1. Tearing Down the Walls
Blocking Collaboration and
Better Business Performance
+1 (866) 374-4501
www.esi-intl.ca

2. As the economic recession continues, it is more critical than ever for organizations to opti-
mize performance despite tighter budgets and fewer resources. Organizations stand the
best chance of getting the most from their projects and initiatives, with current resources,
by utilizing and supporting collaborative teams.
True collaboration within organizations means that team-oriented, rather than individual,
problem solving adds real value to initiatives, improving bottom line results. In this sense,
the sum is really more than its parts.
To find out if organizations are truly leveraging collaborative teaming efforts for measur-
able performance and productivity gains, ESI International conducted a survey of nearly
900 industry and government professionals involved in project activities across Canada.
The survey set out to determine:
• How successful organizations are in meeting the challenge of eliminating hierarchies,
titles and silos to work collaboratively.
• How well organizations support project leaders and team members so they can
deliver to their fullest potential and improve project and organizational performance.
Major Findings
• The majority of organizations, in fact, do not work collaboratively, despite the value
that they realize would come from better teamwork.
• Rigid work structures exist within companies that keep people from working together.
• Organizations are not investing in the right mix of skills training needed to improve
collaboration on projects and initiatives.
2

3. Survey Summary
Less Than One-Third of Teams
Effectively Drive Project Success
The survey results show a huge gap between what project professionals believe about
collaborative teams and how effective they are in putting collaboration into practice.
• 65.5 percent of respondents believe that their organization’s project performance
would improve if their teams worked more collaboratively.
• Yet, only 27.8 percent of teams are actually working collaboratively and realizing
satisfactory project performance and outcomes.
Collaboration Has Positive Impact on Project Performance
Canadian project professionals say
project performance and outcomes:
Would improve if our teams
2.1% worked more collaboratively
4.6%
Are satisfactory since our teams
already work collaboratively
Don’t know
Wouldn’t be impacted since we
don’t currently work across teams
65.5%
27.8%
Source: ESI International
Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance 3
© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

4. Collaboration Hindered by Work Structure, Hierarchy
Just over one-third of teams in Canadian organizations (35.5 percent) work collaboratively.
The great majority who are not using collaborative teaming for improved performance
point to specific reasons why not:
• More than half of respondents (54.6 percent) do not consistently work collaboratively
in teams since their work structure is dependent either on the project, the team or the
sponsor.
• An additional 9.9 percent are hierarchical with little or no collaboration between
project roles.
Hit-or-Miss Collaboration Between Project Roles
In our organization, the roles of
project leaders and team members are:
Project dependent
1.7%
3% Non-hierarchical/collaboration
Hierarchical, with little or no
interaction/collaboration between
7.6%
42.3% Team dependent
Other
9.9%
Project sponsor dependent
35.5%
Source: ESI International
4

5. Strong Communication Skills
Essential to Collaboration
Business skills, such as communications and strategic thinking, are the foundation upon
which teams need to work collaboratively.
In addition to an overwhelming majority (80.9 percent) who say their project teams need
to improve communication, in some cases, half or nearly half say their project professionals
need improvement in the following skills for better cross-team collaboration:
• Communication (80.9 percent)
• Leadership (49.6 percent)
• Critical thinking (47.3 percent)
• Coaching and mentoring (44.1 percent)
• General business acumen (35.4 percent)
• None of the above (4.1 percent)
Dire Need for Essential Business Skills for Project Success
Canadian project professionals said the critical business skills
project professionals need for better collaboration are:
90%
80.9%
80%
70%
60%
49.6%
50% 47.3%
44.1%
40% 35.4%
30%
20%
10%
4.1%
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Source: ESI International
Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance 5
© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

6. Organizations Recognize Need for Skills
That Drive Organizational Change
81.7 percent of respondents believe their organization sees value in ensuring people that
work on projects have the right combination of business skills, as well as technical skills, as
they drive new innovations, such as cloud computing.
Organizations Value Balance of Skills for Success of Key Initiatives
Canadian project professionals said their organizations value
providing the right mix of business and technical skills to ensure
the success of change initiatives, such as cloud computing:
Agree
3.1%
Somewhat agree
Strongly agree
7.4% 32.2% Don’t have an opinion
Disagree
7.8%
Strongly disagree
19.2%
30.3%
Source: ESI International
6

