These eight steps will get you started if you’re looking for ways to maximize collaboration in the workplace.
1. Establish trust and psychological safety
Your leaders must make a commitment to creating a psychologically secure environment. The impact of managers on the employee experience is enormous. As our global workforce grows more diverse, it’s critical to assess the psychological safety of your company.
Read More: Leef Brands
We have conducted research on the effects of psychological safety and belonging on the LGBTQIA+ community. The outcome? LGBTQIA+ people still don’t feel at ease coming to work as themselves. Indeed, according to 73% of LGBTQIA+ participants, they have shown their true selves to others in their personal lives. But when it came to their professional lives, only 35% agreed.
However, how do safety and belonging relate to teamwork? More than you might imagine. Employee disengagement is likely to occur if they don’t feel comfortable being who they are at work. It can affect anything from advocating for ways to enhance an outdated procedure to bringing up a novel, audacious idea in a meeting.
Surveys of employee engagement can be used by your company to gauge your psychological safety. Fundamentally, the leadership team ought to set an example for others to follow. Developing inclusive leadership abilities in managers is essential to fostering trust in teams.
2. Master the art of delegation
Effective collaboration begins with leaders who understand delegation. Nobody enjoys being micromanaged. A micromanaging supervisor adds more work to their own plate. However, they also weaken leadership abilities, damage trust, and raise anxiety levels at work.
In order to help teams distribute the workload among themselves, competent leaders must delegate well. Without efficient delegation, teamwork would not function.
3. Put in place a framework for making decisions.
At work, there are undoubtedly a lot of acronyms for decision-making that you are familiar with. There are a lot of them because it’s difficult to make the right choice.
Complexity in decision-making can increase, particularly as teams and organizations expand. In the end, it might result in lost opportunities and decreased output.
The approved, contributor, informed, and driver (ACID) framework is what we employ. We lay out the ACID at the outset of every collaborative or cross-functional project. By doing this, each team member gains a better understanding of their responsibilities and roles. Setting clear objectives, managing expectations, and working well with others are all beneficial.
4. Encourage direct and honest communication
There is a chance that communication will break down, particularly in remote teams. I’ve worked for organizations where I was frightened to acknowledge or discuss mistakes I made. Rather, I clung to that error, acutely aware that my oversight could have an effect on the project’s outcome. Why? Psychological safety and open, honest communication were discouraged.
Open communication is frequently encouraged by my manager. I no longer fear making mistakes because I am willing to own up to my mistakes and seek assistance when needed. I am aware that rather than trying to hide my mistakes, I can grow from them.
Your staff members must feel free to speak honestly and freely in order to communicate effectively. This may include achieving important objectives or benchmarks. However, the difficult things ought to be the most important ones. such as when a plan doesn’t work out or when the issue or approach has changed.
5. Provide chances for professional growth
Collaboration is not a skill that people are born with, like many other skills. It requires effort, awareness, and intention.
However, employees require opportunities to learn and develop. They require opportunities for professional development if they are to acquire the competencies and skills necessary for success. How do you provide opportunities for employee development? How can you ensure that your staff members are aware of your support for their learning paths?
6. Develop your ability to resolve conflicts
At work, conflict is unavoidable. Since we are all human, there will inevitably be disagreements over viewpoints, beliefs, and experiences. Teams will experience disagreement, particularly when attempting to work together, particularly if there are mismatched priorities.
Teams must learn constructive conflict resolution techniques in order to work together efficiently. This relates to establishing trust once more.
For instance, managers can arrange in-person or virtual team-building activities to facilitate employee socialization. Alternatively, your leaders could provide seminars or training on how to resolve disputes at work.
7. Specify important dates and objectives
Working together may not seem like a natural way to achieve a goal. It’s something we consider frequently.
Our organization runs on OKRs, or objectives and key results. These are corporate objectives designed to help us stay focused on the things that matter most and will have the biggest effects. Furthermore, no OKR exists that does not call for cross-collaboration.
Spend a moment observing the threads when you’re defining your business goals. What objectives can foster team collaboration? Which objectives will matter the most? In order to fully utilize the potential of your staff, how are you modifying or establishing goals to promote teamwork?
8. Get input
Working together is a continuous skill. When it comes right down to it, it’s a relationship. People and relationships change, which means that collaboration will also change over time. And in any kind of relationship, feedback is one of the most crucial elements.
How are you getting input on the way you’re working together? How are you motivating the other members of your team to follow suit? Do you check in with your staff members to find out how their joint projects are progressing?
I usually always get feedback when I work with a new team or create a process with a colleague. It’s a beneficial habit to establish. It facilitates open communication and helps to build safety and trust. However, it also helps to continuously improve relationships, projects, and processes.