A collaborative team is the cornerstone of any successful endeavour. Collaborative workspaces ensure increased levels of trust, a more productive workforce, and improved results due to motivation towards a common goal. Teamwork is more than dealing with a project efficiently; it includes supporting one another, communicating effectively, pulling your weight, and trusting others.
Creating and sustaining a collaborative team environment is not as simple as bringing coffee for everybody Monday morning. Integrating similar values throughout your company’s workforce requires a concerted effort, cultivating a shared vision and mutual respect. Implementing a collaborative workplace is necessary for any business looking to fully leverage the talents of their employees.
How can you encourage a more collaborative environment for teams to flourish?
1. Define and communicate team goals
It can be difficult for team members to commit themselves to the company and collaborate with other teams if they do not understand how they impact the big picture. Providing teams with a holistic view of the project and the common goal allows teamwork to be centred around shared objectives.
This can be accomplished in various ways: having a cross-departmental social at the onset of a project or having check-up meetings to reestablish team goals. Not only will this keep your team engaged, but it will also root their work in a larger context, ensuring their continual hard work towards this goal by working with others.
2. Invest in collaboration tools
In today’s day and age, creating a digital workspace only increases productivity and ensures long-term collaboration within and between your teams. Team collaboration software is an example of an intelligent workplace that allows employees to communicate everything they may need to complete a given project or task.
It allows you to join relevant discussions within communities, easily share information no matter the device, and stay caught up with updates and news feeds. Not only is this the strongest tool to foster collaboration between various teams, but it also ensures that everybody on your team is on the same page (literally)!
3. Cultivate transparency and trust
When leaders are willing to admit their faults and mistakes, teams feel less defensive and more collaborative. Successful long-term collaboration is built upon trust and transparency. It is significant to note that these elements are not built from a singular action; they require consistent action and repeatedly showing up for your team.
Be open about your actions, the issues and challenges your company faces, and the current objectives. You’ll soon see that all staff begin to understand and trust the company’s strategic objectives, causing them to work towards these shared visions.
4. Establish a judgement-free atmosphere
When team members do not feel their questions are invalid or their ideas are foolish, collaborators are more inclined to stretch their imaginations and find out-of-the-box solutions to issues spanning various teams. Offering constructive criticism while remaining positive is key to improvement; to do this, perhaps encourage peer-to-peer discussions of ideas.
If employees feel their input is valued despite their lack of specialization in a certain department, they will strive to input more and grow, understand, and communicate more.
5. Lead by example
No matter how many meetings you host, how many rules you set, and how many reminders you send out, collaboration is difficult to carry out if not demonstrated for you.
By setting a precedent based on collaborative behaviours from leaders, you increase the probability that your employees will do the same. This can include handling requests and promises, demonstrating transparency, and collaborating across departments.
6. Reward successful teamwork
Rewarding successful teamwork will set expectations that your team knows they can achieve; they will know what to expect and how to earn it. When you design employee rewards, focus on team collaboration alongside individual success— make it clear that team efforts are recognized and rewarded!
7. Get involved with other departments
As I’m sure this entire article has outlined: communication is key! Getting involved with other departments ensures a better network when collaborating on a project and helps avoid misunderstandings. Perhaps your team worked hard on an elaborate design for the company, but the marketing team believes it does not align with their vision.
By getting involved with other departments and finding out what their vision truly is, teams can better understand one another when working together. Scheduling formal interdepartmental meetings and informal check-ins are great ways to create a collective vision and increase collaboration.
8. Encourage feedback
Fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up is imperative to increasing collaboration within your team and between teams. In a fast-paced environment, employees depend on everyone involved to complete their tasks and respond quickly. By encouraging feedback, leaders can help empower team members. Empowerment is a mighty tool to ensure team members contribute appreciably and significantly between teams.
