Cooperation

Everybody knows the difference between good and bad cooperation – and this difference has a huge impact on productivity, quality, and job satisfaction.

One of the most frequent causes of bad cooperation is differences in personality, values, and problem-solving approaches. There is ample research indicating that diversity in an organisation leads to better solutions, but this can just as easily create tensions and challenges. People are very different, and most assume that others think and act as they, themselves, would. When managers and others involved in recruitment, do not possess adequate knowledge and experience to identify these differences and evaluate if, and how, they may contribute positively – there is a risk that the cooperation may become difficult and stressful. Here, a test provides a good opportunity to reveal differences in personality, values, and approaches – both in recruitment contexts, and when there is a need to improve an existing collaboration – see more under Tests (psychological tests).

Another cause for poor cooperation may be organisational: That there has not been established goals, methods, and frameworks when solving a task, or that these have not been sufficiently clarified.

A third cause may be that there, within the organisation, are not sufficient opportunities to vocalise thoughts and feelings concerning decisions, relations in the organisation, etc. Often, expressing every thought and emotion may not be constructive and beneficial for cooperation and relations. However, there is a risk for increased frustration, and decreased motivation, energy, and engagement, if thoughts and feelings are held back. For this reason, it is essential to find methods where both positive and negative emotions can be expressed constructively. This occurs in/is illustrated through the cooperation concept we have termed SAM-arbejde.