The world of business is very complex today. We consequently see a trend where more and more specialists are recruited to become a part of the organization. Therefore, Leaders who can unite these diverse individuals and groups together to get things done are highly valued. Collaboration is thus the key, and getting team members to work together in cooperation with each other is mandatory for success.
Getting a group of diverse people to work towards a common goal is extremely rewarding to a team leader. It can be unnerving and frustrating as well. Knowing how to subsequently collaborate effectively takes consistent effort from the leader. But how does a leader ensure collaboration within his or her team?
Here are 6 tips to help you improve collaboration among your team members:
Clearly Define Expectations
Clearly define the goals and the expected outcome of the project the team is working on. Each member’s responsibilities should be explicitly identified. The goals and expectations may seem obvious to you, but you want it to be obvious to the team member as well. They shouldn’t be wondering what to do next or who is responsible for what. Delegate key responsibilities to your team; those that make an impact on the project outcome. The ultimate purpose here is that team members should feel they directly contributed to the ultimate achievement of success.
Identify, Acknowledge And Select The Right Contributors
Choose your team by carefully thinking about the people you want to work on the specific project. Assigning tasks to the right people is necessary to have effective collaboration. When choosing members, consider each member’s unique skills, personality, strengths, experience and schedules (availability).
Create A Safe Space For Creativity
Are there members of your team who are afraid to voice their opinions or to debate? These members won’t be adding to any helpful and stimulating ideas and need to be encouraged to speak up. Just because the person is quiet, doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t have good ideas. Create a safe space for highlighting opinions and debate, and where the opposite view are considered respectfully. Always include every team member in discussions.
Encourage Social Connection
Encourage your team members to socialize outside of work. This can be a great way to open up communication channels and break down walls of mistrust or misunderstanding.
Honour Individual And Group Success
Recognize and celebrate good individual and collaborative behaviour. Mention the great work the team is doing in the company newsletter, on a podcast, during a meeting or annual report.
Give Them What They Need To Succeed
Provide your collaboration team with the right and necessary tools. Do they need specific software or task management tools? These types of tools can be especially important if your team works from different locations.
And Then?
Once your collaboration is going, continue to mix things up. When team members are collaborating more with each other and others, like and trust it might be time to mix up your teams. For example, invite the production guys to your design meeting. Better yet, send everyone out on an informal meeting, give them a creative mission or other social building time. This forces all your teams to come in contact and connect with each other on different levels.
Improving collaboration among your team members is sometimes necessary. Firstly, this creates a need for team members to know their exact role in a project. Then it creates a need for team members to be encouraged to connect with other members they don’t know. Finally, this builds trust and enables individuals and teams to work together cohesively.
Recommended Resource
A very good book that covers collaboration and establishing great teamwork within an organization is Ray Dalio’s book, Principles. This amazing book covers some of these, and many other valuable tips and strategies for building a robust and sustainably successful business based on collaboration and amazing teamwork. You will thank me for this one!
Empowering Comments Welcome
You are welcome to keep us updated on what you are doing to create collaboration in your teams.
What is working for you, and what is not?
What advice do you have for creating and maintaining collaboration?
If you prefer audio, there will soon be a podcast version of this post available here: How to Improve Collaboration Among Team Members During Difficult Times @ The Safe Life Revolution Podcast
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