

22.3%

The survey respondents represented sectors including, among others, government (32

percent) financial services (18.4 percent), Information Technology (18 percent), Energy/

Utilities (5.8 percent)and telecommunications (5.6 percent).

Industry

Government

Financial Services

Information Technology

Energy/Utilities

Telecommunications

Construction/Engineering

Pharma and Healthcare

Manufacturing

Retail

Other

Source: ESI International

2%2.5%

18.4%

32.3%

18%

5.6%

2.5%

2.9%

10.1%

5.8%

The survey was conducted from late August to early September 2011, with 895 respon-

dents completing the survey. Not all respondents answered every survey question. The

survey was anonymous unless respondents wanted to receive the results, in which case

they had to submit their contact details.

www.esi-intl.ca

+1 (866) 374-4501About ESI InternationalESI, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people around the world improve the way

they manage projects, contracts, requirements and vendors through innovative learning.

In addition to ESI’s more than 100 courses delivered in more than a dozen languages

at hundreds of locations worldwide, ESI offers several certificate programs through our

educational partner, The George Washington University in Washington. Founded in 1981,

ESI has regional headquarters in Toronto and Washington. To date, ESI’s programs have

benefited more than 1.35 million professionals worldwide. For more information visit

www.esi-intl.ca.

For more information about how ESI can help your organization, call us

at +1 (866) 374-4501 or visit www.esi-intl.ca.