Invite Collaboration in English and Help Your Team to Work Together

The ability to collaborate is a highly valued soft skill in the workplace.

What this means is to have the ability to work effectively with others,

share ideas, and get everyone focused on a common goal.

Not only does this lead to better outcomes,

but it also fosters a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.

However,

inviting collaboration in English can present some unique challenges.

For example,

perhaps you've felt misunderstood at work or you've even been surprised

by feedback indicating that you don't listen to your team members. Moreover,

you may come from a work culture that valued precise direct

communication,

and now you're in a work environment that values a softer approach to

communication, emphasizing collaboration, discussion, and engagement.

As a result,

you might be struggling to make the right adjustments in your communication

and English at work so that your team feels that they're able to

participate, fully engage, and collaborate with you. Recently,

I received an email about this very topic with a request for more

lessons on leadership communication at work,

specifically on how to communicate in a workplace that values a softer approach

to communication,

and how to demonstrate the ability to invite collaboration to

create a work environment that makes it possible for everyone to participate.

There are a few key components including effective communication,

active listening, and cultural sensitivity.

As a follow-up to a previous lesson I did on leadership communication in

English, in this Confident English lesson,

we'll explore the importance of collaboration is a soft skill.

Along the way,

I'll share with you practical strategies and tips you can use so that you can

create an environment at work where everyone feels that they're able to

collaborate and share their ideas.

But first, if you don't already know,

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.

Everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English.

One way I do that is with these weekly Confident English lessons where I share

my top fluency and confidence building strategies, targeted vocabulary lessons,

and training on leadership communication in English,

just like in this lesson today. So while you're here,

make sure you subscribe to my Speak Confident English Channel so you never miss

one of these Confident English lessons.

Before we explore four practical steps and phrases you can use to

invite collaboration in English,

I want to explore English-speaking cultural values at work.

Now of course,

any discussion on the topic of cultural values is a generalized topic of

discussion. In other words,

these values can shift from one workplace to another,

and they are not true of everyone. That said,

if you're leading a team in English,

there are some common cultural values you're likely to find,

and these include direct idea exchanges with obvious

invitations to contribute.

You'll also find that English-speaking culture tends to value maintaining a

polite or even neutral tone in discussions,

and if the topic of a conversation shifts to something negative, for example,

providing some critical feedback,

we switch to more indirect language throughout idea

exchanges and brainstorming discussions.

We value clarity and active listening,

so how can you invite collaboration and manage discussions with these

values in mind? To do that, you can follow these four steps. Number one,

invite others to speak. Number two, employ active listening.

Number three, acknowledge and withhold judgment. And number four,

respond appropriately. Let's explore each of those in-depth,

and I'll share specific English phrases for work. So step number one,

invite others to speak to effectively invite collaboration

your listeners.

Participants and team members need to be clear on the expectations

and they need to feel safe contributing their ideas. Moreover,

when you're inviting others to contribute,

you need to make it clear that you're open to listening to others' ideas and

opinions. To do this,

we have several phrases we can use in English that make it clear we're inviting

others to speak and we're underlining the expectations or

highlighting specifically what we're looking for.

Here are some examples you can use. I was wondering what your thoughts are on X,

for example,

I was wondering what your thoughts are on this initial marketing proposal,

or I was hoping I could pick your brain for a moment. What do you think about,

for example, what do you think about this initial marketing plan?

A third option, I was looking for some feedback on X.

What's your opinion or what are your thoughts? And finally,

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on X. Tell me what you're thinking.

Let's take a look at how we might use one of these phrases in a specific

scenario.

Imagine you want to brainstorm a new social media strategy with your team

to be efficient and clear in your communication. You could say,

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on our current social media strategy.

Please tell me what you think could be improved.

Step number two is employ active listening.

I'm sure you know it's all too easy to get distracted or to

allow your mind to wander while others are speaking during a conversation.

However, to create a collaborative environment,

we have to be fully present listening carefully to what others have to say.

To help you do that,

there are a few questions you can ask yourself before engaging in a discussion

with your team. For example, you might ask,

what is my goal in listening to this specific person?

Or What is my goal in listening to members of my team?

Who should I direct my attention to and why should I listen to this person right

now? And finally,

will my thoughts steer the conversation away from the speaker?

Your answers to those questions will help you identify the best way to support

your team and listen carefully. Moreover,

they'll help you be fully present and avoid any distracting thoughts.

In addition to answering those questions to help you focus during a discussion,

you can also demonstrate active listening skills. In doing so,

you allow the speaker to feel heard and seen. Now,

when I say demonstrate active listening skills,

what I mean by that is we use words, facial expressions,

and body language to indicate to someone else that we are fully present and

we're following everything they have to say.

