13th October 2020

The Benefits of Collaboration 

It is great to have a team full of talented individuals but having them effectively work collaboratively can enhance their talents even further and make amazing things happen.

Beyond clear project benefits with more minds being better than the one; collaboration and interaction between colleagues will also act as a stimulus to encourage greater emotional attachment for the company, a healthy office culture, and improved employee motivation.

Here are some advantages to collaborative working:

Greater innovation is one of the key outcomes of collaboration. Fostered by bringing people together and using their differing personalities, backgrounds, experiences and skills to challenge, debate, and brainstorm solutions. With some guidance and a solid frame of context, varied ideas from different disciplines ad departments can be blended to solve problems that one department on their own would have had trouble with.

More agility and flexibility can be achieved when you have a team that embraces a range of skills and opinions. A strong group of collaborators will have the confidence and more easily adapt, and switch direction should the situation call for it. And a truly collaborative workplace will engender mutual respect which will encourage a supportive following for a new path if it is best for the task at hand.

Opportunities to learn and develop naturally come from collaborative working. Learning from each other, including from across different disciplines and departments, and even other businesses. As well as developing understanding in other areas of the business, more integrated ways of working, and problem solving, cross collaboration also comes with its own set of team management skills. All vital in the continued evolution of businesses and introducing best practice.

Higher employee productivity can stem from creating a sense of teamwork and building up relationships between team members that mean they work for the collective rather than themselves. This can inspire improved engagement with work to ensure that employees are less likely to let the team down.

Enhanced stakeholder relationships, including with clients, are key for long-term success. A collaborative working atmosphere should mean that stakeholders outside of your organisation are included and that they feel part of the team too. Helping to generate greater synergies, involvement, and introduction to new projects.

Human connection is key to collaboration. Although technology continues to help bring people together digitally, they are limited in being able to replicate the whole face to face experience. Group video calls and messaging chats can still be very static, limiting people’s ability to express themselves, flow beyond the set timing of the call, workshop, or connect like collaborators do and can when in the same space. Call for collaboration is not always scheduled or formalised with a brief either. Sometimes they happen naturally – when someone overhears a challenging conversation, when someone happens upon a project a colleague is working on, or through general daily interaction.

Flexible, remote working looks set to become more widespread, but for many reasons, this still needs to be complemented with central meeting points. For this reason, we at Adapt by Arlington offer free spacious meeting rooms for those with private offices, and communal breakout spaces when it is necessary to bring people together. Ensuring that greater collaboration can be achieved, and company culture can be fostered. As an agile and dynamic environment, we are designed to meet the evolving needs of the workplace and businesses get the best from their environment.

Find out more about our free meeting rooms here at Adapt.