One challenge I often see in companies is lack of collaboration between teams which ultimately results in a loss of productivity and goals not being met. Below are some of the best practices to empower teams to create a collaborative workplace:
Develop a collective vision with key stakeholders.
There is no magic wand for collaboration. That requires buy in from your entire management team to not only participate, but also empower their own teams to participate. Leaders need to set clear goals that guide team members for moves they should be considering.
Developing a clear vision with all stakeholders will help foster collaboration and set the stage for successful implementation of new processes that can engage everyone in a company wide synergy.
Create an atmosphere of transparency and accountability.
Transparency and accountability across teams is critical to discovering how a lack of collaboration impacts your company’s productivity and turnover. Teams need a clear way to see, in real time, who is working on what, where they are in the process and how they are adhering to deadlines.
Transparency will help managers evaluate workloads, assign tasks and drive projects toward completion. A leader may even find that goals are being met sooner when teams are on the same page. At the same time, transparency fosters a culture of accountability among team members.
Monitor and adjust based on results.
Creating a collaborative environment is always a work in process. Leaders may feel they’ve made great steps with their first efforts and be tempted to take some time off before implementing the next step. They shouldn’t.
Instead, they should build in opportunities to review feedback generated by the implementation of new practices and processes.
This is the time to look at what’s working, identify the teams in the company that are setting the example and get their members to open up about the benefits and real results they’re seeing from these new processes, then share those results across the organisation.
