5 Timeless Methods for Business Leaders To Facilitate Collaboration

  by Sue Hudson

 Business owners and leaders at every level have a constant duty to improve the company and boost operational productivity. One way to make the most of the resources at your disposal is by facilitating collaboration between the talented individuals in your employ. Effective collaboration not only makes better results possible, but also helps employees feel greater pride, satisfaction, and fulfillment in their work. While new tools are constantly emerging to make collaboration more convenient and accessible, it is also important for leaders to recognize and utilize the timeless methods that can still benefit businesses in the modern day.
 
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1. Create Opportunities for Collaboration
Project managers cannot expect collaboration to occur unless they create the right environment for it. This starts by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of respective teams and knowing when there is an opportunity for them to become greater than the sum of their parts.
 
Take a careful look at each team at your company and make note of how their skills and talents might overlap. When the need for a new project arises, think about whether or not it falls within one of these "overlap zones" and can benefit from the broad expertise of two or more departments. This approach can be much more effective than forcing collaboration between parties when the situation does not truly call for it.
 
2. Use a Project Management Platform
A project management platform can play a key role in improving collaboration among teams at any business. It provides an organized way to manage tasks and resources, enabling people to stay on top of their projects and communicate better. Automation features and real-time project visibility can also streamline processes and help ensure that teams are always informed of the latest updates. Having a reliable project management platform makes it easy for everyone to stay connected, organized, and productive.
 
3. Reward Collaborative Efforts
Experts explain that rewards, incentives, and recognition are important in the workplace because employee happiness often leads to a better business overall. When your teams put forth an earnest effort in collaborating for success, that is also something worth rewarding. All the more so when those efforts pay off, as this will incentivize the staff to continue making strides toward greater collaboration.
 
One way to reward collaborative progress is by using gift cards to easily reward respondents to internal surveys. This is a great way to encourage participation while learning about where and how collaboration efforts are succeeding and what can be improved upon.
 
4. Allow for Optional Team-Building
It can be hugely beneficial to make it possible for individuals from different teams or departments to mingle and collaborate even when it is not part of a mandatory project. Allow staff to opt in for team-building exercises, company excursions, or even office yoga sessions before work. For employees with an outgoing attitude, these opportunities can be gateways into fruitful collaboration.
 
You should also make it easy for individuals to seek help, advice, or input from colleagues outside their department. Leaders can do their part by maintaining an open-door policy and ensuring that everyone has access to the best communication tools.
 
5. Encourage Open Communication
Trust is the fundamental concept at the heart of any collaborative effort. To build trust, everyone involved needs to feel that they can speak their mind without fear of backlash or harsh judgment. This principle of open communication is something that must be a core value of your company culture and not just part of a one-off collaboration initiative. As a leader, you have a particular responsibility to show yourself to be a trustworthy person and to build trust between respective members of your team.
 
Whether you’re investing in a project management platform or encouraging open communication, collaboration has always been the key to accomplishing great things. While the nature of work evolves over time, the fundamental values that draw people together hardly change at all. That is why the same wisdom that fostered effective collaboration in the past continues to be useful today.

​Image via Pexels

Sue Hudson founded Biz Aid Central, an e-commerce craft store owner and maker. Sue created the site to help first-time and experienced entrepreneurs learn more about the best ways to fund their businesses and as a place to get support during tough times. The site’s tips, resources, and any future offerings will always be free. Sue simply wants to help her fellow entrepreneurs.