A company should be greater than the sum of its parts, but for that to happen, then your employees need to work together. If everyone’s only ever working on their own projects, then your business might be missing out on some much-needed chemistry between the employees. Alas, teamwork doesn’t always come easily to workers, who have for most of their life been encouraged to think in terms of themselves. Still, it’s relatively straightforward to boost collaboration in the workplace, as we’ll see below.

Source: Pexels.com

 

Seating Arrangements

Does your worksite still use those makeshift cubicles? If so, it’s time to tear down those walls and switch to open-plan. Of course, you don’t want everybody to be chatting all day, but you do want to make it so people become more familiar with one another. As well as adopting an open plan seating area, you’ll also benefit from creating a seating area away from the rest of the desks and computers, where people can chat with one another in peace. If people are able to talk with one another, you never know what they might come up with.

 

The Right Infrastructure

It’s all good and well connecting people, but if they don’t have the right tools to work as a team, then there’s only so far they can go. An effective way to help people along their collaborative journey is to ensure they have the software and equipment they need. They’ll already have access to a computer, which is a start, but what about the software? Microsoft Cloud Services includes Office 365, which facilitates team projects. The worker can spend time on the project even if they’re not able to get together with other members of the team, as all the work is held in cloud storage, rather than an individual computer.

 

Time To Work

You can’t expect people to progress with their project if you weigh them down with other work. Though they’ll need to complete their daily work, make sure they also have time allocated to work on their collaborative work. The boundaries between work and leisure may be more blurred than in the past, but that doesn’t mean you can expect your workers to develop other projects for your company on their own time. Let them work together during your usual working hours.

 

Hire Team Players

It’s just a fact of life that some people are better at working as part of a team than others. If you’re going to make working together an integral part of your company plan, then you’ll people who aren’t reluctant to work this way. The best method is to emphasize the teamwork aspect of your computer culture during the interview process. People who don’t want to work this way will withdraw.

 

Getting Social

Finally, don’t forget the power of a shared bottle of wine or beer! People find it much easier to work with people they’re already friendly with, so encourage after work drinks – you never know where that happy hour might take your company.