Collaboration enhances how teams work together, it can boost creativity and assist in coming up with solutions to business problems. However, there are many obstacles to collaboration and hybrid and remote working is one.

We have all heard the phase “five heads are better than one”. When it comes to working this truly can be the case. When undergoing projects or coming up with campaigns there may be several elements to manage. Having five heads instead of one, will enable people to build on one another’s idea, spot possible problems and speed up processes. These reasons alone show that collaboration is key for businesses.

Now, when it comes to remote working, collaboration is more challenging. According to Harvard Business Review, this is why:

  • It’s harder to gauge tone on messenger or email. Messages on teams can across passive aggressive. Alternatively, you may feel as though your colleague is ignoring you because they are not responding.
  • Remote working removes that face to face interaction, which can be essential when it comes to creating an energy in the room to bounce wild ideas off one another.
  • People are not engaged – One example to indicate this is no one turning their cameras on in a meeting. This type of environment does not encourage people to ask questions and throw out ideas because it feels as though they are speaking to a blank wall.
  • People are working asynchronously.

How can you foster collaboration in your workplace:

  • Have team days in the office focused on people working together.
  • Try team-building activities. It is much easier to propose ideas and critique others’ if everyone feels psychologically safe. Try hosting some team building activities to enable people to get to know one another better and establish relationships.
  • Use a shared online work space – try using Miro (an online whiteboard). This will enable you to brainstorm and collaborate with others, even if people are working asynchronously.
  • Establish team goals – This will encourage people to work together and become more cohesive.

Another way you can enhance collaboration between individuals within a team is via building shared models in Lego Serious Play (LSP). This encourages everyone to build their ideas, listen to one another and take everyone’s input on board to answer challenging questions or problems.