Slack, Trello, and Google Workspaces are collaborative tools that are all the hype in workplaces these days. Why?

Productivity tools are taking advantage of a skill that workplaces are now valuing immensely — deep collaboration. There is a transformative shift where companies are looking for people who can work together to produce groundbreaking results. Work is no longer just about meeting deadlines and targets while working solo, it’s about people who can facilitate collaborativeness. In order to get to the next level, team members need to pool in their resources while complementing each other’s skillsets.

But what is deep collaboration?

“It is the ability to collaborate or operate in cross-functional capacities for a shared purpose. It involves acknowledging interdependence, transparency, cultural diversity, and individual or team contributions to help accomplish organizational goals.”

This sounds simple enough, and it is! Collaborative workspaces are not an alien concept in modern day work life. At its core, being able to work together on a solution with the resources available is what collaboration is all about.

What are some ways you can promote collaboration in your company?

1. First thing’s first, you would want to assess your team to see what level of deep collaboration sense they already have.
2. Cultivate collaboration as a value and encourage open communication. Having a conversation about collaboration as a fundamental company value will reinstate the importance of working together, as opposed to working competitively in teams.
3. Provide collaboration tools and establish rules around how and when to use them. Emails, calls, messaging are all tools to enable collaborative work, however, some ground rules need to be set in order to ensure effective flow of communication.
4. Set goals together. Teams working on specific tasks must brainstorm and set goals together to get everyone on the same page. It creates a sense of collective goal achievement which can accelerate the pace of work.
5. Build trust between team members. Team building activities outside of just work can help in building trust.

At Fundamento, we measure and develop behavioural skills such as deep collaboration, critical thinking, curiosity, communication, among others. Book a demo with us here.

Working collaboratively has some direct benefits — stronger teams, more innovation, knowledge sharing among team members and finally more efficiency during projects. As a result of working closely together, team members also develop a trust, empathy, positivity, accountability and ownership, all skills which are essential for the future of work.