Want to Build a Culture of Collaboration in Your Small Business?
When you search “collaboration” and “small business,” you’ll find a lot of articles teaching that you can’t grow without collaborating with other small businesses. (We only found one in the top results that focused on something other than marketing and sales.) This can be an important marketing strategy, but there’s another point of collaboration that I want you to consider: building a collaborative culture within your team.
Not so many years ago, it was assumed that each person on your team would fill a specific role and nothing but that role. As you filled specific roles, your business would grow. Most of the time, the main collaboration would be the sharing of organizational or sales ideas.
Today, however, the landscape has changed. Each person on your team still fills specific roles, but they’re not limited to that. Your departments don’t have to function as separate islands. Innovation and collaboration can be two of the most profitable traits for your team to possess!
This won’t just magically happen, though – it results from intentionally developing your culture. Here are some tips to help you begin this process!
The Value of Collaboration
Today, collaboration is one of the most valued culture traits in successful businesses. According to a 2017 study performed by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, high-performance organizations are 5.5 times more likely than lower-performing companies to incentivize collaboration among their leaders and team members.
This study, which included evaluations of over 1,100 companies, found that the difference between effective and unproductive collaboration could be summed up by the word purpose. They don’t just encourage collaboration for its own sake; instead, they intentionally build their culture and organizational structure to promote collaboration.
This isn’t just because it’s a nice thing to do: it’s because intentional collaboration benefits your business in so many ways.
Think about it: just like you can’t do everything in your business (not if you want to remain sane and be profitable, anyway), you can’t expect each of your employees to be strong in every area. Instead, encourage your team to take full advantage of both their own and each other’s strengths to help drive your business forward!
Encourage Purposeful Collaboration
Personally, I love to see effective, purposeful collaboration on my team. When one of my team members is struggling, there are obviously times I’ll step in and offer mentoring, but there are other times when I’ll encourage that person to work with another employee.
For example, if someone’s trying to organize a project and is having trouble with a portion of it, I’ll pull in another person who is strong in that area. If data needs to be analyzed, I’ll pull in someone who excels at it. If strategy needs to be created, I’ll loop in a creative, strategic person.
The result is often far better than I would have had time to pull off, and I know that each team member is growing in some pretty amazing ways throughout the process.
In addition, the systems that are built through that collaboration usually benefit multiple departments. This is a win for everyone!
Guide Your Team and Celebrate Their Wins
Collaboration isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone. Some people are very introverted, and others simply aren’t sure what the boundaries or expectations are. If you notice that one or more people seem hesitant, providing a structure for them to work within can be a huge help.
This doesn’t mean you have to oversee the project or even be involved, other than receiving periodic updates. Usually, it just means taking a few minutes to walk your staff member through the steps and answering any questions they may have. This may seem like a simple step, but it makes a huge difference!
Your input doesn’t stop there, though. As the collaboration progresses, be intentional about celebrating your team members’ wins! Give them a shout out on Slack. Let them know how appreciative you are for their efforts, and that you love to see them stepping out of their comfort zones to innovate!
As you mentor and celebrate different people on your team, you’ll notice them starting to find new ways to work together and build new systems. They’ll come up with new ideas, find new ways to succeed, and help you find new ways to grow!
And believe me, this is an amazing thing!
If you’re looking for ways to build a stronger collaborative culture on your team, let us know – our Culture and Management Coaches are amazing, and they’re here to help!