PurposeResearch has long lauded collaboration at work as one of the best management strategies to increase employee engagement, raise productivity and enhance innovation. In real life, many businesses also strongly encourage and enforce workplace collaboration. However, the purpose of this paper was to examine workplace collaboration from a practitioners' perspective who experienced collaborations firsthand.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes a practical and ethnographic view and examines collaboration in three different organizations which varied in mission and size.FindingsThe findings identify three major drawbacks of collaboration including repetitive meetings, slowed business process and a reduction of recognition and accountability.Practical implicationsThree practical suggestions for leaders and managers to improve their collaboration strategies are discussed.Originality/valueThis article is one of the first to examine collaboration from a practitioner's point of view while providing detailed examples. It is also amongst the first to provide actionable suggestions to practitioners that can be implemented immediately.

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