Teamwork is in and collaboration at every level of an organization is viewed as key for executives and managers to be successful both today and in the future.

In a survey over a base of 2,000 senior executives and managers nationwide conducted by NFI Research, three-quarters of respondents said collaborating with others was the skill most important to be successful today and tomorrow.

The skill of collaboration was rated more important by twice the number of executives and managers than was managing others or being personable. Working with others is becoming more important today because of the increasing complexity of work itself. With the economic pressures of the last few years, companies have been seeking ways to increase productivity by increasing efficiency. This can translate into a more integrated approach to solving problems.

Businesses also have been turning to technology to help increase collaboration. Tech tools such as video conferencing and real-time and workgroup collaboration software are on the increase.

Last year, the size of the real-time collaboration computer software market grew by 30 percent, according to research firm Gartner. Within four years, 60 percent of Fortune 2000 companies will be using Web conferencing on a companywide basis, according to Gartner.

On the Curriculum
The good news for businesses of all sizes is that collaboration and teamwork are being taught and emphasized at business schools across the country. For example, from the first day at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), teamwork is an integral part of everyday life. On the East Coast, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire both stress teams in their curricula, with Wharton deploying a laboratory in collaborative leadership.

Collaborating with others on common business goals can improve a person's ability to create work relationships and better utilize those relationships and view them as critical resources.

"Resource management, internal and external, may be the single most important skill that executives and managers must possess in the future," said one survey respondent. "Where and how to find the information that you need to get the job done. Who knows? And who knows who knows? That requires both energy management and networking skills to establish and manage relationships. Managing relationships is resource management."

And managing relationships is a critical factor in successful collaboration and teamwork. Another great advantage of collaboration is that participants come to understand human resistance issues and learn to deal with them at all levels. Collaboration effectively causes people to agree on common goals and to focus their energies on those goals.

Successfully working in a team environment requires give and take, but it also allows individuals the opportunity to learn and grow. Every member of a team has something to contribute and every other member has something to learn.

Organizations that encourage collaboration with highly interactive participation by all team members can provide that organization with a great advantage of focusing all energies on an agreed-to direction.

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