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It is an interpersonal need to feel part of a group or community, to “belong” and to feel valued and an essential member (McKenna & Green, 2002; Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Brewer, 1991). Effective groups need:

A leader/facilitator

Communicates what are we doing, how we do it and what is the goal

Makes sure that the work is done

An arbitrator/monitor

Makes sure everyone’s voice is heard

The cheerleader of the group

A notetaker/timekeeper

Plans the agenda

Makes sure that all topics of meetings have time that they deserve

A devil’s advocate

Makes sure that something is not overlooked

Keeps an open-mind to problems, possibilities, and opposing ideas.

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Group Roles: Maximizing Group Performance. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. Available at: https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing-assignments/group-work/group-roles-maximizing-group-performance#:~:text=There%20are%20four%20fundamental%20roles,students%20(see%20notes%20below).

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.

Brewer, M. B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475–482.

Hogg, M. A. (1993). Group cohesiveness: A critical review and some new directions. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 85–111.

Lewin, K. (1939). Field theory and experiment in social psychology: Concepts and methods. American journal of sociology, 44(6), 868-896.

McKenna, K. Y. A., & Green, A. S. (2002). Virtual group dynamics. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6(1), 116–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699.6.1.116

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A leader is a person of the group that best embodies goals, values and attitudes of the group and its purpose (McKenna & Green, 2002).

Types of leadership

Kurt Lewin (1939) was the first to identify three different styles of leadership:

authoritarian,

democratic

and laissez-faire.

Authoritarian leadership focuses on individual control over all decisions and little input from the group members. It can be thought of as a dictatorship and these leaders make choices based on their own ideas. Autocratic leadership can be beneficial sometimes when decisions need to be made fast.

Lewin’s study found that the democratic leadership, also known as participative leadership, is generally the most efficient. Democratic leaders offer guidance to other group members but also participate in the group. Group members feel engaged, creative and as part of the process with a democratic leader, who still has the final say in the decision-making.

The laissez-faire leadership is delegative, which was shown to be least productive. Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance and the rest of the group starts to make demands to the leader and are less cooperative. This style can be effective if the group consists of experts in the field.

How leadership emerges

In new groups, those who are most familiar with the topic at hand or most comfortable expressing their view that is inline with the group members can be seen as a leader. In addition to embodying the group, the leaders behavior influences the behaviors of the other group members (McKenna & Green, 2002).
The leaders have more influence than others, not because they are actually exerting influence, but because the other members of the group perceive them as having more influence over “the followers” of the group (McKenna & Green, 2002).

This site contains links to interesting texts about collaboration and leadership:

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Many managers assume that the key to leading high-performing teams is to hire talented individuals and then do whatever you can to keep them happy. But that's only part of the puzzle. According to Gallup's " State of the American Workplace" report, "Happiness is a great starting point, but just measuring workers' satisfaction or happiness levels and catering to their wants often fails to achieve the underlying goal of employee engagement: improved business outcomes."

In other words, it's not just important that you keep employees happy; you have to pay attention to how you're keeping them happy. Often, high-performing teams respond less to perks (though those are nice too) than to a workplace that offers them the best tools to work with, meaningful connections, a culture of collaboration, and leaders who are transparent and value teamwork.

Invest in tech that brings teams together

Technology is making it easier than ever for high-performing employees to enjoy a collaborative company culture. "Social applications allow people to work not just faster and cheaper, but also in ways they simply couldn't have before," Heidi Gardner, author of Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos, told the Harvard Business Review.

Gardner also praises technology's ability to promote collaboration across organizations, since digital tools-messaging apps, employee experience hubs, survey platforms-have the power to boost productivity, streamline processes, and open up lines of communication (the lack of which, according to a Harvard survey, is what 67% of workers say is the largest obstacle to company collaboration).

And interestingly, it's not just traditional offices that can benefit from introducing these new technologies into the workplace. Leaders in every industry-from food service to wildlife tourism -can leverage digital communication tools to create a culture of collaboration at work, whether by facilitating instant connections between teams and team members or giving employees access to a searchable archive of information that can be called up at any time by employees new and old.

