Workshop Title

"Shifting from Competition to Collaboration in Remote Teams"

Problem

Individuals prioritise personal success over team goals.

Objective

Help foster a culture of collaboration by aligning individual efforts with team success and reducing unhealthy competition.

Benefits

• Reduced unhealthy competition and conflict within the team
• Stronger alignment between individual contributions and team goals
• Improved trust, communication, and collective problem-solving
• More balanced incentives and recognition systems
• A collaborative culture that values shared success

Materials Needed

• 60 mins
• Virtual meeting platform (Zoom, Teams, etc.)
• Collaborative document (Google Docs, Miro, MURAL, etc.)
• Polling or chat function for quick engagement
• Breakout room feature for small-group discussions

Process

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Facilitator welcomes participants and introduces the topic:
  “Today, we’ll explore why competition can sometimes hurt teamwork in virtual settings and how to shift the focus from individual success to collective achievement.”
• Poll question: “Which statement best describes your team’s dynamic? (A) Highly collaborative, (B) Balanced between collaboration and competition, (C) More competitive than collaborative.” (Share anonymous results.)
• Discuss common reasons competition can override collaboration, such as:
  • Performance metrics that prioritise individual achievements
  • Lack of visibility into how personal work contributes to team goals
  • Reward systems that encourage competition rather than teamwork

2. The Collaboration Challenge (15 minutes)

Exercise: When Competition Hurts the Team

• Breakout rooms (3-4 people per group).
• Each group discusses:
  • Have you seen a situation where competition got in the way of teamwork? What happened?
  • What negative effects did it have on communication, trust, or efficiency?
  • How could collaboration have improved the outcome?
• Groups return and share insights on how unchecked competition impacts team cohesion.

3. Key Strategies for Encouraging Collaboration (15 minutes)

• Facilitator introduces three key strategies for balancing individual drive with teamwork:
  1. Shift the focus from "me" to “we” – Make success about team contributions rather than just personal wins.
  2. Align incentives with team goals – Reward and recognise collective success, not just individual performance.
  3. Encourage knowledge sharing – Promote a culture where helping others is valued as much as personal achievements.
• Chat question: “What’s one way your team could strengthen collaboration?”
• Participants share ideas, and facilitator highlights key themes like team-based recognition, shared problem-solving, and improving transparency.

4. Practical Application: Redesigning Team Dynamics (15 minutes)

Exercise: Turning Competition into Collaboration

• Participants write down a situation where competition affected teamwork in their team.
• They swap examples (or facilitator selects a few).
• Each person redesigns the situation using one of the key strategies to foster collaboration.
• Example transformations:
  • ❌ Two colleagues competed to take credit for a successful project.
  • ✅ Introduce a team-wide celebration where all contributors are acknowledged.
• Share responses and discuss how small cultural shifts help teams collaborate more effectively.

5. Action Plan and Close (5 minutes)

• Each participant commits to one action they’ll take to promote collaboration in their team.
• Facilitator summarises key takeaways.
• Final poll: “How confident do you feel about improving collaboration in your virtual team?”