Beyond Collaboration Overload: How to Work Smarter, Get Ahead, and Restore Your Well-Being

"Companies consume 85% of workers' time in collaborative activities. But they have no idea if all this collaboration benefits corporate performance, individual productivity, or employee well-being. Today's corporations are plagued by stress, loss of engagement, and attrition, which cripple them in their quest for a competitive edge. What's going on? Collaboration. Yes, that seemingly Good Thing all companies encourage is creating overload and burnout. It crushes our vitality and well-being, prevents us from being innovative, and blocks our companies from being the most successful organizations they could be. To some this is surprising. It's assumed that it's always better to collaborate more-and faster. But the toll of all this time on collaborative platforms, email, phone and video calls, meetings, and texts after work is far more severe than companies know. So what can be done? In his breakthrough research using network analysis and hundreds of in-depth interviews, Rob Cross has found the answer to collaboration overload. By taking action on three fronts, the best performers streamline collaboration and keep overload from derailing their careers. They use their freed-up time to invest in collaboration activities that drive performance by: mobilizing a broad network for scale, creating "pull" by drawing people and ideas to them, engaging in renewal activities to promote well-being. High performers in today's hyperconnected world create enormous impact through their networks while, amazingly, spending the least amount of time on collaborative tasks. They don't do anything magical. They simply make sure that they collaborate only where they can add unique value-and only where collaboration provides unique value to them. You can do it too. And by applying these collaborators' best practices, you can reclaim a whopping 18 percent to 24 percent of your time-a workday every week-to invest in activities that contribute to your professional success and your overall well-being"--
A plan for conquering collaborative overload to drive performance and innovation, reduce burnout, and enhance well-being.Most organizations have created always-on work contexts that are burning people out and hurting performance rather than delivering productivity, innovation and engagement. Collaborative work consumes 85% of employees' time and is drifting earlier into the morning, later into the night, and deeper into the weekend.The dilemma is that we all need to collaborate more to create effective organizations and vibrant careers for ourselves. But conventional wisdom on teamwork and collaboration has created too much of the wrong kind of collaboration, which hurts our performance, health and overall well-being.In Beyond Collaboration Overload, Babson professor Rob Cross solves this paradox by showing how top performers who thrive at work collaborate in a more purposeful way that makes them 18-24% more efficient than their peers. Good collaborators are distinguished by the efficiency and intentionality of their collaboration&not the size of their network or the length of their workday.Through landmark research with more than 300 organizations, in-depth stories, and tools, Beyond Collaboration Overload will coach you to reclaim close to a day a week when you:Identify and challenge beliefs that lead you to collaborate too quicklyImpose structure in your work to prevent unproductive collaborationAlter behaviors to create more efficient collaborationIt then outlines how successful people invest this reclaimed time to:Cultivate a broad network&not a big one&for innovation and scaleEnergize others&a strong predictor of high performanceConnect with others to reduce micro-stressors and enhance physical and mental well-beingCross' framework provides relief from the definitive problem of our age&dysfunctional collaboration at the expense of our performance, health and overall well-being.