Leaders dont lead in a vacuum.
They work with teams. They compare notes and share experiences with executives. They help guide organizations full of people.
All those people have different ideas, skill sets and areas of expertise. So why would any leader want to lead in a vacuum?
Through collaboration, leaders gain the value of multiple points of views and areas of expertise. It lets you gather the best ideas and choose those that promise to get you to your goals. But collaboration also means leaving your ego at the door and finding the best compromise sometimes, especially when its needed.
For finance leaders, being able to effectively collaborate with team members within and outside of finance is critical. In fact, in our latest benchmark survey, 24% of finance leaders said it was a lack of collaboration with other departments that was holding them back from unlocking the full potential of their strategic business partnering.
Its really hard to get people to buy into targets when finance is setting them, and much easier to get them to move towards those goals when [other stakeholders] were really part of developing them, Kaz Takemura, National Leader of FP&A Technologies for BDO Lixar, said in Venas 2022 livestream, Applying Systems for Value-Focused Business Partnering.
Developing collaboration skills and learning how to compromise, then, are important for anyone hoping to become a finance leader in the future. Thankfully, collaboration and compromise are part of every level of businessmeaning theres plenty of time to learn along the leadership track.
So lets look at some of the ways you can take your collaboration skills to the next level.
Today, finance is a group effort. Gone are the siloed teams where everyone focused on their own duties and data sets, with little interaction between them. Today, everyone works together, sharing information and creating common processes and goals. Even a single-member finance team needs to collaborate with their leadership team and the rest of their organization.
That means all the strong relationships finance createsin fact, any positive communication or negotiationcome with a side order of collaboration. And its why collaboration is critical if you want to build out goals that benefit everyone. [C]hange requires leaders to break down traditional silos, emphasizing the benefits of partnership to any lines of business that may view their data as proprietary, the Harvard Business Review writes.
Creating a culture of collaboration can help establish you as a leader who stands by their team. But it does more than that too. It can help your team feel, well part of the team, and like their ideas matter. And that can enhance productivity and engagement, create a more positive work environment and help ensure your best talent stays on board.
Compromise can be part of collaborationbecause in a democratic environment where collaboration is celebrated, nobody can get everything they want every time. And thats the case even if youre a leader. Thats why, if you want to be a leader who respects their team and builds a culture where every idea is valued, youre going to have to learn how to compromise. But more than that, youre going to have to learn how to help others navigate compromise too.
That means understanding when compromise is a good thingand when it weakens your overall position or goes against the values of your business. It also means learning to listen to all sides of an argument to determine the best compromise for the situation at hand.
As Entrepreneur puts it: Before you can find out where the middle ground is, you need to know where the opposing side is. What is it that the other party wants? And why? What points of disagreement does that party have with your side, and what makes him or her feel that way?
Only at that point can the right compromise be determined.
By collaborating across the organization on everything from setting business goals to determining the strategies and departmental budgets that will help you reach them, you can start to build a more cohesive business where everyone is on the same page. That will also help them better understand any compromises they need to make along the way. So how can you build that culture of compromise and collaboration into your finance team and business as a whole?
To become a strong partner to the rest of your business, try these tips for better collaboration and compromise.
The best collaborations and compromises start with a culture of trust and transparency. Yet 50% of employees feel like a lack of transparency holds their company back.
To provide this much needed transparency, start by being clear in your objectives and how youre looking to achieve them. Offer honest but friendly feedback as you go. Encourage risk taking and going against the grain. And give your entire team visibility into your expectations and results. All of this will help establish the trust that true collaboration is built on.
I see finance as the coach or the camp leader, overseeing the overall strategy, with each of the areas of the business playing their vital part with input into the plans and strategies but with finance really acting enabled."
Kaz Takemura, National Leader of FP&A Technologies, BDO Lixar
By understanding everyones motives, as well as the underlying goals and obstacles of the organization as a whole, finance teams can better collaborate toward business objectives and agree on compromises that will overcome hurdles. That will help you build the momentum you need to reach your business goals and create a stronger, more cohesive organization as a whole.
I see finance as the coach or the camp leader, overseeing the overall strategy, with each of the areas of the business playing their vital part with input into the plans and strategies but with finance really acting enabled, Kaz told Vena.
By coaching everyone toward goals that everyone can get behind, youll build a shared purpose and put everyone on the same path toward it.
Empathy, like transparency, is a key ingredient to any good collaboration. After all, understanding the point of view of the people youre collaborating with makes it easier to concede or meet in the middle on points that matter to them. It also helps you weigh their ideas considerately and give them impactful, but careful feedback even when you dont agree.
This kind of team approach can improve morale and let everyone feel like they mattermaking it easier to get to a final consensus.
While some collaborations may ultimately end up in a compromise, the best will come to a compromise that keeps everyone satisfied. Making that happen starts with understanding which lines youre willing to cross and which youre notand assessing the same from your collaborators.
From there, its all about brainstorming alternatives and staying flexible in your thinkingknowing ideas might come up during your collaboration that you wouldnt have thought of alone. And thats a good thing! Remember that getting too set in your initial ideas can make it hard to stay open to any others.
In todays world of dispersed and remote workforces, face-to-face collaboration can be harder to achieve. But technology fills the gaps, offering a way for finance teams to collaborate over the tasks at hand without needing to be in the same room.
This includes using communication tools (e.g. Slack) and project management solutions (e.g. Asana). For finance, it also includes collaborative business planning toolssuch as Venathat let you connect people and teams within and outside of finance during critical processes like budget creation.
The best collaboration tools will allow you to share information and data and work together toward a common goalwhether youre in the same room or working on different ends of the globe.
Today, the best leaders understand that everyones opinion mattersand that the best ideas come when you let everyone have a say. And that means learning how to best collaborate with your team, organization and other stakeholders. It also means learning how to compromise so you can get to the best solution for everyone.
When you do it right, the result can be better ideas and a stronger, happier team.
Looking to elevate your skills as a strategic business partner even further? Learn how effective storytelling, negotiation and relationship building skills can help you excel as a finance leader and become an invaluable partner to your entire organization.