As collaboration becomes more important to the success of any company, it is vital that collaboration has a place in the workplace. So how do you develop a successful collaborative workplace?
Create a culture of transparency
Transparency empowers both managers and workers by giving them access to the same information, which promotes trust between co-workers and allows for more collaboration. Effective collaboration means that all team members are on the same page and can effectively work together. This often results in an increase in productivity due to streamlined processes.
Create a culture of collaboration
Collaboration is not just collaboration between co-workers, but also with customers and suppliers. All parties must work together to reach the overall goal of success in any business venture. Successful collaboration means protecting intellectual property while sharing ideas that can help others do their jobs better too.
Forms of Communication
Make collaboration accessible to everyone, especially in our current times, where hybrid work environments have become the norm. Provide multiple forms of communication such as face-to-face meetings, phone calls or video conferences. This helps avoid miscommunication and allows for collaboration between offices across the globe.
Collaboration between Teams
It is important to encourage collaboration across teams, departments and facilities for a successful workplace. This could be achieved by hosting an event or creating incentives that promote collaboration among colleagues at different facilities or workgroups. For example: holding team lunches on Fridays to reconnect team members who opt for a hybrid working environment.
How collaboration benefits your business
Collaboration is beneficial for a successful workplace because it enables fewer misunderstandings, less miscommunication and higher collaboration between employees at different facilities or teams. It’s not easy to bring people from different backgrounds, and depending on the size and structure of your company, different time zones together to work towards a common goal. However, the pros of effective communication and collaboration in the workplace far outweigh the cons.
Collaboration creates innovative workspaces
Collaboration brings teams and people from across the organisation together to brainstorm on issues to come up with new ideas that will benefit the business. When collaboration is effective in the workplace, not only do employees feel like they all have a voice; but there’s also excitement about each day. With collaboration comes new challenges and opportunities to learn new things from each other.
Workplace collaboration builds trust among colleagues
When organisations see how collaboration impacts employee engagement, it creates a sense of trust between colleagues that they are part of a tribe that has the same goal. Trust is very important in the workplace because it encourages employees to share openly and have an open dialogue without fear of being judged or ridiculed for sharing their opinions.
Collaboration creates collaborators
When collaboration becomes second nature, this breeds creativity among colleagues who can think outside-the-box and allows any new team members to adapt and grow their own collaboration skills.
Collaboration creates an environment that is open for discussion and improvement which means employees will feel comfortable offering suggestions on how things can be done better – this element of collaboration helps organisations learn about what they are doing right, but also where important improvements need to be made.
