Team collaboration has become the hottest trend in business since we all started working from home in dress shirts and sweatpants. Millions of new users flocked to apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Webex. A study by McKinsey found that knowledge workers spend an average of 14 percent of their workweek communicating and collaborating internally. And internal collaboration through social tools helps raise the productivity of interaction by as much as 20 percent to 25 percent.

Collaboration isn’t just about the work; it’s also about the relationships between coworkers. When employees feel connected to their company and their coworkers, they’re more likely to be engaged in their work and go the extra mile for their company.

Creating the Right Culture — Be Open and Avoid Micromanagement

In order to encourage collaboration, it’s important that the company’s culture is open, inclusive and supportive of new ideas. Employees should be encouraged to share any ideas they have and make sure that everyone feels like their input matters.

Small business owners should avoid the urge to micromanage. Micromanaging will prevent your employees from reaching their potential and can negatively affect productivity, aptitude, engagement and progress.

Axero notes that a business should also make sure there are no barriers between teams, such as a lack of communication or conflicting priorities. If there are any barriers, they should be addressed as soon as possible so that they don’t get in the way of future progress.

One of the most important things to do when creating opportunities for cross-team collaboration is to clearly understand what you want to achieve in the end. For example, if you want to increase your company’s productivity, then it might be a good idea to have a meeting with all departments and ask them what they need to get their work done faster.

The more open you are with your team members, the better they will understand your needs and the easier it will be for them to provide solutions that will help everyone.

In order for teams to collaborate well, they need to have a good understanding of each other’s work. This can be achieved by having regular meetings. If you need a place to do that in person, meeting space venues are available to rent in most cities.

Having the Right Tools

Collaboration tools are designed to increase the efficiency of teams by helping them share and work on documents, projects and tasks. They can be used for various purposes, such as managing workflows, organizing project files and data, or simply sharing a document with somebody.

The best way to figure out which tool is right for you is to consider your needs and what type of team you have. If you need a tool to help manage tasks, purchasing task management software may be the best option. When you’re collaborating on documents, you may need to make significant text or formatting edits to a PDF. Keep in mind that you’ll have a limited ability to edit documents with a PDF file, making the process difficult and time consuming. Instead, you can use an online conversion tool to convert from PDF to Word and easily make edits. Simply upload your PDF, convert the file, start working in Word, and then save it as a PDF when you’ve finished your edits.

In conclusion, remember, collaboration isn’t just about working with people who are similar to you, but also those who are different. Collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences can help you create a better product or service and make your business grow in ways you alone could never accomplish.