Team collaboration is the key to success as it turns talent into competitive and innovative resources for the company. Team collaboration goes a long way as it helps in building a strong culture in the company that ensures a collaborative effort towards the company’s growth.
A strong team brings individual strength together and as a company, you would like to see such an approach in your employees, right? Well, this level of harmonious approach among the team requires a dedicated effort from the managers and with everything going remote; this has become even more challenging.
We have outlined different ways to improve remote team collaboration software that enables you, as a manager, to create a collaborative environment. We have curated a list of strategies and tools to improve the communication among team members, bring innovation at work, enable knowledge sharing and increase overall efficiency.
Lead by example
Your team members look up to you for guidance and understanding of company values. Try to set an example of a collaborative environment by continuously asking for inputs and building an environment where your team members feel respected and free to share ideas.
Put effort to build relationships with your team members by talking to them about their work, problems, and life in general.
Remember that you cannot run your team with an iron fist or in an environment where they don’t feel comfortable speaking or feel disrespected.
Creating a collaborative work environment
To create an environment where everyone is working together, it is important that you create an environment where suggestions are welcomed. Encourage team members to ask questions and simultaneously to keep a positive attitude towards suggestions from other team members.
Make teams for weekly check-in for people to discuss ideas, ask questions. Arrange for cross-team reviews where employees can present projects and discuss with each other.
This helps the employees to get accustomed to a constructive work environment.
Communicate company goals clearly
It is very important that the leadership team communicates company goals with the employees. It is often noticed that employees with no idea about the company’s vision and goals lose motivation as they have no common goal to work towards. Share with them, the company’s short-term and long-term goals, what should be the focus and how success will be measured, etc.
Let them take initiative
Creating an environment where team members can take initiative is important. If someone wants to lead a project, welcome them and extend every possible support to them. If someone wants to experiment with something, let them try. This establishes that you trust them and instills a sense of responsibility among them.
Give incentives
Let’s be honest. Not all team members care about collaborative work. Learn what motivates your team members individually and what makes them feel rewarded?
You can include bonuses, praises, promotions, offering leadership roles, or anything that you learned, motivates them. Incentives may vary from person to person and should be presented in a way that shows your support towards them and doesn’t look like a bribe.
Ask for solutions to problems and take feedback
A business with no problems is an illusion. When faced with any problem, involve your entire team to bring solutions to the table. This will not only bring multiple options for you but will also send a message that employees are valued and are seen as an asset to the company.
Another important way to create a collaborative environment in the company is to be open to feedback. This brings employees closure to their managers and sends a message that everything is directed towards achieving the goals rather than just following norms.
Streamline the work process
Streamlining the work and organizing ensures that everyone is clear about their roles and is on the same page. Create SOPs for common tasks like onboarding new clients, adding a new project, follow-ups on leads, employee conflict resolution, etc. Use tools to make the process clear and easier for your team.
This brings us to the question ‘What are the best tools for team collaboration?’
There are so many amazing tools available online that make working with the team, even remotely, easy and fun. These tools not only create an easy system for everything but also enable saving individual time by removing distractions and lengthy processes.
From project management to communication, time and email management, these tools help with everything to keep things running efficiently in a remote work environment.
Some popular tools are For communication and collaboration:
Building a collaborative work environment depends largely on communication and thus a good communication tool is very important that makes it easy and fast. You can use the following for creating a good communication channel
- Slack
- Google meets
- Zoom
- Google Docs
For Project Management:
This is critical for effective coordination among the team for managing a project. These tools come very handy when it comes to managing projects and working together.
- Trello
- TaskOPad
- Asana
- Zoho – for sales team collaboration
- ProofHub
For precise estimations and tracking:
Every project costs time and money to a company which makes tracking very important. These tools help in tracking projects and help in time estimations.
- TimeCamp
- Hubstaff tasks
- Workzone
- ActiveCollab
We would recommend that you try these tools and also the other tools available and find out what works the best for you.
Team collaboration might come as a challenge when working remotely. It may not be easy but it is definitely doable. Be enthusiastic about collaborating and encourage your team members. It is essential to build a happy, enthusiastic and creative team for both personal and organizational success.
