Effective collaboration is an indispensable part of any successful organization. Well-communicating teams identify problems and bottlenecks in a timely manner and solve them independently. Effective collaboration is important to achieve goals and therefore to grow as a company. In this blog we will give you a number of tips that can ensure that the collaboration within your organization runs smoothly and successfully.
1. Set clear goals
In a collaboration between different people, it is essential that the goals are clear to everyone. This is therefore always the starting point of an assignment or project. It is important that these goals are measurable, time-bound, but also realistic. Determine together what you want to achieve, what it takes and what the deadline will be.
2. Set realistic deadlines
Time is precious, so set realistic deadlines. During your planning, always take into account unexpected things that may come in between. For example, if someone drops out, you depend on external parties or something suddenly changes in the project, it is important that there is still time to switch.
3. Determine the communication channels
Are you going to communicate everything by email? Or do you choose to use handy software such as Slack or Teams? Do you work with Office or Google Drive? It is important that everyone has a clear idea of what the agreed communication channels are, so that no app or e-mail remains unread somewhere. This way everyone always knows where to find the necessary information.
4. Creativity is key
Did you know that creative people are more likely to achieve their goals? This is because they embrace an active and open attitude and therefore absorb more inspiration from the world around them. This makes you more productive and makes you (more) open to looking for solutions.
There are several ways to spark creativity in people. From an inspiring environment, to brainstorming sessions and regularly trying new things. Do you feel that the creativity of your team is not yet coming out well? Then you can also look at a team coach to guide this creative development in the right direction.
5. Time for a good brainstorming session!
A brainstorm is (almost) always a good idea to kick-off your project. You get to work in a free way with coming up with as many ideas and solutions as possible. You stimulate creativity and think out of the box more easily. This way you may come up with solutions that you would never have come up with otherwise.
Tip: the room in which you organize a brainstorming session has a major influence on your creative thinking process. So choose a nice place. Maybe our creative spaces something for you.
6. Divide & conquer: an effective division of labor
Establishing clear roles and responsibilities is an important step towards effective collaboration. You need to know which tasks are yours and which are someone else's. So make sure that everyone knows exactly what to do and keep each other informed regularly: what is the status of the to do's? Is anyone still running into something? Good communication is essential.