We’re in the middle of a crisis in collaboration. Digitally, we’re more connected than ever. We’re surrounded with devices boasting a never-ending list of collaboration tools. We’ve continually layered technology to help us crack the secret of working together better, a trend that was turbo charged by COVID. But it isn’t working.

According to Gallup, two-thirds of US employees are disengaged. The global numbers are even worse. That means that large numbers of people are neither collaborating nor being collaborated with effectively. This is happening at a time when work is shifting to being increasingly collaborative and project based.

The risk of this disengagement is more than turnover and quiet quitting. It presents an existential threat to companies. Globally, 65% of projects fail to meet their objectives. 17% of IT projects fail so spectacularly they put the future of the business at risk.

Clearly, collaboration needs improving. So, what can we do?

First, we need to realize that simply putting people together on a team and giving them tech isn’t the same as fostering collaboration. Working together effectively is more than having a shared task and occupying the same physical or digital space. Everyone who has worked on a school project can attest to that. And yet, companies insist on repeating that same basic approach to collaboration that has let us down since grade school to critical projects.

Second, we need to treat collaboration as a skill. Like leadership, collaboration is a collection of hard and soft skills that can be taught, practiced, and improved. Employers need to abandon the idea that learning to collaborate effectively is a by-product of work or something that happens by osmosis. The data says otherwise. We have to train people for them to succeed at collaborating.

Third, we need to build cultures of belonging and inclusion. Again, this is more than just putting a diverse group of people together in a room with no support. In this case, employees need the knowledge to work together inclusively. What are microaggressions? How do you use proper pronouns? How do you make accommodations for someone with an invisible disability? What behaviors support or sabotage collaboration?

Focusing on strengthening collaboration through training and culture is key. However, the existing models of collaboration aren’t enough to solve the problem because they don’t address what is actually happening between participants when they collaborate. Our new, groundbreaking model pulls apart the behaviors, tasks, and roles that make up collaboration – AND how to make it more inclusive.

Collaborating isn’t one activity or style of working. It’s a dynamic set of activities; each with their own needs, challenges, and benefits. We move in and out of these activities fluidly, not recognizing that with each shift, the rules and expectations that govern the collaboration change. This mismatch in roles and expectations is one of the key sources of tension between would-be collaborators. It can rupture partnerships and break teams.

The workplace challenges created by ineffective collaboration are clear: disengagement, lack of diversity, group think, and burnout to name a few. The good news is that giving employees the tools and knowledge to understand what’s happening as they collaborate makes teams more inclusive and engaged, boosting innovation and improving business outcomes.