Cooperation is a good thing, right? After all, we have been told over and over about its value.

Today, many schools use cooperative learning to help students develop higher-order thinking, learn how to work as a team to develop ideas, and prepare them for the workplace. in business, getting ideas and input from many employees generally results in better processes and products. When a team of people work together, they are more likely to generate innovative ideas, achieve a goal, and feel good about doing it together.

People like to feel that they are part of something, a community, an effort, a successful project.

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According to one study by Zippiamore than 50% of workers in the United States say their jobs depend on COOPERATION. About 75% of employees rate teamwork and cooperation as very important. 86% of employees in leadership positions blame the lack of cooperation as the main reason for failures in the workplace.

It's hard to argue with numbers. As a communicator, I often develop stories about the great work my client's teams have accomplished. They solve complex engineering problems, find ways to continuously improve processes, and define and redefine markets.

However, I have also seen and would argue that not all collaborations are positive. Too much collaboration causes overload, and well-intentioned efforts can fail. Here are five consequences of what I call the “collaboration trap.”

1. Wasted time

Research shows that smaller teams tend to surpass the larger ones. Some believe that four to six individuals is the ideal group size. However, I have seen teams that go way over that number to be comprehensive.

As a result, some individuals are unnecessarily withdrawn from other important work. A larger group requires more coordination and takes more time to discuss issues and reach a complete solution.

2. Group thinking

There are always some in the room who have not learned their skill listening. These individuals take over or dominate conversations. They monopolize the discussion, push their ideas, and cause others to shut down their creative thinking. These individuals may or may not have more experience or knowledge. But others go along, especially more introverted people. This completely defeats the purpose of cooperation.

3. Poor results

You've heard the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” I believe that too much cooperation has the same effect. If a group is too large, creating strong bonds and a sense of purpose is difficult. As a result, there may be a lack of trust. Often, there will be competition for leadership. People pick sides and the best ideas can get lost. If the group tries to incorporate bits and pieces of too many different ideas to make everyone happy, it can certainly “spoil the juice”.

For example, during a recent product launch, we were asked to write a concise video about its features and benefits. When the whole group commented, our sharp two-minute video became a boring six-minute piece.

4. Paralysis

While collaboration is designed to generate the best ideas, people have different personalities and work styles. There are clashes as individuals try to fight their way into jobs and defend their position. When working with teams on creative projects, this is especially problematic because it gets in the way of work and sometimes, it never gets resolved.

However, the same can happen in organizations trying to improve processes or products. PALSYor not making a decision, can be costly.

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5. Employee burnout

For some employees, ongoing collaboration is the first step to getting out the door. There are many meetings and they go from one to the other over and over again – all in the name of cooperation. If employees are working on too many projects at the same time, they feel like they are being overwhelmed. I've only joined calls when my clients admit they have no idea where we are in a project or what we need to accomplish. It takes a mental toll when we are communicating constantly. Sometimes it's easier to do a piece of work alone and regroup.

If it sounds like I'm not a fan of collaboration, I'm not. My media production business is extremely collaborative. We work with client teams to develop the best content. Here are some techniques that have made collaboration successful.

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6 collaborative journeys to succeed

1. If necessary, brainstorm ideas and solutions with a large group, then reduce the group size as the project progresses. This avoids wasted time and too many collaborators.
2. Designate someone to lead the group and set ground rules for the meetings to ensure everyone has a chance to participate.
3. Remind the group to respect the ideas of others and ask probing questions when they do not understand someone's position. Don't let individuals hijack the conversation.
4. Avoid endless meetings. Try not to book a full hour or half hour. Instead, book until 55:00 or 25:00 to give people time to catch their breath before the next meeting.
5. Document work and use collaboration tools to keep everyone on track.
6. Not everything requires cooperation. Break up the work and let individuals do it themselves. Then ask them to bring it back to the group for review and comment.