Make collaboration a priority

But companies need more than new technology for developing a collaborative business culture where high-performing teams can thrive. At a tactical level, providing team members with tools for company collaboration can improve communication and make companies feel more transparent. But no single app or platform can fix a workplace culture that's fundamentally broken.

Before turning to tech for solutions, it's worth considering whether company leaders prioritize teamwork. If managers don't communicate with employees or listen to their ideas, meaningful collaboration between coworkers is unlikely, and the introduction of a new tool might have little effect.

According to Jim Clifton, the chairman and CEO of Gallup, employees are most likely to quit because of poor leadership. "Employees everywhere don't necessarily hate the company or organization they work for as much as they do their boss," he writes. "Employees-especially the stars-join a company and then quit their manager."

Something as simple as asking employees for their opinions could be the invitation they need to offer up their own contributions. If you want employees to collaborate, start by leading by example.
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Help team members build bonds

At its heart, building a culture of collaboration means creating a work environment gives workers space to communicate openly and honestly and to form meaningful bonds with one another. "When employees possess a deep sense of affiliation with their team members, they are driven to take positive actions that benefit the business," writes Annamarie Mann, a former workplace analytics practice manager at Gallup.

And the research supports this: 75% of people who report having a best friend at work also say they're ready to take on new challenges and initiatives. Comparatively, only 58% of those who don't have a close bond with coworkers say they feel the same way.

High-performing teams are often the result of employees feeling safe to voice their opinions and share their ideas, so implementing a basic no-idea-is-a-bad-idea policy is a good place to start. Regular offsite meetings and specific opportunities for learning and experimentation can also help employees feel like their contributions are valued.

Make room for remote team members

Just because your team may prefer to send messages, don't underestimate the value of in-person meetings or simple one-on-one interactions. Personal connection is one of the things employees, especially those working remotely, need most. "Having people travel to the location of their other team members really helps to provide that contextual knowledge that's missing [from digital communication]," says Stanford University professor Pamela Hinds. "And the benefits accrue for a long period of time-that knowledge stays with people after they go home."

Engaging with employees doesn't always have to happen under such elaborate circumstances, but it's still important to make time for regular face-to-face teamwork with in-office employees. Whether you choose to host weekly check-ins or a monthly virtual brainstorming session. There are also plenty of simple ways to connect with dispersed team members and build a culture of collaboration on a daily basis:

Use company collaboration tools for accessible two-way conversation

Schedule video conferences for informal check-ins and feedback

Celebrate contributions and achievements with the team, whether with gifts or a parade of emoji

When employees are given the tools to efficiently work with each other-remotely or otherwise-heightened team performance follows.

Give good feedback often

It's part of a leader's job to celebrate and encourage employees who learn how to be collaborative at work, but it doesn't always have to happen in formal reviews. "People think that this whole 'feedback thing' has to take a whole lot of time, when in the best working relationships, where people really do learn and grow and support each other, feedback is just woven into their workflow a few minutes at a time," says Sheila Heen, a Harvard Law School lecturer and co-founder of Triad Consulting Group.

Send your employees a quick email, use clever apps to share praise, or better yet, provide feedback in the moment. According to Heen, short interactions like this-just a few minutes at a time-open the door to ongoing communication and company collaboration between team members and present more frequent opportunities for them to learn and improve as a unit.

What's clear is that developing a culture of collaboration requires more than simply dividing employees into groups. Collaboration, facilitated both through technology and in-person gatherings, is the result of many individuals coming together as one. Leadership included.

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In good company: How to create a culture of collaboration at work

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Many managers assume that the key to leading high-performing teams is to hire talented individuals and then do whatever you can to keep them happy. But that's only part of the puzzle.

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For motivation, it matters a lot if I like the people involved and whether or not the topic is of interest to me. I tend to continue working with those individuals and groups who have been smooth and productive to work with.

