When it comes to dynamic contemporary productivity, collaboration is the name of the game.
More and more, emerging professionals are seeking workspaces that stimulate them not just in terms of the tasks assigned to them but also in how they relate to their teammates and coworkers.
Creating a collaborative workspace both in person and remotely requires thinking outside conventional workspace structures and embracing a more dynamic, free-flowing environment.
Here are fifteen industry-approved tips for building a collaborative workspace that encourages employees to form more cohesive relationships and professional synergy.
1. Encourage inter-departmental skill-sharing
When people are allowed the space to share their skills and experiences, it opens up the door for empathy and productive dialogue.
Encouraging employees from different departments and roles within the organization helps enhance familiarity and positive relationships between groups and encourages everyone to learn new skills.
2. Select team leaders wisely
Employees will always look to their leaders for guidance. Choosing the right people to lead by example is crucial when creating a fresh dynamic in the workplace.
Select team leaders who understand the value of collaboration and can be trusted to emulate it authentically and positively. Their approach will be adopted by those under their wing and inspire others to embrace a similar attitude of unity within a team context.
3. Create a mentorship program
Mentorship programs have proven time and again that they are hugely beneficial. These programs play a powerful role in fostering a strong company culture and promoting healthy professional relationships within the corporate world.
The intergenerational relationship between a mentor and a mentee encourages both parties to see the world through a new perspective and learn from one another in practical and emotional ways, thus contributing to the spirit of collaboration.
4. Provide collaborative working tools
Especially when working remotely, it’s challenging for employees to embrace collaboration if they don’t have the right tools. However, even when working in an office and face to face, tools play a major role in facilitating and encouraging a culture of collaboration.
Collaborative software programs for easy content sharing, communication, and communal brainstorming are a great place to start laying down a foundation for more teamwork.
5. Host regular educational workshops
Another great way to create a functional collaborative workspace is to expose teams to new information and education. This can spur team spirit, create spaces for people to share ideas, and impart new skills that can be used to traverse uncharted territories together.
Educational workshops that teach relevant industry skills can also motivate people to grow in their individual careers and form new partnerships with one another professionally.
6. Cultivate a culture of community
The culture surrounding workplace dynamics plays a significant role in how employees treat and relate to each other. If you put people first in your business, they’ll do the same with one another.
Fostering a community and collaboration-focused culture makes it easier for people to slip into that lateral mentality and adopt a more synergistic approach to work.
7. Encourage employees to take water cooler breaks
Lots of great ideas and connections can happen over the water cooler, even if the water cooler is a virtual channel in an online collaboration tool.
When people chat casually in the workplace, they enter a more relaxed state of mind, which often helps them bond with the people around them. This small act can work wonders in creating a more foundationally collaborative professional space.
8. Curate a collaboration-conducive physical workspace
If the physical environment in which employees operate is designed for collaboration, it will feel more natural for them to engage with it that way.
Large, round tables, ample comfortable seating, colorful decor, and fresh plants are all ways to subtly yet impactfully curate an environment conducive to shared productivity and conversation.
9. Organize stimulating team-building activities
One of the best ways to encourage more collaboration at work is to create fun, stimulating situations in which people must work together to achieve a common goal. Sports events and friendly competition are powerful tools for igniting collaboration between ranks.
Pub quizzes are a great way to create camaraderie if you’re working remotely.
10. Organize relaxing team-building activities
If everyone is in the office, in addition to stimulating team-building activities, creating situations where employees can collaborate in a more relaxed setting is helpful. This could be a big company meal, a trip somewhere nice, or an end-of-year party with low-stakes games.
11. Reward collaborative behavior
When employees exhibit collaborative or team-building behavior, reward it to set a clear example for others in the business. When people start to associate collaboration with career advancement and positive recognition, they will be more likely to embrace it.
12. Hire a diverse, inclusive workforce
Collaboration thrives when there is a wide variety of different voices, backgrounds, and perspectives to be heard. A workforce lacking in diversity is at a disadvantage because it relies on similar thought patterns, biases, and experiences to form new ideas. That kind of duplication can hinder truly innovative collaboration.
Hire people from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs wherever possible. However, don’t just leave it at that. Prioritize diversity and inclusion activities in the same way you do team building.
13. Ask employees for creative input
If you aren’t sure what more you can do to facilitate a collaborative workspace, why not ask the team members themselves? Inviting employees into the conversation about what collaboration means to them sets a strong tone for the spirit of cooperation.
14. Create and convey a clear, shared vision
Getting employees to unite in a common goal is another powerful way to imbue more collaborative energy in the workplace. A clear, shared company vision reminds people they are all on the same team, and working together is in their mutual best interest.
15. Track collaborative progress using KPIs
Once you’ve set some collaboration-oriented plans into motion, remember to track them by using data analytics tools and KPIs. You can measure employee happiness, job satisfaction, and how employees feel about company culture through these incredible digital tools.
Summary
Creating an in-office, remote, or hybrid collaborative workspace means better employee performance, a stronger company culture, and a more energetic, positive experience at work.
When people are provided with the right tools and context within which to cooperate effectively, ideas and solutions thrive. Regardless of the industry or sector that you work in, collaboration is a quality that enhances productivity and cohesion in every space it graces.
