After this post by Steve, I started a Q&A on LinkedIn. The question I posed:
Is "collaborative" a key job skill? How would you assess it?

I got some thoughtful answer and I shall post them here with due credit to contributors.

“Collaboration - sounds like something called "team work" (also group work, working with others on a project, assignment, etc.) An interview question maybe "talk about your experiences working in a team, group, or collabroatively with others". What were the results of this experience for you? How successfull was the assignment etc?” by Mark Mervos

“I think that for Tim Brown the idea of collaboration is extremely important in the design industry. Teamwork is about working on a given project for a company with your peers which involves a common purpose, goals etc.

Often (and this is my opinion) collaboration in the design sense means not only 'teamwork' in the pure sense, but also working with other 'design' types outside of your organisation that may offer another skill such as a model maker. Here the essence of collaboration is far more important as not only are they two people from two different firms, their working culture may well be extremely different. Therefore, collaboration is absolutely key in the design lifecycle as both parties need to understand the essence of the work and why they are collaborating with each other. They both need to find the common purpose between themselves and their work.

Maybe, in the scheme of things and on reflection it's just two words with the same meaning and in some industries used in different contexts.” by Samir Sharma

“I like the question about who they've done things with since this gives a behavioral answer.

Another question might be if they would rather a member of a winning team or win a solo event. This gives us more of an attitudinal measure.

We might also want to determine how proactive they are in the collaboration. Also their communication and problem solving skills.” by Ray Seghers

“I am also a big fan of behaviorally based questions that solicit behavioral responses! In our work building competency models, we have used the folowing definition and behaviors for Collaborative:

Definition;
Builds and effectively utilizes relationships and informal influence networks to achieve goals. Shares knowledge and builds trust with colleagues, superiors, and employees.

Behavors;
Takes actions that respect the needs and contributions of others; builds constructive and effective relationships with colleagues at all levels.
Prepares for interactions by anticipating others’ needs and expectations; adapts for individual differences (e.g., social styles) in order to be responsive.
Establishes rapport with people by sharing own experiences, listening to others, and identifying commonalties that create personal connections.
Seeks to understand others through the use of active listening skills; notices and responds to nonverbal behavior.
Develops strong working relationships with critical business partners.

You could use the above to fashion questions about their past performance, as well as create sample situations - future based case studies - and ask the person how they would respond.

Also, take a look at the article on our website, " 3 Keys to Making Difficult Performance Conversations Easy." It was written by our Director of our Performance Management Practice Group, Ms. Jamie Resker. There are some tips in there you may be able to use.

http://www.wsa-intl.com/page/ 324_3_keys_to_making_tough_performance_conversations_easy.cfm

Hope this has been helpful.” by Paul Plotczyk

“You can't collaborate if you can't deal with conflict effectively. So I ask,
- Describe your most difficult work-related interpersonal situation.
- What made it so difficult?
- How did you resolve the situation?
- What did you learn?

Emotional intelligence is the key to collaboration and this is more than being nice, it is getting results while building relationships.

The good new emotional intelligence can be learned. I've added a free library of written and pod cast information at www.porterleadership.com” by Kent Porter

“Quite relevant a question especially in the times when our world has seemingly shrunk for our own advantage and prosperity by virtue of human brain making available to us advanced technologies. This further has enabled human interaction so gracefully that exchange/acceptance/understanding of ideas between people from different corners of the universe is so very possible irrespective of geographic, genetic or cultural differences.

I believe as humans we have been bestowed with the ability to express emotions intelligently and also understanding emotional needs of others which is why we value relationships and are committed to nurture those to further make our lives emotionally stable. I strongly opine that any family/institution or an organization irrespective of size and number is basically based on relationships and strong foundation will lead to profitable business and positive outcomes therefore.

While we talk about smooth relations and associations, the key element here that leads to success is no magical skill but “collaboration skills”, skill that enables us to work with diverse teams, different personalities making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal. Be it any sphere of our life , personal or professional, effective collaboration skills basically determines your happiness and success quotient. To me every human being from the cradle to the grave has to essentially and effectively collaborate with others to lead a life smoothly and with no too many regrets.

Having said so, I believe if we collaborate well with each other and share a good relationship inspite of the difference of opinion we may have for coming from different school of thoughts, there is all the more possibility of we listening to each other’s ideas and being tolerant thereby to accept each other’s perspectives to arrive at a win-win solution. To me “collaboration skills” is the hallmark of learned and successful people who have managed their relationships with diverse teams and personalities effectively only to get pushed to the path of success.” by Neetubala Raina