A business is only as strong as its team. Clear communication – where everyone feels free to share their ideas – can hold a team together, but it’s the healthy collaboration that ensures a business’s growth. Even if team members bring forward new ideas, true development only starts when they have the tools to seamlessly work together. Most companies’ internal communication is already well established with video calling and instant messaging, which are key for collaboration. However, businesses often overlook how important it is to collaborate externally as well: this is how different companies reach their shared goals and how innovation grows. Plus, distance is no longer an issue with all the various online collaboration tools available out there.
How To Improve Workplace Collaboration
Boosting collaboration within a company is never easy – especially when a business hasn’t followed management best practices right from the beginning. For example, micromanaging is the enemy of efficient collaboration. Instead, team members should be responsible for their own tasks. Another important aspect is to set SMART goals so everyone understands which objective they should work towards. Some other recommendations for improving collaboration includes rewarding team effort, providing one-on-one coaching, and offering a judgement-free work environment. It’s also essential that managers lead by example, as this is the best way to ensure everyone sticks to a collaborative work culture.
But even the best gurus will tell you that you need more than the right environment to succeed. If you don’t provide software that facilitates communication and collaboration, then your team will be left with just good intentions. Something as simple as file sharing can help a lot, as it allows team members to work together on all types of documents. Additionally, work management platforms offer everyone a good view of ongoing projects, who is doing what, and a forum for discussing ideas. In the meantime, communication software goes hand in hand with collaboration. Having web conferencing software, a straightforward virtual phone system, and a way for coworkers to send a quick chat message are essential for efficient collaboration.
Recommended Collaboration Tools for Small Businesses
There are plenty of collaboration tools out there catering to small businesses. These come with everything your team will need to be able to collaborate at affordable prices.
Online Project Management Software: monday.com
Team Calls and Chats: Microsoft Teams
Marketing Collaboration: Canva
Online Backup Software: pCloud
The Core Principles of Business Collaboration
When aiming for effective collaboration, businesses need to keep 12 principles in mind:
- Relationship management.
- Alignment of vision and values.
- Alignment of business objectives.
- Collaborative leadership.
- Governance and processes.
- Collaborative competence and behavior.
- Trust and commitment to mutual benefit.
- Value creation.
- Information and knowledge sharing.
- Risk management.
- Measurement and optimization.
- Exit strategy.
Relationship management is number one for a reason. However, instead of just the first step, it’s more like a framework that holds together all the other principles. For example, collaborative leadership tends to be a weak link due to someone trying to become the boss. Well-managed relationships will help remind everyone that there’s no boss per se, only team member collaboration, and that it’s more about consensus building than who’s leading who.
It's similarly important to always keep the company’s overall vision in mind, and you can only achieve this if your team not just works but thinks together. Team building events and happy hours will forge connections between team members, and they won’t even realize how invested they’ve become in the common goal.
Additional Advice for Efficient Collaboration
These practices are crucial indeed, but there’s even more you can do. For instance, it’s more challenging for remote companies to collaborate efficiently, so investing in the right remote team management software is important. But all business types benefit from creativity, and you’ll need content creation tools to share and develop ideas together. And if your business requires that your sales agents to join forces, it’s also essential you get the best sales software for small businesses.