If you are running a business or managing a team of employees, you know that they have to possess a certain skill set to provide value at work.
On the other hand, you also know that the skill set isn’t the only factor that affects performance.
To be precise, your company’s performance cannot solely rely on an individual’s knowledge and skills. Instead, it should be powered by a force of team members that work together towards the same goal.
An essential feature of a great team is the ability of its members to collaborate. Still, many companies struggle with this issue.
Fortunately, nowadays the idea of collaboration has taken a more holistic turn thanks to technology, globalization, and the internet.
If you’d like to learn more about the ways to improve collaboration between your employees (and thus improve social relations, too) take a look at some useful tips outlined in this article.
Cause first!
Before trying anything else to better the collaboration of your employees, you need to set a common goal. You must establish a cause that each member wants to contribute to.
There can be no effective collaboration without a well-defined cause, a reason (or a couple of them) to be a part of the mission.
Bear in mind that the more compelling and exciting that mission is, the easier it will be to stimulate the members to contribute and work together to achieve their goal.
Regardless of whether you are managing one department or several, having an exciting mission will:
- improve the collaboration of your HR specialists with the rest of the employees
- increase sales productivity
- improve the efforts of your marketing team
- and ultimately, achieve cross-departmental success
Granted, it may be difficult to make your team members as passionate about the goals and objectives as you are. Nonetheless, there are certain measures you should undertake to bring them closer to your sentiment.
When you have a team of people who don’t care about the goals and objectives, you can’t expect them to collaborate or do much at all.
Instead, they will find reasons to avoid work. And, when that happens, you will have a hard time getting anywhere with the projects you are trying to complete.
So, define the purpose and share your vision. Your team members will recognize your enthusiasm and only then will they start working with you towards the higher cause.
Easy communication equals better collaboration
If your employees can reach each other easily, chat on the go, or send files instantly, you can expect good teamwork.
Gone are the days when you had to assign every task in paper. Nowadays, there are great apps that everyone can install on their phones and computers to simplify the process. These kinds of software make communication convenient.
For this reason, you should definitively introduce communication and collaboration software in your office.
Try Jira or Basecamp. These services are designed for easy collaboration online, and they are affordable.
In addition, you could buy an app similar to Slack, designed for messaging within your workplace. This allows you to have separate channels for collaboration and communication.
In case you are managing a team of remote workers, you should look into VoIP technology. With this kind of technology, you can transmit a variety of data wherever you want. Moreover, some popular apps even utilize VoIP technology, such as Skype, Whatsapp, and Google Phone. Connecting to your remote workers has never been easier.
If you rely on Microsoft Office for most of your projects, you can also look into buying a SharePoint license. This sophisticated software is a collaborative platform that is extremely popular.
The software is highly configurable and you can use it for a variety of different tasks, like managing important documents, storing large files, and so on.However, it is not as simple in terms of UI. Therefore, it would be wise to look for SharePoint consulting services to maximize the benefits of this great piece of software. Learning the ins and outs of this platform can go a long way in terms of collaboration improvement.
Build trust
For a team to perform well together, you need to build trust and interdependence. Especially in a case where you are taking over a team that has undergone certain changes.
Of course, this is certainly not easy since synergy is generally difficult to build. But, once you do manage to create this interaction, you will have them all working as one.
Employees that work as an effective team thrive on each other’s success. So, do everything you can to help your employees get to know each other better. Trust cannot be established if your team members have no idea who they are working with.
Be careful not to be too aggressive with this but bear in mind that a little push goes a long way. Take your team for a lunch or a drink after work. The interaction should be spontaneous.
Once they get to know each other, they can also start trusting each other. That will eventually lead to better collaboration.
The moment you see one employee helping another, you will be able to say that you have achieved your goal. Great teammates always do whatever it takes to help each other and that’s how your employees should think as well.
Regular check-ups
You should monitor your team and check in every once in a while to see if they are doing well.
Formal checks should be obligatory once a month or once in three months. Especially with a team that has been performing poorly.
By keeping an eye on their progress, you will be able to fix any problem as soon as it pops up and gain a better understanding of what their strong and weak points are.
Then, handle what needs to be adjusted and reward what’s good.
Also, make sure to be kind when choosing your words. Be polite and respectful when criticizing but also allow some feedback on the employee’s part. Don’t let this be a one-sided conversation.
If you don’t allow your team members to speak their minds, you won’t go far in establishing rapport.
On the contrary, they might start to dislike you.
Team-building activities
Getting out of the office every once in a while is another great idea.
People are bound to get bored of spending time in the same place doing the same things five or more days a week. We can all agree on it.
To freshen things up a bit, go out of the office and do some fun activities, known as team-building. No matter what some may say, they do work.
These activities allow people to see their colleagues as human beings instead of just co-workers. Employees get to learn more about each other and also share things that would never come up during a normal workday.
Allow your team members to connect differently by getting them out of the office. This will improve both collaboration and interrelationships.
However, don’t forget that these activities should be fun. If your employees aren’t having fun, then the team-building exercise ends up being pointless.
Final thoughts
A team of employees is the driving force of your company, so you need to do whatever you can to facilitate their effectiveness.
Create opportunities for all voices to be heard, make it easy for them to communicate and collaborate.
Open communication has to exist!
And, don’t forget to explain that a well-performing team is always more powerful than a few outstanding individuals working independently.
© New To HR