In cross-border teams, collaboration isn’t always easy. but when it works, it drives everything forward. For Jana Dolečková, Senior Project Manager at Accace Circle, cooperation is more than shared tasks or polite coordination. It’s about shared understanding, open communication and the willingness to help one another succeed. In this article, Jana shares how structure, empathy and small daily habits create an environment where teams work better, together.
What builds stronger collaboration: processes, relationships or something else?
A common goal is what brings people together, even if their motivations differ. But it’s not enough to agree on the service scope, budget and deadlines. True cooperation happens when everyone understands the context behind the project: the client’s priorities, internal pressure points and why certain milestones matter. For example, sometimes the go-live date is fixed because the current vendor is becoming the client’s auditor and can no longer provide services. Other times, the deadline can shift slightly to prioritize fine-tuned processes. When the team understands these nuances, they’re better equipped to make the right decisions and act on issues early, as one team.
Processes and tools can either strengthen or break cooperation. It depends on how we use them. They’re just a framework. The real strength comes from motivation and alignment. Everyone (client, project manager or implementation partner) may be motivated by different things, but when those drivers are acknowledged and respected, collaboration becomes smoother and more effective.
Can you describe a moment when strong cooperation directly benefited a client?
There were many. Most of them happen during critical situations, when time is short or something unexpected comes up. It could be a delayed payroll input, an urgent service request or a technical issue. Regardless of the cause, what matters most is how the team responds. When people focus on solving the problem instead of assigning blame, the client feels that they’re supported by a team that’s aligned and ready to help.
What’s the biggest challenge in cross-border collaboration and how do you overcome it?
False assumptions. Even though we all know cultural differences exist, it’s hard to completely free ourselves from expectations based on our own culture. These assumptions can cause misunderstandings and miscommunication. I really appreciate the book When Cultures Collide. It describes national cultures with kindness and honesty, helping teams better understand each other.
Jana Dolečková
Senior Project Manager at Accace Circle
At Accace Circle, we work in a multicultural environment with clients all over the world, which is incredibly enriching but also challenging. The best way to overcome this is openness: set clear expectations together, give feedback regularly and help each other understand not just tasks, but the context and culture behind them.
How do you promote a cooperative culture in your day-to-day work?
By offering help. Cooperation is about reciprocity, not just assigning tasks. It begins when we ask: Do you have everything you need? How can I support you? It’s about making people feel they’re not working alone, that someone is there to back them up.
Sharing both achievements and failures also helps. It’s important to celebrate what goes well, but just as important to share what didn’t. When we’re open about mistakes and lessons learned, the whole team grows. It creates a safe space to reflect, improve and prevent others from repeating the same issues.
Last, but not least, encouraging mutual feedback. While we’re usually happy to receive positive feedback, we often overanalyze the negative. To create a feedback culture, we can start small. Not with formal evaluations, but through simple, everyday check-ins: Can you read this email before I send it? Do you think this solution works? These quick consultations help build trust and normalize giving and receiving feedback. Over time, this leads to stronger cooperation and shared learning.
Final words
Cooperation thrives where there’s trust, purpose and a willingness to help. Not just when things are easy, but especially when they’re not. Jana shows how the right mindset and daily habits can turn collaboration into real impact.
