It’s time to embrace people! Some of us are in the process of emerging out of a long time frame of telecommuting. It might seem strange to go back to the office with other individuals after spending so much time working alone. Whether returning to a brick and mortar or simply expanding your remote workers, collaborating with a team of professionals can bring diversity and experience to the table. Getting involved in collaboration movements can help you tackle challenges and embrace different perspectives.
Learn about the six key foundations of successful collaboration.
1. Effectiveness
Meetings are a must! They aren’t always the most fun or desired aspect of teamwork, but they are absolutely necessary. One way to make meetings more bearable is to make sure they are quick, concise and to the point. Make it a point to create an agenda before the meeting that covers everything you need to talk about. This will keep you on task and on time. Most meetings don’t need to be long and grueling. Consider a video conference call rather than over the phone. With Covid, these kind of resources have become readily available.
2. Create A Safe Space
Your partners will feel more valued when they know they have a “seat at the table”. Make sure that every person feels heard. This feeling of being “heard” does not come from a place of insecurity. It’s human nature to be needed. Nobody wants to be on a team where they don’t feel like they have purpose.
3. Divide Work Appropriately
Be careful not to overload one person. While it can be easy to give all the work to your most trusted worker, it could lead to an overwhelmed teammate. When someone becomes overwhelmed, their once stellar performance could convert to sub-par work. Challenge yourself to branch out and place trust in those you may not have done before. You may be impressed!
4. Stay Positive
There is nothing that can kill progression worse than a case of negativity. As the business owner/leader, your influence is everything. If you are expressing a position of negativity or discomfort, your team will feel it and follow suit. This is the last thing you want! Stay positive and peaceful if you want your team to be on that same page.
5. Be Clear
Make sure you can communicate clearly what the goals are. Clarity is everything! Leave the floor open at the end of each group meeting so people can ask questions. This can help clear up some confusion for the whole room, or even for you. Pausing to seek clarity doesn’t display a lack of leadership, it expresses that you value excellence over quickness.
6. Ownership
Most business leaders assume that the best way to make sure people are operating at their best is accountability. The real factor of this is ownership. There is not one person that feels like they have authority to take care of their home when they are just renting. The real responsibility comes when someone buys their first home. Allowing team members to take ownership of a piece of the puzzle will produce responsibility and effective productivity.
This should be your takeaway: You don’t have to do this alone! Lean on other people to make your dreams happen. Ultimately, we weren’t meant to go stag. Embrace people and this new chapter of your business.