1.

The Pros and Cons of Collaboration

Collaboration at work is generally seen as a good thing, however managers always have to balance the merits of teamwork, which help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal, with the dangers of “groupthink”, when critics are reluctant to point out a plan’s defects for fear of being ostracized by the group. At the same time today’s communication methods mean that collaboration is more frequent and workers are constantly in touch with each other via email, messaging groups or mobile calls. In this article, the Economist examines if this constant collaboration boosts, or detracts from, performance? They take a look at a new study by Ethan Bernstein, Jesse Shore and David Lazer, three American academics, who tried to answer the question.

Read the article (pdf)

2.

7 Strategies for Promoting Collaboration in a Crisis

Crises highlight the importance of effective collaboration for long-term success. Particularly in a crisis, organizations need to pull together experts with unique, cross-functional perspectives to solve rapidly changing, complex problems that have long-term implications. The diversity of experience allows a group to see risks and opportunities from different angles so that it can generate new solutions and adapt dynamically to changing situations. In this Harvard Business Review

article, Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan Matviak offer seven actions that leaders can take to foster collaboration.

Read the article

3.

5 Things Not to Say in a Leadership Role

People don’t need to be led. They’d rather have the opportunity to follow a natural leader so that they also learn how to lead themselves and others in any given environment - be it career - related or personal. Leaders must understand, and consider with care, the meaning of each word they utter, as well as act as role models to encourage others’ future growth and organizational continuity. In this Medium post, Ali Kursun discusses how leaders must pause and question some of the common sayings they may use, and lists the five common statements leaders should avoid using altogether.

Read the article (pdf)

4.

How Are You Telling Children the Story of the Pandemic?

How will children make sense of the times we are living through? How can parents help them form - and understand - the narrative, even when they themselves feel worried, overwhelmed and unsure? In this New York Times article, Perri Klass, M.D. spoke with several of the pediatricians he has consulted about different aspects of the coronavirus and asked: How are you telling your children the story of the pandemic? Discover the narratives the doctors are using in their own families to help children discover their own stories.

Read the article

5.

How to Hold Work Meetings and Events that Connect People - Even Online

Gatherings of all kinds, from conferences to off-sites to global meetings, have been canceled because of the pandemic. While we may be entering a recession of real-world gatherings, we have the power to stave off an accompanying boom in loneliness. In this TED ideas post, facilitator, strategic advisor, and author Priya Parker argues that in fact many of our real-world, in-person gatherings aren’t actually that useful or warm or connective or transformational - and that turning events virtual may not be as bad as you’d think. Read the nine steps to inject connection and meaning into events when you’re physically apart but virtually together.

Read the post