Teamwork is a crucial part of any business management. Beginning this post, that was the main objective of the article. We all believe that teamwork and collaboration work hand-in-hand and that there’s no “I” in “TEAM”, and so forth. However, taking a step back and looking at the basic definition of collaboration seems more fitting.
“collaboration /kəlabəˈreɪʃn/
- noun
- the action of working with someone to produce something.
“he wrote a book in collaboration with his son.”
- traitorous cooperation with an enemy.
“he faces charges of collaboration.”
Looking at this definition, it is clear that collaboration and teamwork are very different. On the one hand, cooperation involves the action of working with others effectively, while, on the other hand, collaboration steams from the results of a finished product. Also, if you didn’t pay attention, there’s actually an “I” in “collaboration.”
This is worth noting because collaboration is beneficial to the individual, team and an organisation’s growth. And in all honesty, collaboration is virtually inevitable in business. Treating it as teamwork will only lead to an excellent team with minimal impressive outcomes. If you really want to streamline efforts and save everyone time, prioritising successful collaboration in groups and other departments is the way to go!
Here are some of the common challenges team collaboration faces, and a few tips for solving them:
Indecisive Decision-Makers
Yep, it’s very ironic, right? In many scenarios, the people who are supposed to lead the way to success end up having no idea which path to take. This is most common where several stakeholders are involved, and not everyone is on the same page. You may think that indecisiveness is a little bump in the road, but it can lead to unclear expectations and displayed or missed deadlines, coupled with a whole lot of frustrations from team members.
Tip:
Decision making, and its process, need to be coherent and straightforward. All stakeholders need to have a firm grasp on how the decision process works. Proposing ideas and having them choose from them is a more straightforward way to go about it. Avoid statements like “let me get back to you”, or, “let me think about it and get back to you.” If “marinating” on ideas is something that you all agree on, make sure you set deadlines so that no one gets lost in limbo.
“E-fail”
“E_fail” is a turn you can use for those times when emails completely miss the mark. When emails straight up fail, hitting the “reply all” or even forgetting to click on reply at all, missing or not attaching an attachment, checking spam box to look for essential mails, but don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Such mistakes happen a lot of the time when collaborating with others. In these cases, attachments get lost, grammar troll prowl and project timelines are completely missed.
Tip:
Cut out all email communication to collaborate. Emails can be distracting and ruin your productivity in a collaboration setting. The best way to avoid this is to find a collaboration tool to manage all your projects and track accountability.
Mis(sing)communication
Misinterpretation and miscommunication are no strangers in collaborating teams. Sometimes, mistakes are never discovered, only when things go badly wrong, do people want to find them. Clear understanding with what’s expected from every team member you can avoid wasting energy and time to track everything.
Tip:
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. In fact, you NEED to ask questions! Raising your hand whenever you’re in doubt should be your new best friend. When you ask questions, you get clarity, become clear with objectives and expectations and are able to carry out your duties. If you happen to fall behind with something, make sure you tell the rest of the team. It’s inevitable to run into mistakes and delays, so speak up and be proactive about so solutions can be found.
Start looking at collaborations differently so that you and your team can be accountable about everything. There’s no point in focusing on one element of a grander scheme.