Collaboration – the action of working with someone to produce something.
Surely this is something which all organisations should be encouraging and helping their employees to do. The benefits of collaboration to an organisation are huge. So how can you get your employees engaged and collaborating on a regular basis?
10 Tips for Increasing Collaboration
Collaboration is part of most our working lives. It can range from a number of activities, such as, co-authoring a document or seeking advice on a project. Let’s look at some top tips to successfully improve and encourage employee collaboration.
- It’s massively important to lead by example. Key stakeholders and decision makers should have a noticeable presence on collaboration platforms. Cut out the use of mass emails and use collaborative tools, such as Microsoft Teams or Yammer, instead.
- Choose leaders in collaboration. The employees most suitable for this role are those who are already making regular contributions to Enterprise Social Network platforms. They are people who can effectively pass their enthusiasm onto others. By having leaders among peers this will have a positive influence on creating a more collaborative environment.
- Identify who the non-contributors are and dig a little deeper to find out why. It could be that they are unsure of how or what they can contribute. A great time to use your collaboration leaders to explain how things work.
- Training session are a great way to ensure that all employees have an understanding of how collaboration tools can be used effectively to their full potential.
- In many cases employees don’t fully understand what different departments in the organisation actually do. If colleagues have a good general understanding of each other’s roles, they won’t be worried about going to the wrong person for help or advice.
- Encouraging public praise! If an employee has found a colleague has been particularly helpful, let people know. Promote peer-to-peer praise on shared spaces, this kind of recognition will inspire more employees to work collaboratively.
- If you don’t ask you don’t get. Employees need something to engage with. Ask for feedback and advice. You can’t presume others will know you want some collaboration. Ask questions and give them a reason to answer. This way other employees, perhaps with more knowledge in the current topic, will share their valued thoughts and opinions.
- Sometimes difficult questions might be posted to collaboration platforms. As tempting, or as easy, as it may seem to just delete or ignore these questions, don’t! To work effectively in a collaborative environment, you want to build trust, promote an open, honest space. Make sure experts in particular fields, or if necessary senior members of staff, are available to answer trickier questions.
- Use an Enterprise Social Network, these are fantastic platforms for employees to share ideas or problems and find solutions.
- Endorse collaboration as part of employee’s daily work activities. This will ensure that collaboration isn’t seen as a hinderance but something which will aid them in their daily routine.
The Benefits of Collaboration
Now you have some useful tips for improving collaboration in your organisation, let’s look at what that actually means for your employees. The leading benefit of employee collaboration is that people gain the ability to effortlessly access colleague’s knowledge and expertise. A result of this is that employee engagement and satisfaction improves leading to a higher rate of innovation, meaning increased profitability.
Workplace stress can be reduced by collaboration. Employee’s jobs are made easier and they feel like part of a team, working collaboratively to achieve your organisation’s goals.
Collaboration allows everyone in the organisation to feel more connected, not only to their jobs, to their colleagues too.
Three main factors which lead to successful collaboration are company culture, workspace and technology. The number one platform which enables employee collaboration is a well-designed intranet.[vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”CTA for eBook, Whitepaper, Webinar or Event” style=”3d”]Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
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