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Collaboration: How to Make the Practice Productive Rather than Disruptive

Collaboration is the buzzword in the present corporate settings. Organizations leverage the use of powerful collaboration software and tools, urging their employees to conduct themselves as good corporate citizens by working collaboratively, for the projects to be completed efficiently and productively.  The benefits of collaboration are well-documented – there is no denying the fact.

That being said, collaboration practices only increase productivity and efficiency when done the right way. It involves certain elements, which goes beyond the mere implementation of a collaboration software solution within an organization’s work frame. If these elements are not involved, the same mantra that defines high productive, high velocity teams can act as a disruptive force, leading to project delays.   

What accounts for practicing collaboration the right way?

We take a look.

Identifying the Need for Collaboration

This may come as a surprise for some, but not all projects are meant for collaboration. The collaboration will have surely its benefits, as it can lead to the spark of valuable insights, access to centralized data and communication and helping all the team members to be on the same page; but it comes at a price. This is defined by the terminology collaboration cost. 

Collaboration cost is the cost that is associated with the countering of challenges that come, when staff personnel and team across different departments and business units have to work collaboratively on a project.

It includes the time, effort and resources, expended to make a collaboration endeavor successful.

Therefore, when you want to explore that if there is an “actual” need of collaboration on a project, you have to subtract this collaboration cost from the fairly estimated project returns.

• If, the collaboration cost does not significantly undermine the returns, it means that the collaboration premium is worth investing in and the project is the right fit for a collaboration endeavor. 
• If the collaboration cost is impeding the project returns, both in terms of money and time, then it is better to let the project be executed without it. 

Structuring Your Collaboration Efforts

Structuring your collaboration efforts in the right manner is another essential element that you must emphasize on, if you want your collaboration practices to be effective and productive.

From structuring, we are implying:

• Including the right people as part of the collaboration process.
• Designating the right duty to the right person.

For a designing team, you won’t like the creative personnel to be bombarded with feedback from the sales team, which could serve as a disruptive force to their ideation process.

Similarly, you would not like to leave out a person, who can contribute valuably to a project, only for them to interrupt at the last minute and lead to a project stall.

You need to structure your collaboration endeavors effectively. First, plan out the structure and then establish it through a collaboration software.   

Educate the Staff about Effective Communication

If you want your collaboration practices to be successful, your staff needs to communicate in a way that makes the message comprehensible for everyone working in the team. This includes:

1. Making the communication precise and to the point.
2. Avoiding the use of departmental and sub-field jargons that others, working in different department, may fail to understand.

Collaboration practices are considered the staple of productive and efficient organizations. However, like everything else, collaboration practices too need to be executed the right way for an organization to leverage its full benefits.