Today, with the internet has changed the concept of the workplace entirely, we have unlimited technology resources that revamp the office into a whole new space. Businesses are now being operated almost entirely digitally, and the ways that teams collaborate with each other have drastically evolved globally. Cloud technology, smartphones, tablets, and laptops have all given us a rise towards remote working, therefore allowing team members to work more efficiently – solo or together. It has become essential to understand how businesses can manage collaboration in the workplace more efficiently in this new modern century and how this digital yet can contribute to collective action. With a substantial increase in distributed teams, remote work, and virtual offices, the digital workplace is evolving into the new norm. The key to surviving within this ever-changing environment and ultimately thriving as a team, is essential to form a collaborative workplace. These developments in modern technology have also managed to preserve the need for humans to interact with each other on a very basic and primal level. As team members and employees, we all still feel the urge to collaborate effectively to carry out various tasks – from the simplest one, such as completing a Google Docs sheet, to the most complex one, such as reaching certain KPIs designated for a project. While the work culture becomes increasingly flexible, companies must understand that their employees are no less taken with being heard and hope to share their knowledge across their team and organization. No matter how digital we become, business ideas are still discussed and shared within and beyond workgroups. Therefore, it is important to match these changing needs and adjust them to the most primal workplace requirements so that collaborative communication brings seamless, effortless, productive, efficient, and innovative work. In this article, we will discuss what collaboration in the workplace means, why it is important, and the benefits that come with maintaining a collaborative workspace.
What is Collaboration at Work, What Does It Mean?
Before we dig in the importance of collaboration in the workplace, we need to emphasize the collaboration at work definition to help better understand this vast concept. A good example of collaboration at work involves a group of teammates sharing their skills, abilities, and ideas to achieve a common business goal. Working collaboratively as a team rather than individually aids in the improvement of productivity and provides employees with a general sense of purpose within the organization. With collaborative working, it becomes smoother to brainstorm over certain ideas that ultimately deliver the determined work promptly or help solve an existing problem. Teammates with various perspectives, ideas, and expertise can thus work collectively in order to reach innovative outcomes that will result in an overall positive contribution to the company.
Why is Collaboration in the Workplace Important?
Solving complex business problems requires a sufficient amount of brainstorming, effective teamwork, and precise collaboration – no matter how well-oiled your business may be. So why is collaboration important in the workplace to begin with? Thinking about collaboration in general, you can quickly conclude that this concept’s basic goal is to maximize the business’s success. Compared to a single individual, a group of people have substantially more power and impact throughout a business procedure. Collaborative working benefits include the trade of valuable knowledge between team members, constituting more efficient and effective work, and evolving every single team member into a unique source of know-how and skill. What’s more, working collaboratively in teams encourages employees to develop healthy relationships as well. These wholesome work relationships then lead to greater team performance and impact the business’s overall productivity. In other words, collaboration among teams solves problems across multiple channels with greater functionality and speed.
Why Should Teams Learn to Collaborate at Work
1. Teams can learn from each other: Cooperation in the workplace initially helps team members gain the opportunity to learn from each other’s skills and abilities, as well as their failures and successes. This leads to developing an organizational approach toward learning new things and contributing to the company’s short and long-term goals.
2. Individuals get to practice better problem-solving: Bringing a wide array of talents together is what workplace collaboration is all about, which is why creating a pool of various skills and knowledge helps the organization become more competent as a whole. As more and more experienced people are brought together, more teams are inclined to master better problem-solving abilities.
3. Both employees and employers get to see the bigger picture: People from different backgrounds working cooperatively on a single project offers more chances to grasp their differences and transform them into useful tools for the business. The company will still have the gains of having a collaborative partnership even if the result doesn’t pan out as planned.
4. Collaboration in the workplace promotes better participation: Each team member is entitled to show equal participation when working on a project together. By providing better input, brainstorming unmatched ideas, and finding solutions to different problems, they are therefore contributing towards a larger goal. Not to mention that working collaboratively as a team assures employees that their voice matters.
5. Collaborative working breaks down barriers: In successful companies, team members of a certain department are not solely collaborating with each other, but they aim to extend this cooperation across various departments of the organization. It is possible to form a significant feedback loop by contributing to certain goals of a company collaborative and ultimately use this loop’s outcomes on various projects. Everyone on the team will be able to express their opinion to better serve their organization.
6. Cooperation leads to faster & more efficient production: When a purpose-free and unoriented group of people come together to work on a common purpose, it usually takes longer to begin the task and eventually complete it. However, things change when a collaborative and well-coordinated group of people come into the scene. Planned and designated cooperation between teams speed up the entire process, and the final result ends up being much better than what everyone expected.
In order to achieve all of these benefits that come from a collaborative workplace, bring your team closer together, connect on a digital level, and remain in sync with each other.