June 24, 2022
There is no way around it: if you want your business to succeed then you need every team in your organization to effectively collaborate with each other, but you should know that this behavior will not be guaranteed from day one. Instead, management needs to educate their staff on how to work together for maximum efficiency. Here at GLC Business Services, we offer a plethora of services to help companies succeed, so we have some tips about how to encourage collaboration within your team.
Setting a Positive Example
As business leaders, you must set a good example and exude positivity if you hope for your employees to follow your lead. Management should make it a point to never complain or place blame and instead, find solutions to problems. While you may have many bright employees, they cannot come up with all the answers on their own. Instead, they need to work with one another to find the best solutions. Hence, the importance of collaboration.
Leaders should not only promote the idea of collaboration but should also lead by example. Whenever the management team works together to help the company, they should announce their strategy and encourage the rest of the staff to follow their lead.
Collaboration Tools
Once your team understands the importance of working together, they need to be provided with collaboration tools that allow instant communication. For starters, leaders should provide instant messaging software like Spark or Zoom so employees can talk to each other with the touch of a button. If your team works remotely, then they should be provided with video conferencing software that allows them to work with each other face to face.
Sometimes employees need to feel like they are in the same room with one another in order to properly communicate, so provide that software so they can do so at any time. Even if they are not working on a formal project, your team should still be encouraged to have a video conferencing session every few weeks just to catch up with one another. Teams typically work better together when they know each other, so these sessions can be pivotal.
Rewarding Collaboration
Now that you have laid the groundwork and you’ve made your expectations known, you should let your team put their collaboration efforts into practice. It may be hard for them at first, so you should reward collaboration wherever you see it. You can do that by setting up a program where employees can inform their management when they have worked together to help the company. When they do, reward them by making a public announcement to the staff or by setting up a general incentive program with gift cards or a trophy.
If your team still needs help with their collaboration skills, then consider hosting problem-solving activities or other group projects and pairing employees together. The team that has the best result would win and you can still give them a reward.
Never Judge
Possibly the most important part of promoting collaboration is to tell your staff that there is no such thing as a bad idea. If management ever judges the idea of an employee, it is likely that the individual will be discouraged from ever sharing an idea again. If a manager has a habit of judging suggestions, then no one on the team will collaborate. The bottom line is that you need to establish a judgment-free idea-sharing culture.
As you can see, collaboration is very important, and with these tips, you can encourage positive behaviors around your office. If you would like to know more about the services offered by GLC Business Services, then contact us at 866-258-3910.