5 Tips On How To Foster and Measure Collaboration In Your Project Teams.

Values equals culture, and the success of a firm attracting and retaining talent relies heavily on its culture. Egocentric workplaces and teams, where there is only one voice cannot get the best of their people, as one voice rules all.

99% of good candidates query Glue consultants on the culture of a firm, specifically how they collaborate on projects. They see collaboration as one of the key elements of success in the construction world. They leave firms based on the absence of collaboration and lack of the sharing of ideas.

Here are a few ways in which we believe our construction clients can promote a collaborative culture – and benefit from it.

   1. Principles based approach

It is crucial for firms to establish the outline and principles of collaborative practice in the very beginning of a project. The implementation of this approach should then be discussed openly during meetings and brainstorm discussions and become part of the culture.

   2. Partnership based Approach.

Another way to promote collaboration in organizations is by using the ‘partnering’ approach. This would encourage communication and build trust between two teams. When the parties are dependent on each other for a project’s success, no one can stop them from working together.  

   3. Actions speak louder than words:

The following actions are likely to promote collaboration in project teams.

• Setting clear lines of communication and authority
• Conducting regular team meetings and training sessions
• Co-locating the employees
• Offering joint rewards for members on a team
• Social activities

   4. Using technology to create collaboration: Building Information Modeling (BIM)

BIM revolves around the process of designing a digital model of a building. This approach is an effective source of promoting collaborative organizational culture. The aim of BIM is to make sure that the work is done in the right way at the right time so that everything goes smoothly from designing and constructing to the functioning of a building.

When harnessed correctly, BIM helps employees to work together for the sake of a project’s success.

   5. Measuring collaboration:

• Clearly stating roles and responsibilities of each member of a team
• Evaluating the collaborative competence of employees in teams
• Offer joint rewards for team performance on individual projects
• Analyze how much time team members are spending in deep work
• Analyze how quickly team members are resolving roadblocks in a project

The key to retaining talent is to foster both individual and team growth. To do this you need a values based, collaborative culture. We believe these tips will help you create a collaborative culture that will set your team and firm up for success and prosperity.