5 ways to improve team collaboration

Cultivating an environment where team members feel empowered and trusted is key to setting your team up for success. Effectively managing any conflicts within your team will ensure everyone remains engaged and invested.

1.Identify and get in front of any issues.

To resolve a conflict within your team, encourage your team members to speak openly about their concerns and listen carefully to what they say.

You need to involve your entire team in finding resolutions to any issues you’ve identified. This will ensure their buy-in.

2.Cultivate an empowering team culture.

Cultivating a collaborative, empowering team culture by actively encouraging open communication will go a long way to ensuring that everyone is invested in the team’s success.

3.Keep it fun!

Fun team-building events encourage team members to socialize outside of the office. Encourage your team to volunteer in community events, go on a team lunch or have a mid-day “Energy Burst”. The goal is to provide opportunities for your team to build trust and enhance collaboration.

4.Take an active interest in what they’re doing, but…

Your role as a team leader is to guide your team, not micromanage them. Manage outcomes, not tasks. Giving your team members the freedom to perform tasks without excessive oversight will encourage greater innovation and collaboration.

You hired your team to do a job – so let them do it. They should know that they can lean on each other and draw on each other’s strengths and experiences while working together to succeed.

The days of fear-based management are long gone.

5.Celebrate successes big & small together.

Celebrating successes doesn’t need to be elaborate to have a positive impact. Verbally acknowledging a team member’s contribution to a successful project, or presenting them with a token of your appreciation, can go a long way to making them feel valued.

Allocating time to recognize successes during team meetings allows the whole team to share in the good news. Many online social business tools make it easy for team members to acknowledge a colleague for a job well done.

Remember, when you acknowledge and celebrate successes as a team, you encourage your team to keep performing at a high level. “Success breeds success” as the saying goes.