What do the top executives of Apple, Google, Uber and the like all have in common? They are all involved in incredibly successful businesses who recognized the benefits of collaborative work environments.
Companies that believe in the advantages of collaboration, grow faster by creating a culture of collaborative work environments that allows employees to dream big and thrive.
Collaboration is when two or more people work together to achieve a common goal. Businesses can encourage a collaborative work ethos by providing the facilities for employees to easily work together and communicate freely. When this occurs people feel that they are making a transparent contribution to the bigger picture.
A recent article in Forbes noted that workers who collaborate are more focused and engaged, are less tired , have reduced stress levels and generally are more successful than their solitary coworkers.
The ways to create a collaborative working environment mindset:
Step 1 - Have a clear mission, the more exciting the mission the more workers will want to be a part of it.
Step 2 - Defined individual and group roles and responsibilities, when people know what’s expected of them they work more efficiently.
Step 3 - Set clearly defined goals for the team/s, setting goals makes it easier to measure progress and reduce confusion.
Step 4 - Understand individual strengths and weaknesses, focusing on individual strength lets people contribute in a winning way.
Step 5 - Encourage inclusion and cohesion among teams - include people in decision making, set goals and objectives together.
Benefits of collaboration include the following:
* Innovation is increased
* Moral is boosted
* Productivity grows
* Working remotely becomes less isolating
* Time and money are saved
* Agility and flexibility are increased
Businesses also need to give employees a way to celebrate the success of their collaborative efforts. Using videos, podcasts, or social media are great vehicles to share collaboration success stories. Bonuses for collaborative efforts and performance rewards are two other ways that management can emphasize how important collaborative work is.
When Companies regularly invest resources into workplace collaboration and offer rewards for collaborative success workers feel like they are making a difference. People who know that they are doing something that counts are willing to work harder and longer to help the team and it’s company win.
Collaborative work spaces are successful because they create a shared sense of meaning and purpose.
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