Sometimes it is the topic leaders who motivate us to be part of the discussion by their style or the way they lead the discussion (natural leader by personality ), other times it maybe the topic it self how motivate you because you are simply interested.

Interest in the topic (both my own and the people I'm working with) is definitely the main thing for me. We might all have great interpersonal skills and ideas but if we don't have a united interest and vision, it is difficult to collaborate.

Clear instructions, small groups, transparency of expectations, relevancy and sufficient time for the task increases the motivation.

Desire to learn about how other people are tackling issues motivates me.

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Our own general reflections, inspired by ONL

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Our own general reflections, inspired by ONL

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What skills and attributes do we need in order to collaborate effectively?

Open-mindedness, good communication skills and respect for the diversity of your colleagues.

An understanding of when to contribute and when to let others have their say (especially important when there is a range of personalities in the group, with some who might have great ideas but are quieter).

An understanding of how to make your ideas easily understandable to others.

How can we assess these in order to improve?

Social Intelligence test 'Reading the mind in the eyes'
Personality tests may help a team assess what strengths each member has, and how to optimize individual strengths and aptitudes to benefit the team. Some examples we tried included: Big Five, Keirsey, Myers-Briggs

Group Reflections on Tests

We found the tests to be fun, accurate and informative in reflecting on our own roles in group work. They are relatively brief (5-7 mins each) and provide interesting profiles that can guide you in how you approach your role in collaboration.

Differences between traditional and online spaces

Building trust between people at classroom is easier than on undefined network because they may know each other already or they will because of face to face seeing each other probable on a daily basis, while in an open network it is more difficult to build this trust because you will work with new people with different back-round and culture and you know nothing about.

Interpersonal aspects seem much clearer in the fixed educational space (both digitally and in person, but especially in person), whereas it's easy to get lost in the crowd in an open network.

There are usually higher stakes in a fixed educational space (e.g. having to collaborate for an assignment), and usually everyone is on a relatively level playing field (same sort of educational level and motivations).

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Reward and praise, limit unnecessary criticism

Lead the students into how collaborative work is done by using structures like the FISh model.

5-6 people is the ideal number for effective group work, according to research from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania https://cuttingedgepr.com/whats-ideal-number-people-work-team-committee/

Atmosphere means a lot

Hierarchy and "seriousness" can't be the main driver. There should be a "light" atmosphere, but not too chill, otherwise no one does anything. It helps to really know each other within a group, which helps to build the sense of community.

Having fun and loving what you do

When you are having fun and love what you do, work does not feel like work. If many people come together and share this passion over a subject of interest, they can have less tasks and to-dos, more creative chaos and molding/editing afterwards the end result.

Protocol for peer instruction – a template from one of our group members

I have tried a simple itemized list to structure how a group of students can work together. Here is an example for one project or challenge in a course:
1. Each student independently reads the instructions for the task.
2. The group discusses their understandings of the task and agree on a common interpretation that all will follow.
3. They work on the task in parallel (for small tasks or sub-tasks).
4. When completed they compare solutions for the same task and review solutions for different tasks.
5. Given the discussion and review, the solutions may be revised.
6. The group ends with a discussion of how they worked together and refines the protocol  for the collaboration when needed

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Delegation of work is difficult in an open network or community. Can lead to two people doing the same thing and something left undone.

Lack of clarity around roles/contributions

Lack of coordinated planning

Miscommunication or misunderstanding

Time Management

Different personalities

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Brainstorming more creative ideas together

Improve oral communication, and ways of solving problems

Learning new skills, knowledge and ways of working.

Learning new tools and resources from each other

Refreshing perspectives and getting feedback on my work.

Improve leadership skills

Improve your self esteem and give you more confidence maybe

Discover things through others that we wouldn't have otherwise.

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Minimize 'free riding' by using small breakout rooms for discussion and give clear roles

Involve students in the activity and community to feel the value of the work they did

Collaborative Learning Techniques (CoLTs) Quick Reference: This PDF has list all the techniques that can be used to help collaborative work which can apply online or at face to face class