Ways to Boost Your Collaborations

I’m always on the lookout for articles about ways to boost collaborations. Here are a few snippets:

Working effectively on a team isn’t always easy. Personalities clash, communication styles don’t match up, and work habits don’t always align. It’s normal. Collaboration is a soft skill that is often easily overlooked and underdeveloped. You can’t get certified “collaborative”. It doesn’t show up on the CV under skills. Yet, effective collaboration is critical to any team’s success.

Are some people born more collaborative than others? Richard Dawkins’ 1976 theory from The Selfish Gene posited that humans are inherently self-focused. Much like Adam Smith claimed, humans are after all serving their own self-interest.

Whether you’re working as a designer or developer, an SDR or CEO, being aware of your collaboration style (or lack thereof) is essential. From simple tips to more complex team-building exercises, here’s a list of 101 proven ideas for better collaboration that will help you build and maintain stronger and more productive workplace relationships.

The Right Tools to Enable Collaboration

1. Take Responsibility

Remain accountable for your part of shared projects and responsibilities. Show your colleagues you’re reliable by following through on commitments, meeting deadlines, and communicating proactively when there are delays. Take ownership of your mistakes and share challenges openly.

2. Understand Async vs Sync Work

Understanding the difference (and when which is more appropriate) between asynchronous and synchronous work and communication can boost your team’s productivity and collaborations.

• Synchronous: Face-to-face communication, a phone call, and videoconferencing. Feedback and communication are shared in real time.

• Asynchronous channels: Task management, note-taking, or review tools. Communication received can be more thoughtful and considered.

3. Use Loom for Explanations

Rather than scheduling a 30 meeting to cover a 5-minute explanation, share videos with instructions or explanations via Loom or a similar self-recording app. Teams can view it at their convenience, contributing to better async collaboration.

4. Implement the Right PM Tool

Keep your team running smoothly. The adoption of efficient PM software enables team members to collaborate seamlessly, share real-time updates, and access relevant project data, resulting in smoother workflows, increased transparency, and more effective collaboration.

From research and testing to picking the right tool for your team’s needs, there are some universal best practices for implementing new collaborative software.

Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspectives. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.

Thanks,

Robert