5 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Collaboration Skills
Your team might be well-equipped. You might have the top-notch computers, lightning-fast internet, the best software money can buy — even the cushiest office chairs. But that’s not what make a great team. Your gear alone can’t foster communication and teamwork. There might be a reason why no one uses the whiteboards in your office — and why their digital counterparts don’t seem to get the conversations flowing, either. If you want to unleash your team’s potential, you need to learn the art of dissent, listening, and trust. In essence, you need to learn how to collaborate.
1. Have a system for prioritizing work
Sometimes it doesn’t cut it to just “follow your gut.” It might be tempting to just work on the flashy features and bugs that are immediately noticeable, but than can lead to lagging completion times and lopsided outcomes. Good teams have a set of priorities that keep them on course — for example, a few factors you’re trying to optimize. That might be speed, cost, revenue, graphic quality… As long as everyone in your team is aware of which parameters are highest-priority, chances are good that you’ll be hitting every deadline on time.
2. Brainstorm alone, prioritize together.
We’re not exactly saying your shower thoughts deserve to be shared in the next meeting. But when you make the effort to thoroughly think something over before sharing it, it shortens the time we all have to stream video calls or cram into the conference room. Listening to half-baked thought experiments is not an efficient use of everyone’s time. Developing ideas and solutions individually frees up meeting minutes for agreeing on priorities and organization.
3. Agree on the long-term goals
Everyone has ideas about what’s important. Just ask your coworker what they’d do with a million dollars! Although this kind of diversity is fabulous, it can make your project’s to-do list impossibly long. If your team starts by laying down the key goals, and then checks every to-do item against them, your meetings will become less of a free-for-all. When your company has limited resources, time, and effort, it’s of paramount importance to make sure everyone’s being guided by the same North Star.
4. Keep your eyes on the clock.
When time’s ticking on a project your team is working on, it’s not rude to glance down at your watch. Avoiding confusion by specifying when each task or to-do item is due keeps us all on track. The difference between marking something “never” and “maybe next year” might seem arbitrary, but the truth is, it keeps your priorities straight. There’s a sweet spot: allocating 50% of your work to urgent features, 25% to less important features, and leaving the remaining 25% to triage (Ahem, random curveballs from your boss).
5. Empower team members to make judgement calls
Speaking of curveballs from your boss — empathetic leadership is key! If your boss can acknowledge that they may not be the smartest person in the room at all times, your team can work towards a decentralized decision making process, and give autonomy to each worker. After all, it’s those of us in the trenches that truly know the ins-and-outs of what we’re all working so hard on. Laying out a spectacular vision is one thing, and keeping everyone on track is another. But letting those of us closest to the job at hand decide how the job should be done just makes sense. And as an added bonus, it gives us all a sense of ownership, keeping us engaged, connected, and even more creative.
Collaborating is hard, but the synergy is worth it! Maybe you think it’s just fluffy stuff — but setting aside some time to analyze how your team collaborates could be what separates a good team from a great one.
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