The Importance of Collaborative Teamwork

While we are all more isolated than we would like to be these days, we need to keep jumping on the phone or video conferencing to solve problems and generate creativity with our colleagues. Here’s why.

In our workshops we always open up with a parlor game called Boggle. Boggle features a square jumble of letters we put up for everyone to see. Each person individually has five minutes to write down as many words that can be formed by connecting the letters in various ways . . . up, down, sideways, diagonal etc.

After five minutes we go around the room. The first person reads all the words that popped out to her – say ten – everybody crosses those words off their lists. Then, we go to the next person and ask if he can add any more – usually another seven to ten. Then, the third person adds another five or six and so on.