We don’t need more meetings. We need a mindset shift.

This is the third instalment of our blog series on collaboration…

If collaboration is the answer, why do so many of our attempts fall flat?

We roll out new tools. We shuffle teams. We introduce open-plan offices, co-located hubs, and cross-functional steering groups. We sit through more meetings. We download another project management platform. We try.

But too often, nothing really changes. We still work in silos. We still chase alignment. We still hear: “This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

So what’s missing?

We’ve confused collaboration with coordination

There’s a crucial difference between collaborating and coordinating. Coordination is about logistics – who does what, when, and with whom. Collaboration is about shared ownership. It's about stepping into a space of trust, creativity, vulnerability and responsibility, all at once.

It’s not about how many people are in the room. It’s about how people show up when they’re there.

True collaboration asks more of us than just participation. It requires presence and engagement. It depends on a willingness to wrestle with difference, stay in the discomfort, and work through complexity together.

Simply turning up to more meetings doesn’t create collaboration. In many cases, more meetings just give the illusion of progress.

Restructuring doesn’t guarantee collaboration either

Over the years, I’ve worked with teams who have been through restructure after restructure in pursuit of “better collaboration”. But what I often find is deep fatigue, low trust, and a collective trauma response. Collaboration doesn’t flourish in those conditions. People feel unsafe. They hold back. They self-protect. Sure, they turn up to meetings. But they don’t feel safe to fully show up.

When we make structural changes without shifting the underlying culture or behaviour, we don’t solve the problem, we just move it around.

Likewise, the physical environment is often mistaken for a collaboration solution. Move people into the same space, and they’ll naturally collaborate, right? Not quite. Proximity isn’t the same as connection. And as I’ve said before, we can’t fix collaboration with beanbags and trendy meeting pods.

The most important element of collaboration? Intentionality.

If we want to do this properly, we need to stop treating collaboration as something that just happens. It doesn’t. It needs to be designed, led, and cultivated over time. It’s a practice. A choice. And it needs maintenance.

In one of my talks on collaboration, I use the metaphor of a table with four legs:

• Commitment
  What are we all committed to here? Are we just committed to the goal of the project, or are we also committed to the act, intentionality and effort of collaboration itself?

• Being
  Are we behaving in a way that supports trust, openness and shared ownership? Are we being collaborative, not just turning up to another meeting or workshop?

• Environment
  Have we created spaces - digital or physical - where collaboration can thrive? Have we intentionally designed the environment for each collaboration? From meeting structures to membership to physical space. How do your collaborations look and take shape?

• Action
  Are we clear on what we’re doing, why, and with whom? Are we practicing accountability and a willingness to hold one another to account in the promises that we make?

We’re mostly good at the last two. These are the ‘doing’ bits. But we often neglect the first two – the deeper foundations. Those are the ‘being’ bits. Without those, the table wobbles.

We need to get better at designing collaboration – not just hoping for it

This is where real change starts. With intention. With asking deeper questions about how we collaborate – not just what we collaborate on.

So I encourage university teams to pause and reflect:

• Are you collaborating or just co-existing or co-ordinating?

• Do your behaviours reflect a commitment to shared success?

• Is your current model of collaboration designed or accidental?

If we want our content strategies, brand work, audience experiences and internal communications to be truly connected, we need to be willing to do this work. To shift from surface-level action to intentional culture building.

And that means looking at the whole system – not just the next meeting.

Want to improve collaboration in your teams and organisations?

Our CEO, Tracy Playle, is a professional certified leadership coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She works extensively with teams and leaders to help improve collaboration in their organisations. This can be done through short talks, workshops or ongoing coaching support. Contact us to learn more and to discuss how we can help you.