A few ways you can do that include using verbal cues such as uhhuh,

<affirmative>, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, right? And while doing that,

you can use body language such as direct eye contact or nodding

your head. Then when someone's finished speaking,

you can paraphrase or repeat back to them what you've understood as

a way to indicate that you were listening carefully.

After you take a moment to paraphrase what you've heard,

you can take it a step further by asking open questions that indicate

you want to hear more or you want to better understand. In doing so,

you're providing reassurance that it's a safe place for others to share

their ideas with you. For example,

let's go back to that scenario from step number one. Again,

imagine that you're having a brainstorming conversation with your team about

your social media strategy. You've invited others to speak,

and you're listening to one of your team members share some initial ideas

for a new approach. Once your team member has finished speaking,

you might add on an open question such as what would it take for

our team to make those changes in our strategy? In asking that question,

not only will you get more detail,

you're also letting your team member know that you value their contribution.

And now step number three,

acknowledge the contribution and withhold judgment remaining

non-judgmental in your responses. As team members contribute,

their ideas fosters an environment where everyone feels safe and

they know they won't be blamed, criticized,

or shamed for contributing a poor idea. In fact,

they'll be more comfortable sharing their thoughts even if they don't have a

fully formed or complete idea.

I want to share with you several phrases we can use to acknowledge

someone's contribution and withhold that judgment first.

That's an interesting idea. Could you tell me more? Thank you for sharing that.

I like the idea of X, for example.

I like the idea of a step-by-step approach.

I appreciate you sharing that thought. Let's bookmark that for a later date.

That's certainly an idea to follow up on. Let's revisit it in a future meeting.

I hadn't thought of it that way. I see your point.

I appreciate your attention to detail. Thank you for bringing that up.

Let's take a look at how we might use one of those in a real life situation.

Imagine you've requested a brainstorming session for the launch of a new

product, and during the discussion,

one of your quietest team members contributes an idea,

but it doesn't quite hit the mark. In response to that idea,

you might say, that's an interesting idea. Could you tell me more?

By acknowledging that this particular idea has merit,

you're also acknowledging the courage it took to share that idea.

Moreover, by withholding judgment,

you invite everyone to contemplate this idea further and you

continue to invite discussion. And finally, step number four,

to invite collaboration in English is to respond appropriately.

It's important to remember that collaboration is all about the exchange of

ideas and working with others.

When we take an idea from its initial stage all the way through

to execution and implementation,

there are multiple steps that occur along the way.

There are details that you need to figure out and milestones you need to hit.

What that means is ongoing collaboration,

and for that collaboration to be effective,

we need to ask open-ended questions.

In every discussion where ideas are exchanged,

there are hits and there are misses,

and it takes courage for others to contribute their ideas to reach

the best possible outcome.

It's important to value every idea that is shared and

encourage others to continue evaluating and share what they think along

the way. To do that,

here are several open questions you can ask to continue inviting

collaboration. First, could you tell me more? How would you,

for example,

how would you initiate that change in our strategy or how might

we, how might we initiate that change in our strategy?

What would be the pros and cons of X?

What would be the pros and cons of making that change?

Could you expand on that a little more? And finally,

what would be the best approach to X?

What would be the best approach to making that change?

Let's see how one of these questions might be useful in a real situation,

and we're going to go back to the scenario we had in step number three,

where we're inviting some brainstorming on the launch of a new product.

Perhaps there's an idea shared for a specific new product,

but that product already exists on the market,

so you might say something such as, that's an interesting idea.

How would you set it apart from competing brands that offer a similar product?

By asking that question, not only are you withholding judgment,

but you're also inviting continued collaboration and encouraging

everyone on the team to analyze the idea. Further,

to finish this lesson on how to invite collaboration in English,

I have two questions for you. Number one,

if this has been an area of difficulty for you,

which step or phrase are you going to start using

to invite collaboration among your team in English?

I'd love to hear what you plan to do and you can share with me in the comments

below. And now my second question,

if you've successfully invited collaboration among your team,

what English phrases, questions or strategies do you use?

I'd love for you to share because you might have a recommendation that is

exactly what someone else in the Speak Confident English community is looking

for. Again, you can share with me in the comments below.

If you found today's lesson helpful to you, I would love to know,

and you can tell me in a very simple way.

Give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube, and don't forget,

while you're at it, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss my future lessons.

Thank you so much for joining me today,

and I look forward to seeing you next time.