Having a united culture is important. It helps great ideas and solutions to organizational problems surface. Collaboration also helps people to form more lasting relationships and enjoy their jobs more. However many benefits there are, it can be hard to encourage collaboration across departments without disrupting your normal work flow. Here are some times to encourage collaboration in your normal work schedule:
When Finding a Solution
If you’re trying to find a solution to a company problem, why not have employees from different departments work together to find a solution? This will help more creative and efficient solutions be invented. It is also an easy way to get your departments to collaborate and feel fulfilled with the tangible results of their collaboration.
During the Recruiting Process
It can be hard to know that you’re hiring the right candidate. You don’t usually know if they’ll mesh with your team or be a benefit to your company. Collaboration can help this. It might be helpful to your hiring process to have employees who will work closely with the new hire, sit in on interviews. You should use employees from above and below the new hire and listen to their feedback. Not only will this give you a better perspective on the potential hire, but it will help employees work together and feel their opinion is important.
To Better Help Customers
Making your customers happy should be a priority. Getting your employees to collaborate on that task will not only make your customers happier, but it will also give your employees the satisfaction of helping others through a collaborative effort. This will make them more likely to continue to collaborate without you initiating it. Use a collaborative approach to customer problems and concerns to give them solutions faster.
Use these ideas to help naturally encourage collaboration across the departments in your company.