Problem solving for better cross-team collaboration

Help managers and individual contributors problem solve in order to drive collaboration across teams.

• Topic: Building Relationships and Project Management
• Audience: Experienced managers, Individual contributors, New managers
• Group Size: 4-12
• Duration: 20-30 minutes

Intro & set up

“To help us learn about problem solving, I’m going to play a short video about how an experienced manager drove collaboration across teams. After that, I’ll ask the group a few questions to see what we can learn from his experience.”

Open the video in a new window.

Discussion questions

• What do you think about Jit’s approach to problem solving and promoting team collaboration?
• Why do you think the managers of the various teams responded well to his approach?
• How did his approach affect the teams’ ability and willingness to collaborate on the project?
• Would this approach work well for your management style and the culture of your organization?
  • Why or why not?
  • How might you adjust it, if needed?
• Have you ever been in the situation of solving problems with an eye toward team collaboration?
  • What was the experience like?
  • What made it more (or less) successful than it might have been otherwise?
  • What might you do differently if you were in a similar situation again?

If you want help preparing to facilitate this activity, check out our article: How to facilitate a group discussion.