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What is Collaboration in the Workplace?
Collaboration in the Workplace
Collaboration is an act of working together with another person or group, to do or achieve a defined purpose. Collaboration is often termed as Teamwork. Teamwork involves a set of people working together to accomplish a common agenda. It is commonly done under the supervision of a team leader who directs and delegates tasks to each team member and the individual’s effort gets accounted for the end achievement.
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However, collaboration is where people or groups come together jointly or in partnership to work together to accomplish a set agenda. It can be done without a single leader, with each side contributing and setting up their roles and targets with mutual understanding.
In modern workplaces, rather than competing with each other, collaboration has taken the norm to jointly help each other to uplift and achieve targets quickly and effectively. Shared ideas, skills, human resources, etc. bring efficiency, innovations, solutions, and hence more value to the organization.
Top 5 Benefits of Collaborating in the Workplace
Collaborating with your coworkers in your workplace can really come in handy. Let us see some of the top benefits that come with collaborating in the workplace.
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1. Collective Skills and Strengths
One of the biggest advantages of collaborating in your workplace is that you get all types of skills and strength in a single place that are combined together to generate results. Every mind is unique and everyone has a different skill set. Some eyes see problems in a different way while others have a different approach to them. When all these different approaches and strategies come collectively, you see a different type of workforce going.
2. Time Management
When you collaborate, you save a lot of time. You get things done more quickly. When different mindsets work collectively, things escalate quickly. You see solutions generated, things happening at a rapid pace. Everything gets done within its time limit. You meet deadlines and you get things done. As an employer, you have to deal less with late reports. If someone is having trouble coming up with a solution, others can back him up and help him with what is troubling him.
3. Employee Development
A great advantage of collaborating with other employees is that you keep learning new things. You pick new skills from your coworkers as you go. This works well with new employees who are not sure about the work culture of a company. The best way to train them is to let them collaborate with others. They will see how others are working and that will give them a better idea about the workaround. It is important to watch each other’s back to create a healthy work environment. When you start caring for others, you see great development in yourself as well.
4. Complete Satisfaction
When employees work together, not only they are satisfied with it, they satisfy customers as well. Since working collectively enables them to have access and thorough knowledge about everything related to work, they act more efficiently towards clients. Thus, collaboration leaves both employees and customers happy. A happy customer is a great success for any organization so is a happy employee. A happy customer means your employees are delivering services that are up to the client’s expectations. A happy employee means you have a good work culture going on. It is a win-win situation for you.
5. Bigger Vision
Collaboration in the workplace can lead to apprehend a bigger picture of the company. Employees start to understand the importance of their role. They realize that their work is contributing to a bigger agenda. Collaborating opens up their mind and expands their vision. It makes them able to see that they’re working for a bigger purpose. They start to understand the organization’s goals and motives better.
5 Simple Steps to Improve Team Collaboration Skills
Now that you know the importance and benefits of collaboration in the workplace, time to enhance your collaboration game. There is no rocket science or hard-core steps involved to improve your team collaboration skills. However, there are a few simple tips that you can follow.
1. Work on Your Hierarchy
Every organization works on different levels. Every employee is authorized for decisions to a certain level that is according to the company’s hierarchy. A company cannot withstand the possible issues without a certain hierarchy. To collaborate better with your teammates, you need to work on your hierarchy. Meaning, you should be able to make certain decisions. Work on your position so that your access level does not come in the way of your decision-making.
2. Be a Role Model for Your Team
It is one thing to say it and another to do it. Everyone wants to be a role model but how do you achieve that? In your workplace, the decision you take is important. They contribute to the company’s progress and success. The better decisions you make the better you build up your reputation among others. In order to be a role model for others, you have to inspire them. You can only achieve that through your actions. Look out for others. Get involved in other’s problems. Help your juniors.
3. Improve Your Infrastructure
If you want to improve your collaboration skills, you need to work on your infrastructure. Change the things that are long due. See how you can work better. The way you function does not have to be perfect but it has to be good. Change your strategies if need be. Come with better solutions. If you have all these abilities, you will collaborate better with others.
4. Encourage Innovation
The world is changing at a rapid pace and so is everything else. The way of working has changed drastically as well. We see different innovations in work daily. If you want to collaborate better with your teammates, you should promote and encourage innovation. Learn to see things differently and teach others to do that as well. If every employee starts to think innovatively, he will come up with innovative solutions. This can boost up your organization’s progress and it will stand out among the rest.
5. Invite Healthy Disagreement
Collaboration in the workplace means working with different minds and that means different solutions to a problem. Not every proposed solution can be applied to a single problem. That means some of you are going to argue over whose solution is better. As much of a problem it may sound, it does come in handy. When you disagree on something, you come up with rational ideas and ideas are beneficial for a company. Do you want to improve your collaboration skills? Learn to take criticism.
Collaboration in a workplace has never done anyone any harm. People have achieved greater goals by working together. It promotes a healthy work environment, which is beneficial for everyone. Not only it is favorable for employees, but employers and managers can also collaborate with others as well to know them better and to generate conducive results. As the famous saying goes, “United we stand, divided we fall”.
