# Finding Collaboration Ideas

Teams examine high-coordination outside fields such as pit crews or surgical teams and adapt specific operating practices to their own internal workflows.

**Time:** 25 minutes. Source indicates 15-30 minutes; standard UWT run is set to 25 minutes.
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs or trios, followed by whole-room debrief

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify external coordination models and convert their specific mechanisms into testable team collaboration habits.
**Use it when:** Use when an existing team feels stuck in repetitive meeting formats, slow handoffs, or inefficient work patterns.
**Skip it when:** Skip when team roles are undefined or when the immediate need is resolving interpersonal conflict rather than process design.

## Materials and tools

- One prompt sheet per participant or displayed slide
- One blank worksheet or notepad per small group
- Pens or markers

## Before participants arrive

1. Print prompt sheets or project the reference models on a screen.
2. Arrange seating into clusters of two to three participants.

## Say this to open

Great collaboration rarely comes from staring at our own habits. We will look at groups whose survival or performance depends on extreme coordination, like pit crews, emergency rooms, or live broadcasting. Your task is to pick one external model, isolate how they communicate or hand off tasks, and translate one specific mechanic into our work.

## How to run it

### 1. Select outside model (4 minutes)

Read the opening script. Form pairs or trios. Direct groups to choose one high-coordination domain from the prompt sheet (for example, pit crews, surgical teams, beehives, or live television control rooms) or propose an agreed equivalent.

### 2. Analyze the mechanism (7 minutes)

Small groups answer two questions: Exactly how do they communicate or organize tools under pressure? Why does that specific practice work for them? Write concrete observations on scratch paper.

### 3. Translate to team practice (8 minutes)

Each group develops one direct adaptation for our team. For example, if an emergency room keeps critical tools visible on wall boards to cut seconds, a team might pin active project links to the top of a channel instead of burying them in docs. Groups write their rule in the format: 'Like [model], we will [specific behavior] when [trigger condition].'

### 4. Share and debrief (6 minutes)

Invite three groups to read their proposed rule. Gather all written proposals on a shared board or document for team review.


## Debrief questions

- Which external rule would cause the least friction to test for one week?
- What difference between their environment and ours might make that rule fail if we do not adjust it?

**Finished output:** A list of concrete, testable working agreements adapted from outside coordination models.

## Remote

Run in breakout rooms of 2 to 3 people. Provide the prompt list and capture worksheet in a shared digital document. In the final step, ask each room to paste their formatted rule into the main chat or slide.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person attendees together and remote attendees in virtual breakout rooms. Ensure the reference models and response document are shared digitally so all pairs write into the same repository.

## Access and participation choices

- Offer written reference examples so participants do not rely on prior domain knowledge.
- Participants may contribute spoken observations or type/write for their group without speaking to the full room.

## If the session gets stuck

**Groups pick vague concepts like 'they communicate well' instead of concrete mechanics.**

Ask what a video camera would record: do they use checklists, visual boards, hand signals, or time limits?

**A group struggles to relate a high-stakes environment to office or knowledge work.**

Prompt them to focus on handoffs or finding files: how does an ER surgeon get a tool without searching a closet?


## Terms used here

- Trigger condition: The specific moment or event that tells a team member to perform an agreed action.

## Participant material: External Coordination Models Prompt Sheet

Reference Models:
1. Race Car Pit Crew: Pre-assigned physical zones, silent handoffs, tool placement standardized down to the millimeter.
2. Emergency Room / Surgical Suite: Instruments visible on wall boards or sterile trays; standardized call-and-response confirmation.
3. Live Television Control Room: Director calls cues using standardized short commands; headsets keep channels separated by role.
4. Beehive or Ant Colony: Decentralized signals where local cues trigger immediate assistance without waiting for top-down approval.

Task:
1. Pick one model.
2. Identify their exact tool, signal, or handoff rule.
3. Write your team rule: 'Like [model], we will [action] whenever [trigger].'

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 166-169.

Retained the source concept of mimicking extreme non-office coordination environments (ER rooms, pit crews, media production) to spark team collaboration habits. UWT structured the ambiguous source list into a concrete 4-step exercise with a standardized rule-writing template and manageable timing.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/finding-collaboration-ideas/