We all know what IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is and I’m sure most know about EI (Emotional Intelligence). However, how many are familiar with Collaborative Intelligence (CI)? Even if some of you have heard of CI, do you really understand what it is? In a post entitled 10 Components of Collaborative Intelligence, author David Coleman helps break down the meaning of Collaborative Intelligence.
What Is Collaborative Intelligence?
Collaborative Intelligence is an attempt to help measure what makes someone a good collaborator. According to Coleman, there are ten essential elements of collaboration and I’ve elected to pull out the six most important to share with you.
Key Components of Collaborative Intelligence
1. Willingness to Collaborate
Obviously the most important aspect when trying to assess whether someone is a good collaborator. The more willing someone is to engage with others for mutual benefit or to help get to a specific goal, the better.
2. Willingness to Share
It’s always good to identify what Coleman calls “knowledge hoarders” when assessing someone’s CI. Knowledge hoarders are individuals who “believe that their value is their knowledge, and to share it would diminish their value. In actuality it increases their value.” Not only is this a good exercise when looking at CI, but also by identifying these people early on in a project may actually help eliminate any unnecessary future challenges.
3. How to Build Trust
One of the ways trust is built it through sharing. Being consistent in your words and behaviors and following through on what you promised helps with building that trust.
4. Understanding Team Dynamics
A critical factor for success when working on projects, being able to understand the team dynamic and working productively within that realm usually determines the project’s success.
5. Open to New Ideas
Flexibility is critical for collaboration. Being able to adapt old processes to new challenges is paramount to becoming a good collaborator. Coleman adds, “Things never turn out the way you expect and you need to be flexible enough in your thinking to adapt to any changes that come your way.”
6. Tools and Technology
While it’s important to keep in mind that tools and technology only play a minor role in the solution, they are often critical enablers for interactions, communication and understanding the other person’s context. A key to being a good collaborator is understanding the technology well enough to utilize the best tool for the job.
The goal of Collaborative Intelligence (CI) is to aid in measuring of the social/collaborative mindset of individuals. Coleman adds, “CI can be a great predictor of where relationship problems might occur, who would be the best to lead a high performance team, or which people have the most influence on the most number of groups.”
To read David Coleman’s full article click here.
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