Tips for Improving Collaboration Practices in Your Team
Finding a way of boosting your team’s current collaboration practices might seem impossible at first, but this is a change that can be carried out more painlessly than you imagine. By following the right tips and using suitable tools, you can get the whole team working together smoothly.
Why Better Collaboration at Work Is So Important
If you have been used to a work environment in which everyone does their own thing, you may wonder whether there is any need to change this. Well, the huge challenges that businesses now face to stay ahead in a tough, highly competitive environment mean that working more closely as a team is one of the simplest and most effective ways of increasing efficiency.
This change will bring a number of benefits to your individual team members too. It should lead to them being more motivated and happier in their roles. It can also let you introduce a leaner, slicker type of structure in which people are more empowered to get things done without the need to go through various levels of the hierarchy first of all.
The introduction of collaborative processes increases your flexibility as well. In this way, you will be able to react more nimbly to any future challenges and threats that arise.
How to Get Started
The first collaboration practices to consider are those that get everyone into the right frame of mind. This means that you start by getting the team members to buy into this way of working. If they are used to working alone then you may have to spend some time convincing them of the benefits of better teamwork.
You can then think about how to create a more inclusive environment in which everyone feels motivated to play their part. This sort of thing often starts with a shared vision that inspires the team to work together to reach a common goal. It may help if you give the whole team the chance to contribute to a new mission statement or vision that they truly believe in.
A good degree of team bonding will also help with this process of change. Research has shown that people who are friends work better together and make better joint decisions. If you now want your team to collaborate more then helping them to get to know each other better in bonding sessions makes sense.
Naturally, the use of good collaboration practices is something in which the management team should lead by example. You should use the tools and methods that you want others to use before you encourage them to do the same. Above all, you will want to show that you truly believe in the benefits of the processes you are introducing.
Carry on with More Team Collaboration Methods
The ideas we have looked at so far will allow your team to work together more effectively, but they are really just the starting point for a new way of working. You should then go on to look at other ways of carrying on with this change throughout the processes that you want to improve.
For example, you could make your meetings more efficient by collaborating better during the rest of the week. This means that there will be no need to go over every single point in great detail during your meetings, ensuring that you can make them shorter without losing anything that is significant.
It can be a good idea to just start reviewing the progress made on a weekly basis, as you will be able to rely on closer teamwork during the week to keep things on track and ensure everyone is heading in the same direction. People can have more freedom to advance their tasks. The enhanced co-operation levels allow everyone to see what is going on.
You will want to encourage the team to celebrate their successes together and to pull together through the most difficult moments. If they have fully bought into the concept of collaborating, then this will come to them more naturally. It can prove to be a fine way of building a stronger team spirit in which they all feel part of the same overall effort.
The Use of Collaboration Tools
When you start using collaboration practices, you need to prioritise process and accountability. This is going to mean a change in the way of thinking for some team members. But the good news is that there are great collaboration tools that can help them to achieve this change more naturally.
You could start by looking at the different apps that are available in Google Workspace. They are designed to let you carry out all of your tasks in one ecosystem while working closely and co-operating with colleagues.
For example, it is possible to edit the same document at the same time as others in your team, and to hook up with them on a video call as you do it. The fact that tools such as your calendar and email are all seamlessly linked to your documents and spreadsheets means that collaborating and sharing information is simple to do.
Kanbanchi takes it a step further by adding in the sort of project management tool that Google Workspace lacks. By using the Kanban board that integrates perfectly with Workspace’s apps, you can organise your workflow in a way that suits you and that lets you concentrate on getting the tasks done to the highest possible standard.
By following these tips and suggested collaboration practices, you should find that your team is able to work together better and enjoy the experience more than ever before.