5 Tips to Encourage Collaboration Across Departments

Cross collaboration is the pillar of a successful organization. Although employees can work together in their workspaces and lunchrooms, most managers fail to capitalize on these great opportunities. Why? Because they simply don’t realize how important collaboration is for the company’s growth. For this reason, their businesses are stuck in the moment unable to move forward. Besides, without effective communication, they can’t expect employees to work together well. If you are looking for ways to grow your business, you should continue reading and do what you can to enhance collaboration across departments in your company. 

Setting Expectations

Every workplace comes with a certain amount of uncertainty. It makes most employees feel uncomfortable and anxious. Because of the global pandemic, those feelings are heightened. Employees like to know what they can expect and what their superiors expect of them in their position. Every project is different and they believe being aware of expectations helps them deliver their best work. This is particularly important if employees are working from home. Therefore, you should talk to your staff and set clear expectations in advance. When staff members know what is expected of them, they are motivated to meet and even exceed those expectations. More importantly, there are fewer chances something might go wrong when you keep everyone on the same page. This way, you and your team stay professional at all times which is something clients particularly value.

Sharing Files 

To boost collaboration, you should make this process more appealing to employees. Generally, employees prefer individual work over group one because they find the logistics complex and tiring. All the more so if you are managing a virtual team. For example, they have to collaborate on a work assignment. Whenever an employee changes or adds something to the project, they send the updated version to others. At some point, they start feeling frustrated because they can’t find the last version of the project. They waste time, money, and energy this way. What could help you enhance collaboration is an efficient employee app . Not only can you and your team use this platform for communication across departments but also for sharing files and knowledge. It also serves as digital storage, so employees can work together and keep their projects in one place.

Making Meetings Efficient 

Meetings form an important part of any corporate dynamics. They are necessary if you want to achieve business goals and aims. However, most often, meetings last long and employees find them dreadful and ineffective. During the meetings, the manager usually does all the talking while team members are thinking about other things instead of participating and actively listening. For this reason, you should make meetings shorter, straightforward, and more efficient. Cover the most important things, such as decisions, announcements, and updates, and leave details for later. If you assign an employee to take notes during the meetings, they can summarize the most important points and send a report to everyone who attended. As a result, employees will have more time to collaborate. 

Taking Advantage of Video Conferencing 

One of the greatest downsides of remote work is the lack of direct communication and interaction. If you are managing a remote team, then you know how hard it is to make everyone feel like a part of the team. The best way to connect staff and strengthen team spirit is by taking advantage of video conferences. For example, schedule a daily video check-up with everyone and make it a regular thing. This way remote employees will maintain their relationships and communicate face to face with coworkers which makes any type of communication more effective. You can even take video conferencing to another level by giving employees a few minutes before or after the meeting to catch up and small talk. When they feel like a part of the team, then collaboration comes naturally.

Organizing Team Building Activities

The most interesting way to boost collaboration in the workplace is through organizing team building activities. Employees like to participate in such events because they aren’t necessarily related to work and they can showcase their other talents and enjoy their coworkers’ company. Team building activities are also the easiest way to increase teamwork because those activities are simple to come up with. Team sports, happy hours, or volunteering are great starting points. They allow employees to relax and blow off some steam. Also, they get to see their coworkers and the management in a different, more interesting, way. As a result, they become closer and start working as a true team to accomplish common goals.  

On the whole, cross-collaboration is usually what most companies miss while trying to become successful. With these five tips, your business can reach that final step and enjoy its business success.