Collaborating

Being able to collaborate helps us work with others while using technology to achieve our goals.

It's all about: teamwork, co-operating and building relationships.

Your collaborating skill

You use your collaboration skills every day.

In school, you might have worked as part of a group to deliver a class presentation.

In your job, you may have had to work with another colleague to finish something before the end of your shift.

And, in your social life, organising a day out with friends needs collaboration too. You may work together to decide dates, times and activities.

Being a good collaborator will help you learn from others.

Top tips for developing your collaboration skills

In general: If your friends have a disagreement, you can help see one another’s point of view and come to a mutual understanding.
In school: Helping a classmate who’s having trouble with a maths problem and offering to help them work it out.
In work: Working with people in different departments to effectively deliver a project.

Describing your collaboration skills to employers

Employers will want to know you can work effectively with others on a task. This includes taking actions as well as respecting other people’s contributions. Think about examples when:

you’ve worked as part of a team
you’ve taken action to solve a problem with others
you’ve given others space to add their own ideas by listening carefully to their input

The key thing is to emphasise how you’ve worked with others in a group, and how you've built positive relationships along the way.