When great minds get together for a common purpose, things tend to get done. Collaborative environments foster creativity and — as long as the conversations and activities are carefully managed — are typically more productive than working solo. Focus is always the key; centering on the one or more issues that need to be resolved and forming a consensus on the proper course of action.
Without collaboration, we might not have rocket science — not, at least, worthwhile rocket science. It’s how NASA got a man on the moon and, in the case of the almost catastrophic Apollo 13 mission, back home safely. Collaborative teams with a mix of analytical minds can bring a variety of ideas to the table for assessment and scrutiny. Work groups are typically quicker at identifying the best route for the organization to take and developing the most efficient strategies.
That doesn’t mean individualism is bad. As a matter of fact, the ability to work independently is often listed as a top requirement in job descriptions. Most businesses need people with a passion to create who can work unaccompanied on their own projects and tactical activities. Everyone has to be capable of handling the typical, daily work that’s assigned to them — but sometimes, you need help generating greater ideas and tackling larger projects. Major plans rarely get off the ground, let alone completed, without the input and support of your team.
CompTIA Collaboration
The value of teamwork can be difficult for most companies to calculate until they can see the tangible results of their efforts. Those who have used any of CompTIA’s extensive channel training programs, Trustmarks and business practice resources surely know what collaboration is worth. Virtually everything the association offers in these areas was formulated, created or tested by working groups within its member communities and councils.
There’s no better place to see collaboration in action than a gathering of solution providers, vendors, agents and other channel professionals. The combined sessions of the CompTIA Advisory Councils was a perfect example of teamwork as they pondered the future needs of their respective constituents. They started with a joint session of all three groups — Partner, Telecom and Vendor — with Bruce Stuart from ChannelCorp facilitating that discussion.
It’s no secret that the channel is in the midst of significant transformation, and industry research suggests the rate of change will continue to escalate in the coming years. According to Stuart, unless solution providers learn to become more responsive to their customers evolving needs, their businesses may fail in the next few years. That result is unacceptable to CompTIA and its member-led groups, and they’ll work diligently to develop resources and programs to assist those who need an assist.
The joint council meeting broke into smaller, mixed member work groups to discuss the challenges ahead for CompTIA. With so many new “born in the cloud” organizations, is the association adding real value to those who follow the latest business models. Each work group developed ideas and deliverables to address that issue and then presented its points in a general session.
Providers, master agents and a variety of vendors all shared their points of view and worked through various concerns. The result was quite enlightening and Joe Infante, president of Dynamic Strategies summarized it well: “Mixing the PAC, TAC and VAC members was extremely beneficial. Everyone was on the same page in the discussions instead of coming up with separate ideas and trying to reconcile them later. It forced us to validate the discussions.”
Brian Sherman is principal consultant at Tech Success Communications, an IT channel business development and marketing firm. He served previously as chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
