Complex business problems typically involve more than one person. Even if you’re the only one who’s ultimately responsible for resolving a challenge, you may still need to collaborate with employees, partners, or customers in order to discover and implement the best solution.

The upside of collaborative problem solving is that other people can bring fresh perspectives that open up new ways of thinking about an issue. An approach to a problem that you might never have considered on your own.

But there’s a potential downside as well. The more people you involve in the process, the more layers of emotional complexity you’ll need to manage.

Additional perspectives come with the same biases, attachments, egos, limiting beliefs, blind spots, and assumptions that we struggle with ourselves. What starts out as a friendly and open group conversation can quickly spiral into disagreements and stonewalling.

So how can you balance multiple perspectives and personalities while keeping conversations moving in the right direction?

There are three key skills that can help make collaborative problem solving much more efficient, engaging, and effective.

• Focus: Being fully present with others isn’t always easy. We all know what it feels like when someone we’re speaking with is mentally checked out. The longer you can maintain your own focus, the easier it will be to create a more meaningful connection with others.
• Deep listening: If you want someone to consider your point of view, you need to first be open to hearing theirs. Being focused and present sets the foundation for this type of high-quality, active listening. When you’re truly engaging with other people’s perspectives and ideas, you’ll catch the critical details that you might have missed if you were just waiting for your turn to speak.
• Inquiry: Once you’re fully present and truly listening, it’s easier to tap into your natural curiosity and shift from telling to asking. Posing the types of thoughtful questions that create space for fresh insights, invite others to share their perspective, and open the door to new possibilities and solutions.

Over the next few posts, we’ll explore ways to build on your innate focus, listening, and inquiry skills to help make collaborative problem solving much easier. But in the meantime…

What will you do today to become more attuned to other people’s perspectives and insights?

Will you think about how easy or hard it is for you to stay present, open, and curious?