“The action of working with an individual or group in order to achieve something”
Business today is all about collaboration and especially in these times of remote home based employees. Did you know that 86% of employees believe workplace failures are due to a lack of collaboration or ineffective communication. So why do companies find it so hard to implement Collaboration within their own structure? Let’s take a look at how to improve so organizations can actually excel at Collaboration.
So we have all heard the term “team player” and especially when companies are interviewing for positions to hire. That term is easily spewed by the company heads but can be difficult to execute if not taken seriously. Stanford researchers Priyanka Carr and Gregory Walton found that simply feeling like we’re working as part of a team makes us more motivated to persevere in difficult tasks. Across five experiments, participants who thought they were solving a puzzle with others worked on it 48% longer than those who thought they were on their own.
Three activities that stand out when improving Collaboration:
*Trust – Teamwork is based on relationships and for those relationships to work, there must be trust
*Self Awareness – Ask for feedback, good and bad. One must understand that we all have weaknesses and can improve
*Tolerance – You will be working with all types of personalities and backgrounds to which you may not always see where they are coming from
Having Collaboration means:
- Having a great Training program and a System to follow
- Employee Connection with team members that can mentor or help shape those that are in need of support. They can give advice about an employee issue, or some wisdom that comes from another employee’s experience.
- Recruit and have continuous training. Good help is hard to find, and it’s getting harder and harder to keep good employees. Keep your employees informed and updated on promotions, marketing programs, company updates, etc. Hold refresher and advanced training sessions.
- Communicate consistently. Brainstorm with your team, your communication style will largely dictate what kind of work culture you have, and culture has a lot to do with success or failure.
Many businesses were forced to adapt during COVID, Corporate-level management had to reach out to help employees, strengthen the team concept that makes for a successful Collaborative environment. It was a reminder that surviving and thriving in adversity is the best preparation for future success.