Team members need interpersonal competencies, communication skills like listening to learn, and the ability to take other's perspectives.

Collaborative problem-solving requires team members to create and maintain a shared understanding of the situation. Initially, there will be an uneven distribution of expertise and interpretation of the problem that will require clear communication. Then the team can lay out subtasks based upon member roles, or create mechanisms to coordinate member actions.

People are continually handling problems that require advice from others. We face issues that are broad in scope and impact, such as climate change.

But people are not naturally competent in collaborative problem-solving. Generally, people aren't being taught this skill ei...