How do you foster Team collaboration?

What do you do in your projects to foster team collaboration? Do you actively try to influence this right from the start or do you let this go for some time? There are pros and cons for each approach. In this blog post I address the proactive approach. There are 3 steps that you might want to look at to foster team collaboration
1. Show Trust To Build Trust
    Sounds easier than it is. In order to build trust one party has to be willing to risk more than the other and 
    show some vulnerability. As a Project Leader the person that has to accept more risk is you. Here some
    examples of what that could mean (e.g. admit mistakes, acknowledge the need for personal
    improvement, ask for positive and negative feedback, show that you're willing to change your mind if
    somebody comes up with a better idea, share information, listen). Yes, there are a number of risks here  
    but to be perceived as trustworthy by your team they have to honestly believe that you have their best
    interest in mind. This will only happen if you honestly show them that you care. One example of one
    measure I used on a previous projects is that I was using a questionnaire before the project started to learn
    what the stakeholders thought about each other (requested feedback, positive and negative).
2. Say We, Ask Questions, Listen and Take Advice
    All great things are achieved by teams. When you talk about project objectives etc. it is important to talk
    about "our goals" (even in traditional projects) to appeal to the collaborative spirit. It is the responsibility of
    the project leader to get the team to agree on these values and goals. Watch if you use more "I" or more
    "we" language in your project and you know where you stand. Concerning Asking questions, Listen and
    taking advice: It is almost and art to ask the right question to the right person at the right time and then 
    listen to what that person tells you. Work on it because it is worth more than all the detail business and 
    technical knowledge you might have. As a Project Leader I expect you will chase after most subject
    matter experts most of the time anyway. Your job is not to give advice and win arguments but to pay
    attention to what others want and need. 
3. Get People Interacting
    On a Project people need to work together. As a project lead it is your task to get them to interact more
    often and better. Here some idea's on what you can do to support this

• start certain meetings with 5-10 minutes of community building before you start the project discussion
• Hold small birthday celebrations for your team members
• for longer meetings: get some food and drinks 
• take a certain, reasonable, amount of time, every day, to talk to some team members

     There are many more things you can and should do but the goal to facilitate relationships remains the
     same. Keep in mind that a stronger team will be able to come  up with better results. As the Project Lead
     it is your responsibility to get the team closer to that goal.