When you think of what makes a business achieve success, you think about the work and effort of its team members. In today’s competitive market, there are almost null chances to stand out all by yourself –  collaboration and teamwork are essential for organisations to reach their goals and be successful.

It’s no secret that collaboration contributes to how successful a team is. However, there is a secret ingredient to the recipe for success: leadership. If team collaboration is key to achieving success in business, leaders are key to promoting collaboration between team members.

To ensure that collaboration is embedded in your company culture, leadership has an important role to play. Only then can collaboration lead to performance improvement and allow your business to achieve its goals.

Why is team collaboration important in business?

Team collaboration directly impacts your company’s performance and, consequently, its results. Effective collaboration improves the way your team works together and it can lead to more innovation, efficiency, and improved communication. Thus, it allows each team member to properly understand their role and align themselves towards a specific goal.

Collaboration within a team has several benefits for a business such as problem-solving, adaptability, open communication and participation, skill-sharing, goal alignment, and engagement. Overall, collaboration makes workers more efficient, and it helps team members learn from each other. With a team of high-skilled professionals, it is always helpful to share knowledge and promote a continuous learning environment.

How can leadership ensure team collaboration?

Collaboration is critical to the success of a team, and it starts with great leadership. As a leader, it is important to encourage collaboration and ensure that your team is aligned and committed to the task at hand. In this sense, the leader should clarify roles, goals, and expectations for team members, as well as establish a code of conduct.

From being more available to effective communication, we gathered some leadership skills to foster a culture of collaboration on the team.

Be more available

To encourage a collaborative culture within your team, you need to make yourself more available as a leader. By making the effort to be always available for your team, you will actively promote collaboration between them.

For this, you should spend some of your time communicating more with team members and be transparent. You should share updates on the progress of tasks they are working on, participate in brainstorming sessions and share insights.

As a leader, you need to create an environment where people can be open and honest about anything. So, you should have an open-door policy for your team, and ask frequently for feedback, as well as give it.

Foster an open and inclusive communication

Communication is the foundation of collaboration and so it is important to promote effective communication on the team. You should encourage teammates to know each other in order to make themselves comfortable and build relationships. This way they will be likely to collaborate more easily.

You should also show inclusive leadership. Running meetings such as brainstorming sessions is a great way to align the team on goals and strategies, and gather the team’s input. Instead of imposing solutions, encourage team members to brainstorm and develop their own suggestions. This way you can empower them to think creatively, develop their confidence, and foster a sense of ownership.

It is essential to encourage people to speak and share their ideas, at the same time you listen to their ideas and opinions, and acknowledge their input. You should also keep in mind that feedback is critical for any leader, not only to give it but also to receive it.

Encourage team engagement

A great way to encourage collaboration is to promote team engagement, especially outside work walls. For this, it is important to organise team-building activities to help create a relationship between team members as it gives them a chance to interact with coworkers they do not usually talk to at work. 

Celebrating your team member’s success is also an opportunity to encourage engagement. It is important to praise good team efforts, ideas, or accomplishment of goals by inviting them to activities outside of work. This will not only make them feel appreciated but will foster relationships between the team, as well as team motivation.

Give the example

Cultivating an environment of team collaboration starts by building trust and by being the kind of leader that teams want to follow. If you expect your team to collaborate and be transparent, they need to see it from you first.

As a leader, it is important to lead by example and build habits within the team that promotes team collaboration. Leaders must model the behaviours that are expected of the team, treating each team member with respect.

At PrimeIT you can rely on a high-skilled IT team that embraces collaboration. If you are looking for the right team to help your business, talk to us!