Collaboration is not just a buzzword in the age of common emerging platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. It’s a core component of any successful business. Companies thrive when teams can work consistently together, regardless of whether they’re in the office or working remotely. In fact, many employees say lack of collaboration is one of the main reasons workplace failures occur. Unfortunately, creating a workplace environment that facilitates excellent collaboration is often easier said than done, particularly as employees become more diverse and distributed. The good news, there are ways you can invest in better team collaboration for your workforce. Here are our top steps for success.
Give Everyone Access to Crucial Resources
Collaboration in the workplace can’t survive when employees only have limited access to resources, tools, and information. For everyone to work cohesively on the same page, they need to be able to leverage the same crucial content and documents. Fortunately, there are plenty of cloud based solutions that can help employers share access to relevant information in the modern world. Companies can use engagement tools like Microsoft Viva to create full libraries packed with valuable data about customers, company processes and more. Plus, you can use automated emails and announcements across channels like Zoom and Microsoft Teams to keep team members up to date when things change in your workplace.
Provide Competitive Benefits Packages
Yes, collaboration is a group effort and creating a culture of teamwork is essential, but the deeper truth is that if the individuals that make up the team are not satisfied, no collaborative efforts will ever be good enough to create success. You need to think about how to build this culture of individual satisfaction from day one. Offering things like a sensible way to save for retirement, generous paid time off structures, and even unique offerings like a monthly allowance for health and wellness needs will help to ensure that each team member is individually satisfied, so they can go on to positively engage in team collaboration.
Enable Consistent and Clear Communication
Communication and collaboration go hand in hand. Teams can’t work well together unless they can also communicate clearly and consistently. To boost communication in your business environment, start by creating policies for clear, transparent, and respectful conversations between teams. Next, ensure employees have access to the right communication tools.
Different types of conversations are better suited to specific platforms.
In-depth brainstorming sessions may benefit from video conferencing tools with integrated features for screen sharing, annotations, and presentations. Quick updates on tasks and projects might be better suited to a chat application, where teams can send messages to colleagues asynchronously. A complete unified communications platform can ensure your staff members can access the right communication method for each use case.
Start with Yourself
Any manager or business owner can talk the talk, but it’s the ones who also walk the walk that are the most impactful. You cannot preach collaboration among the team without also engaging in it yourself. Let your team see you actively working with employees of all levels and across all departments. There is always something to be learned from interacting with cross functional teams and by being the example of this yourself, your employees can be more encouraged to follow suit.
Invest in Specialist Solutions
Finally, when it comes to boosting teamwork and collaboration in your organization, you may find it’s helpful to invest in specific solutions created for certain use cases. There are field management tools available for employees who work frequently outside of the office. If you have a fleet of employees who drive vehicles for your business, dedicated fleet management software can act as a hub for collaboration. Fleet managers can bridge the gap between the office and field using these tools, ensuring everyone stays informed of issues and policies.
Plus, team members can work together to ensure assets remain in excellent condition. Employees can update notes and data to the system, send maintenance requests, and track potential problems with vehicles before going out in the field. With these steps, you can ensure your teams are working together in unison, no matter where they may be located, or where their work might take them.
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