- Keep teams small. A small group of people means that each person gets more opportunities to be heard. …
- Set clear outcomes. …
- Offer lots of ways to contribute. …
- Celebrate wins. …
- Equip and empower. …
- Include everyone (but not at the same time). …
- Keep it fresh.
You need complex teams to carry out major initiatives in your organization, such as integrating a recently acquired company or updating an IT system. For tackling challenging projects, these teams’ defining traits—large, virtual, diverse, and specialized—are essential. However, according to Gratton and Erickson, these very traits can also undermine a team’s ability to collaborate. For instance, as team size grows, collaboration diminishes.
Create a foundation for collaboration in your business to increase the efficiency of your complex teams. There are eight techniques that can help with relationship building and cultural change. Create a strong sense of community, for instance, by supporting gatherings and activities that enable people to interact and get to know one another. Additionally, encourage staff to value interaction with leaders and peers by using informal mentoring and coaching
Professional Development: Collaboration in the Workplace
Benefits of effective collaboration
Effective collaboration drives a company’s success. When teams collaborate, members are inspired to be imaginative and contribute their best ideas. Other benefits of collaboration include:
Learning from others
Different people have different areas of expertise. You can gain knowledge from the backgrounds and experiences of the other team members by cooperating with them. This increases productivity and gives you knowledge of various issues in case they come up later.
Cross-training
Since most businesses have multiple departments, cross-departmental cooperation is a given. Direct communication between departments when they collaborate enables staff to comprehend the responsibilities of various roles.
Increased problem-solving ability
Collaboration enables individuals from various backgrounds to bring their expertise to the workplace, expanding the talent pool and raising the likelihood that issues will be solved by utilizing these diverse backgrounds.
Increased productivity
Important projects can be completed more quickly and with higher production value by collaborating. The amount of time it takes to complete a project can be greatly shortened if each person working on it is responsible for carrying out the specific tasks that fit with their strengths and areas of expertise.
What is collaboration in the workplace?
A group of two or more people working together to accomplish a shared goal by combining their strengths and insights is known as collaboration. Due to the increasing accessibility of cloud-based conference rooms, collaboration occurs more frequently within virtual teams.
How to demonstrate your collaboration skills
Collaboration skills are essential to succeed in the workplace. Employers are increasingly demanding candidates to demonstrate their skills rather than relying on a few buzzwords that the ATS algorithm picked up because employees are typically expected to work well together. This is accomplished through group interviews, sample projects, and thorough justifications of your demonstrated teamwork at a prior job. Follow these tips to effectively convey your collaboration skills:
1. On your resume
Your resume should list any awards or accolades you received for your outstanding teamwork at a previous job. This could be done by serving as a team leader, project coordinator, or in another coordination capacity. You might even have a distinction or honor that you can mention in the section on your accomplishments.
Your biggest collaborative project should be listed in the work experience section of your resume, and you should also mention your collaboration skills there. Provide examples of successful outcomes in these projects. Remember to customize your resume for each position you apply for, but keep in mind that regardless of the position you land, you’ll probably work with others on occasion.
2. In your cover letter
Read through the job expectations/requirements carefully. Find the skills you have that are relevant to the job’s requirements and include them in your cover letter along with an explanation of how you bring that skill to the role. For instance: “I am ready to bring my collaboration skills to this role in order to make the greatest possible contribution to the company’s success.” You can also list your various talents and provide a succinct example of a time when you used those talents to achieve a successful result.
3. At your job interview
Whether the position you are interviewing for is team-oriented or not, showing the interviewer that you can work well with others will make them pay close attention to you as a strong candidate. Give believable proof that you enjoy and are skilled at cooperating with others in a team. Describe instances in which you may have had to settle disputes in order to keep the team on task and focused (just make sure to avoid disparaging current or former coworkers or superiors).
Examples of collaboration
Collaboration skills don’t have to be difficult to mention on a resume. Briefly state your example using an action verb, and if at all possible, support it with hard data. Consider the examples below to learn how to describe your abilities for collaboration.
You can elaborate on these instances in your cover letter by following the format mentioned above and continuing to emphasize your capacity for collaboration.
If the interviewer asks you a question that calls for you to discuss your collaboration skills, you can keep these examples in mind along with a few others that you haven’t mentioned.
FAQ
How do you demonstrate collaboration skills?
In order to complete the task, provide feedback to teammates or other peers. Share credit for good ideas with others. Acknowledge others’ skill, experience, creativity, and contributions. Pay attention to others’ thoughts, feelings, and concerns and accept them.
What are positive examples of professional collaboration?
Collaboration in the workplace can take many forms, including brainstorming, group discussions, agreement on procedures, problem-solving, and analysis of issues.