7. Organizations Ineffective in
Providing the Right Training
Despite valuing a mix of business and technical skills to support key initiatives, organiza-
tions fail to provide the appropriate skills training that would strike the proper balance.
• Only 38.4 percent of project professionals believe their organization actually provides
an appropriate mix of skills training.
• 61.6 percent report no training at all or various combinations of training, as noted
below, that may not meet the skills requirements needed for effective collaboration:
Ț A good mix of technical and business skills training (38.4 percent)
Ț Mostly technical with some business skills training (25.8 percent)
Ț No training (14.6 percent)
Ț Mostly business skills with some technical training (12.9 percent)
Ț Only technical skills training (4.7 percent)
Ț Only business skills training (3.6 percent)
Majority of Organizations Don’t Provide the
Right Training, or Any Training at All
Our organization provides the following training to project
leaders and team members to enhance the technical and
business skills they need to effectively work across teams:
A good mix of technical and
business skills training
3.6%
4.7% Mostly technical with some
business skills
No training
38.4%
Mostly business skills with some
12.9% technical training
Only technical training
Only business skills training
14.6%
25.8%
Source: ESI International
Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance 7
© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

8. Turning Collaboration Theory into Practice
Based on the survey results, there is a wide gap between the idea of collaboration and the
reality. In the current business environment, organizations should have an even greater
incentive to support collaboration.
Unlike people working within traditional hierarchal roles and responsibilities, team-
oriented collaboration brings with it greater agility to solve problems, improve processes
and foster innovative thinking.
The first step is to offer team members the right training for a balanced set of business and
technical skills.
To further ensure that teams attain their greatest potential, organizations will want to
follow established best practices for collaboration, including:
1) Model collaborative behavior, starting at the executive level.
2) Develop unique relationship-building practices customized to your business
environment.
3) Ensure employees have the skills of collaboration.
4) Support a sense of community.
5) Assign leaders who are both task- and relationship-oriented.
6) Build on existing relationships.
7) Assign distinct roles to team members.
8) Provide individuals with autonomy over discrete pieces of the project.
Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007, November) “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” Harvard Business Review.
8

9. Summary
While a majority of Canadian organizations agree that team collaboration enhances busi-
ness performance, very few are actually providing the right training mix to ensure teams
have what they need to thrive in a collaborative way. Furthermore, even fewer teams are
making a positive business impact through collaboration, although most would agree
collaboration leads to success.
Applying best practices such as more autonomy within projects, tearing down organiza-
tional barriers and designating specific roles to team members can lead to more collabora-
tion, better project/initiative outcomes and, ultimately, higher overall business impact.
Tearing Down the Walls: Blocking Collaboration and Better Business Performance 9
© ESI International, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

10. Survey Methodology
ESI International sent an email survey of eight close-ended questions to project manage-
ment and business analysis directors, managers and staff, and other professionals in
Canada involved in their organizations’ projects.
Which of the following best
describes your job category?
Project Management—
1.7% Manager or Staff
6.6%
Other
Business Analysis—
Manager or Staff
47.5% Project Management—
Director and above
21.9% Business Analysis—
Director and above
22.3%
The survey respondents represented sectors including, among others, government (32
Source: ESI International
percent) financial services (18.4 percent), Information Technology (18 percent), Energy/
Utilities (5.8 percent)and telecommunications (5.6 percent).
Industry
Government
Financial Services
Information Technology
2% 10.1% 32.3% Energy/Utilities
2.5%
Telecommunications
2.5%
2.9% Construction/Engineering
Pharma and Healthcare
5.6%
18.4% Manufacturing
Retail
5.8% 18%
Other
Source: ESI International
The survey was conducted from late August to early September 2011, with 895 respon-
dents completing the survey. Not all respondents answered every survey question. The
survey was anonymous unless respondents wanted to receive the results, in which case
they had to submit their contact details.
10

11. About ESI International
ESI, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people around the world improve the way
they manage projects, contracts, requirements and vendors through innovative learning.
In addition to ESI’s more than 100 courses delivered in more than a dozen languages
at hundreds of locations worldwide, ESI offers several certificate programs through our
educational partner, The George Washington University in Washington. Founded in 1981,
ESI has regional headquarters in Toronto and Washington. To date, ESI’s programs have
benefited more than 1.35 million professionals worldwide. For more information visit
www.esi-intl.ca.
+1 (866) 374-4501
For more information about how ESI can help your organization, call us
at +1 (866) 374-4501 or visit www.esi-intl.ca.
www.esi-intl.ca