A successful company depends on its teams working together harmoniously. But how this looks can differ. For instance, some businesses focus on a collaborative culture, while others employ a cooperative model.
Understanding the nuances between collaboration vs. cooperation makes it easier to decide when to use each (or both) based on your team’s needs.
Collaboration vs. cooperation: What’s the difference?
Collaboration is when two or more people work together to achieve a common goal.
In a workplace, co-workers on the same team may work together on a project to complete the tasks faster. Collaboration combines the strengths of each individual, such as their skills, knowledge, and perspectives. Collaborative sessions may include brainstorming ideas, making decisions, or solving problems.
Cooperation, on the other hand, is when one or more people work toward a common goal — but it doesn’t have to be together.
For instance, the sales team may cooperate with marketing by sharing leads, and marketing may supply helpful materials to highlight selling points. However, the two don’t have to work together in the same room or on the same projects. They just share a common goal — to increase the company’s revenue.
Note that cooperation can also occur outside of the company. For example, two companies can cooperate by sharing resources, such as their expertise or technology.
Why it’s important to use collaboration and cooperation
Collaboration encourages innovation, creativity, and problem-solving, which can improve productivity and efficiency.
It allows individuals to work together in a democratic way, enabling different perspectives, skill sets, and ideas to be shared. It builds trust, relationships, and a sense of community, which can help with business growth.
For example, the customer support team can collaborate with the sales team to better learn the needs and concerns of customers and prospects. They can work together to develop customer personas that detail who they are, common pain points, and ways to improve customer experiences.
On the other hand, cooperation enables teams to complete tasks more efficiently by leveraging the skills and knowledge of different teams without uprooting them from their existing projects.
Having your marketing team cooperate with the product design team allows them to receive information about new features and benefits, so marketing messages are accurate. In turn, they can share customer surveys that help the product team better understand customer problems.
In business, it’s often beneficial to incorporate both models in your culture. Using the two styles will allow your company to expand on the abilities and knowledge found across teams and departments to maximize productivity.
You’ll also prevent information from being gated and create more cohesive teams.
When to use cooperation over collaboration (and vice versa)
Deciding when to choose cooperation or collaboration as a work style depends on what needs to be done and by whom. Here are two scenarios where one style may be better than the other:
- A programmer has a deadline for a product launch, but the task is too large or complex for one person to accomplish. In this scenario, collaboration is the best solution because it allows for the combination of two or more programmers to work on the same task.
- The HR department needs to onboard employees at a startup, but there’s no formal training system set up. So they assign the new hires to team members in the departments they’re hired in to learn the ropes. The team cooperates with HR to onboard the new employees.
Collaboration is a good option for when you need hands-on help from someone who has the skills to assist with a task, decision, or other goals.
Cooperation is ideal when you need help with achieving an objective, but don’t need direct assistance. Instead, you need them to complete an adjacent task or support you in achieving an outcome.
How to leverage collaboration and cooperation in your business
Implementing the two working styles starts by understanding your teams and what kind of support they need to maximize their talent and productivity.
Remote and hybrid companies
One report shows those working full time from the office spend twice as much time collaborating with others than those who work remotely. If you’re a remote-first company, then having tools in place to make working together easier is crucial.
For example, you can set up weekly video huddles to discuss projects, ideas, and problems.
You can also create a hub where knowledge-sharing is encouraged, such as a wiki. Carve out places where workers can discuss their ideas with members of other departments. For example, you can create channels in Slack to enable easier communication between different groups.
Also try using collaboration-minded tools like Google Docs and Asana for projects so it’s easier for everyone to contribute while staying organized.
In-office companies
If you’re working in the office, focus on building collaboration by creating open workspaces. Not possible? Then hold regular cross-departmental meetings that encourage collaborative communication and mingling.
Also, just because you work together in person doesn’t mean you should shy away from adopting collaborative software. For example, you can communicate virtually throughout the day vs. trekking across the building each time you need to ask something.
As you build a workplace that’s collaborative and cooperative, gather feedback from your teams to see what works, what doesn’t, and what they believe will improve results. Over time, you’ll have a work environment that’s tightknit, productive, and silo-free.
Examples of collaboration and cooperation
Collaboration and cooperation will look different across organizations. It depends on their size, industry, and goals.
Here’s a look at the various ways businesses can leverage collaboration internally and externally:
- Co-creation: Co-creation may involve collaborating with sales, marketing, and product teams to develop a product or service that meets customers’ needs. For example, a company may hold cross-department meetings to discuss common customer complaints, product bugs, and other matters that can spur ideas for improvements.
- Joint ventures: Joint ventures involve two or more companies coming together to create a new business entity to achieve a shared goal. For example, two companies may collaborate to create a new product or service that neither could have created independently.
And here’s how cooperation may look internally and externally:
- Cross-functional teams: Encourage different departments within a company to cooperate to achieve a shared goal. For example, a product development team may ask the sales and marketing team to cooperate by sharing customer insights so they can create a product that meets the market’s needs.
- Strategic partnerships: When two or more companies cooperate to achieve a shared goal, they can both leverage their respective strengths. For example, a small video game maker may partner with a well-known distributor to promote their video game launch. Without the promoter’s help, the boutique video game studio may not gain much traction.
Diana Stepanova, operations director at business productivity tool Monitask, leverages collaboration by creating a culture that values dissenting opinions and encourages team members to share their perspectives.
“We have established a ‘question bank’ system in which team members can submit questions or challenges they’re facing in the workplace,” explains Stepanova. “Each team member then answers these questions and provides alternative solutions.”
This encourages collaboration, as team members can brainstorm and prioritize uncommon answers that the larger group may have overlooked. The results of this process: more creative solutions, better decision-making, and an overall improved work environment.
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