Part One: How To Make Collaboration Work For You

 
As freelancers our world view is often much more solitary than most others. However it doesn’t need to be. In a world which is more connected than ever before (thanks in no small part to the Internet), understanding how collaboration can benefit your work is an important asset.
Certainly one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as a freelancer, and later when running a web design agency, is that we cannot be perfectionists with everything. Sometimes it’s essential to get expert help or input.
 
However, this article is not just a discussion of the amorphous benefits that are so often attributed to collaborative activities. When consulting academic work on the topic there is an increasing propensity to collaborate, but there is also a healthy dose of skepticism on the situations where it is actually beneficial.
 
What are the underlying reasons to collaborate?
 
An increasing complexity in all industries over the past century has meant a growing need for collaboration. No longer does society expect a lone ‘creative genius’ to emerge from a dark laboratory with their latest findings. Rather, as topics become more complex and interdisciplinary work is prized, teams of developers with diverse specialities are needed to solve problems together. Besides the complications in knowledge, there are two main drivers for collaboration:
 
1. Access to information
Complex research requires varied approaches, theories and knowledge specialisations order to find solutions. These solutions could be found in the insights offered from a diverse group of collaborators. You may not individually understand node.js, iOS development,  Ruby on Rails and Drupal. But if you surround yourself with experts and peers who have a wide background of knowledge then you will be well placed to leverage this with your own projects.   
 
2. Access to equipment
Secondly, there are often constraints in gaining resources as freelancers, accessing not just specialised equipment but also basic infrastructure and office space. Not to mention items such as printers, scanners, a meeting room and other assets that provide a business or a freelancer with a sufficient basis from which to operate and maintain credibility. Fortunately with the web the barriers to entry and trade are low, but that doesn’t eliminate them altogether. Collaboration means these resources can be accessed immediately, or else provides a network in which they can be gained while sharing financial responsibility.
 
Is Collaboration For You?
Consider web design as an example of a field in which collaboration can often be met with resilience. However, very few individuals have the ability to design beautiful concepts in Photoshop, translate these designs into clean HTML/CSS and have the development experience to then combine with backend systems to create a finished product. This doesn’t even consider all the additional dynamics of system admin, online marketing and search engine optimisation (just for starters). My head hurts thinking about the depth of understanding required to truly have specialised knowledge in so many fields.
 
And this is not unique to web design. I would argue that this observation can be repeated across almost all industries and fields. You might be experienced in many aspects of your profession – but in how many is it possible to actually excel?
 
How To Make Collaboration Work For You
When you’re faced with a situation that you’re not totally familiar with, time constraints mean that you won’t be able to adequately master it personally. You need to start looking for external involvement. When looking for collaborators it is frequently the informal networking connections you have made that provide an abundance of resources. Consider the below graph representing the fact that 75% of positions filled in a project management environment were found via networking.
 
There is an abundance of sites that will help you source external contributions for your project (this blog features an excellent job board for starters) but you can also harness some of the wider, informal connections you might have already established. I run a web design agency comprising of 29 members and of these exactly 25 have been sourced from recommendations from friends, 2 from online agencies or blogs such as FreelanceSwitch and 1 from more traditional job advertising. (See Here for an example of positions filled by networking). 

Three surefire ways to ensure collaboration works for you:
 
1. Take advantage of the ‘hidden job network’
Ensure you are fully exploring the resources already available to you through networking, old and new connections and resources such as this blog.
 
2. Evaluate your own ability to collaborate
Never stop re-assessing your own behaviour when working in a team: often self-evaluation is more important than that of others or the team as a whole. Recognise what kind of collaboration suits you and work with, not against, your environment accordingly.
 
3. Compromise and clarify
Going from solo to collaborative work can present difficulties that require a great degree of compromise from many parties. Ensure your team are clear on their objectives, responsibilities and overarching goal by setting guidelines for yourself and others to adhere to in order to prevent arguments further down the track. Always practice what you preach, learning the art of compromise to ensure collaborative efforts work to their maximum capacity. 
 
Watch this space for the second installment of our reseach on Collaboration: How To Find Your Own Style.