How to Improve Collaboration between Project Teams – 8 Simple Steps
Steve Jobs said, “Great things in business are never done alone, they’re done by a team.” The lesson about teamwork is essential to remember in a professional environment where a lack of collaboration often leads to disaster.
Project collaboration takes place when a group of people with varying project management skills and experiences come together to tackle a single project. Everyone in the collaborative group is included in the decision-making process and have access to all information. Whether there are clearly defined roles or not depends on the project management methodology you use.
However, one thing is certain; everyone involved has a clear picture ahead of them and work together from conceptualization to the finishing stages of the project.
Why project collaboration is important?
From the moment you start your project, working with a team becomes a necessity as no project can be completed without them. Learning how to foster a culture of collaboration should be one of your top priorities if you want to become an effective project manager.
Project teams usually consist of people from different backgrounds and approaches. Even the most experienced managers sometimes struggle to deal with them effectively. Many projects fail – about 33 percent of them – due to a lack of interest from the involved parties. It not only affects the morale but also influences how the market perceives your organization.
How to ensure effective collaboration between project teams
With multiple deadlines creeping and pressure from the management or the clients, you might lose sight of your ambition to maintain a collaborative environment.
We have listed down eight necessary steps you can take to ensure that it doesn’t happen.
1. Improve communication within the team
The first and foremost task for you is to enhance the way you and your team communicates. Proper communication in project management acts as a glue that holds a project team together and can make or break your project.
According to the Workplace Productivity and Communications Technology Report, about 67 percent of professionals spend an average of 6 out of 9 hours communicating at work. These numbers show how important communication is for any organization and what difference you can make by optimizing it.
2. Be as transparent as possible
Project transparency is another avenue that determines whether you want to become an effective leader or someone who happens to have a leadership title only. Apart from sensitive and personal data, there is no good reason for you to hide any data from your team. If your team has a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve and the current position, they’ll work harder and feel motivated to get the job done.
3. Get everyone involved
It’s imperative to get everyone involved in the decision-making process if you want to achieve an acceptable level of collaboration in your projects. When everyone is engaged, original ideas get developed, and members learn from each other collectively. This phenomenon not only improves your overall performance but also contributes to the development of your team.
4. Encourage members who take the initiative
It’s hard to be the first person to do something or come up with a new way that goes against the current practices. You have to foster a culture of innovation where members who take the initiative to do something more efficiently are encouraged.
For managers, people like that are an asset because they’ll be the first ones to adopt the innovative changes and new policies you introduce wholeheartedly.
5. Get rid of the walls
It may sound cliché, but removing physical barriers between your team can bring them together and allow them to communicate more effectively. Even some managers tend to have an open-door policy to make themselves more approachable. Such non-verbal messages are essential because teams work more efficiently if they feel confident that they can ask for help in case they can’t complete a task alone.
6. Optimize office meetings
If your periodic meetings have become monotonous and something you dread, it’s time to change things up. Unnecessarily long sessions demotivate everyone and waste precious time. Your meetings must have a pre-defined agenda that everyone must stick to. Send out the comprehensive progress reports and status updates before the meetings.
Doing this makes sure that each participant already knows the current standing of the project, and you don’t waste time on tedious status updates.
7. Keep your team happy and motivated
It goes without saying that a happy and motivated team performs significantly better in any scenario. Taking out some time to involve your team in fun activities and celebrating essential milestones is an excellent way of motivating the team.
Some managers also go the extra mile and try to incorporate some humor in different situations to maintain a stress-free work environment.
8. Use project collaboration tools
Modern projects are complex and cannot be managed effectively with simple spreadsheets. To stay on top of things, you must have proper tools that can help you share updates, files, and other information. Tools that can help in collaboration and management are also a necessity for success.
Multiple organizations have reported significant increases in their productivity and success rates and they give credit to their collaborative tools for that. Various tools that focus on a single management aspect are available in the market. The best-case scenario for you would be to find a single tool that can perform all the tasks above.
Improve project team collaboration with Kissflow Project
If you’re looking to improve the collaboration among your team members, Kissflow Project can be of help. It acts as the central hub for all your communication. Team members can see what others are working on, enabling transparency. You can share files and contextual comments for tasks and projects. Start using Kissflow Project for free today.
