Collaborative work is a set of strategies offering better cohesion to teams to achieve common goals. The advantages of collaborative work in companies are numerous. Do you want to revolutionize your working methods? Discover our solutions to improve team collaboration.

What is internal business collaboration?

Definition of business collaboration , examples, objectives: let's start by understanding the challenges of collaborative work to consider the solutions best suited to your work environment.

Definition of business collaboration

How to define collaborative work in business ? It is a set of methods that allow the development of collective intelligence in the company, from a better human approach to the use of high-performance collaborative tools.

Examples of business collaboration

Examples of collaborative work , there are many. More and more companies have understood the impact of “working better together” in a favorable environment.

Take the example of Starbucks, which saw its sales take off in the 1990s when its president understood that his employees were the engines of his success. By changing the working environment and involving his employees more, he began to sell an experience, which also changed the perception of customers.

Airbus is also a forerunner in this area. As early as 2002, the company developed collaborative work with a tool shared by its 52,000 employees at the time. With its “e-rooms”, it has created a space for virtual exchange where everyone can intervene and be alerted in the event of an employee's intervention. This solution has made business collaboration more fluid.

The different types of collaboration

Improving business collaboration means above all promoting exchanges. Also, this collaboration can materialize in various ways:

  • Exchange between employees on a given project;
  • Sharing knowledge by profession to develop new ideas;
  • Transversal collaboration that removes the boundaries between employees and hierarchy.

     

The objectives of collaborative work in business

The objective of collaborative work in a company is to improve working conditions in order, ultimately, to boost the performance of the company and enhance its image with partners, but also talents to be recruited.

The qualities necessary for collaborative work in a company

To collaborate effectively, it is necessary to develop a great quality of listening and to understand that common objectives will be achieved by working hand in hand.

What are the benefits of collaborative work?

Collaborative work benefits both employers and employees. This is why it is needed more than ever. While employees work in more comfortable conditions and feel recognized, they develop an involvement that will help boost the company's performance. Discover below what is the usefulness of collaborative work:

1. Better creativity

An employee who feels good in his company will naturally develop his creativity to put it at the service of his employer. In addition, the exchange promotes the sharing of ideas, brainstorming sessions allow new ideas to arise.

2. Save time

Digitalization in business and collaborative work save precious time. Centralization of project management, collaborative tools allowing better exchange, decision-making is faster and employees no longer feel like they are wasting their time.

3. Increased productivity

Better tools, human exchanges, knowledge sharing, optimized working conditions, everything is favorable to increasing employee productivity.

4. Improved well-being at work

Well-being at work is a requirement today. Talents want to be considered and to work in optimal conditions. Collaborative work promotes involvement and allows employees to work in a more positive atmosphere.

5. Simplify remote work

Digital collaboration tools have encouraged remote work. By setting up collaborative platforms, exchanges are improved for information sharing and real-time communication.

6. Better involvement

Employees feel recognized. This is the sine qua non for them to get involved in their projects and to collaborate in the most effective way possible.

7. Improved relations between collaborators

This is the very definition of collaborative work in a company. Relations between employees are favored by better exchanges via high-performance tools, but also by the creation of relaxation areas for informal exchanges which help to unite the teams.

8. Knowledge Sharing

Digital transformation is at the service of exchange once again. Dedicated communication spaces make it possible to pool knowledge and learn from each other to develop new projects.

9. Division of responsibilities

Collaborative work promotes the involvement of everyone and allows an exchange that creates a real community. Responsibility is no longer individual, all actors are responsible at their level and are encouraged to think together.

How to improve business collaboration?

Improving business collaboration requires the implementation of both technological and human solutions. You must be fully aware of the need to develop a favorable climate so that teams are more inclined to collaborate effectively.

1. Define a corporate culture with shared values

The corporate culture is particularly favored by the creation of a common workspace. Collaborative work tools in companies make it possible to convey information in a transversal way so that each employee becomes aware of the company's projects and its values. More relevant communication makes it possible to share common values ​​that employees are more inclined to adhere to. Developing a corporate culture makes it possible to create strong links between the different actors.

2. Set clear goals for all of your employees

The involvement of employees is conditional on an understanding of the objectives set by managers. For effective collaborative work in business, it is necessary to rethink vertical communication. Offer your employees clear, understandable and above all accessible objectives to stimulate them rather than put them in difficulty and generate counterproductive stress. Collaborative work implies a real sharing between the different layers of the company and a perfect understanding.

3. Develop knowledge sharing and collective intelligence

The implementation of management tools, instant messaging and common workspaces makes it possible to better share knowledge. Each employee can participate and give their opinion. Everyone can share their experiences and pool them for a global reflection that promotes teamwork. Developing collective intelligence is a prerequisite for carrying out missions and allowing everyone to feel at home within the company. Each employee can bring his stone to the building.

4. Set up collaboration tools

To take advantage of the advantages of collaborative work in a company, the implementation of collaborative tools is essential. Initially, it is the solution to make all employees work together. Monitoring the progress of projects, instant messaging, forums, video sharing spaces, digital technology brings employees closer together. Secondly, remote collaborative work is essential. Large companies with employees around the world, online collaborative work to respond to new working methods such as teleworking, it is impossible today to do without high-performance collaborative tools.

5. Think Lean Management

Lean Management is a work organization that aims to improve performance. It promotes collaborative work and was developed by Toyota. Today, it is able to adapt to different types of structures. This notably involves better interaction between the various stakeholders in the company by freeing oneself from compartmentalized thinking. The Kanban method encourages each employee to imagine themselves as the customer of the employee in front of them. Thus, everyone has a strong expectation of others to stimulate everyone's involvement and aim for perfection. Visual management is about better sharing information to solve problems more quickly.

6. Create Design Thinking Workshops

It's a fun way to learn about collaborative work in a company. This workshop makes it possible to develop a new way of working together to carry out common missions. It helps to create real cohesion by promoting knowledge of the other and by having different professions work together to develop cross-functional collaboration. Ultimately, Design Thinking allows you to learn how to better develop projects together to launch new products. The workshop takes place in several phases: development of empathy, definition of the problem, definition of the steps to achieve the objective, definition of the solutions to solve the stated problem, testing of the ideas developed, debriefing. 

7. Promote dialogue between employees

How to carry out missions involving different collaborators if the dialogue is broken? Dialogue in companies can be encouraged by different means. This notably involves setting up instant messaging and forums, but that is not enough. A physical exchange is necessary as soon as possible. Creating spaces where employees meet to take a break and share a different moment is essential. This can of course go through a better knowledge of the other through team building. It is necessary to consider 360° solutions so that collaborative work takes on its full meaning in the company.

8. Encourage employee recognition

It is difficult to imagine collaborative work without recognition. This is an essential condition for employee involvement. If they are not involved, if they do not feel recognized in the company, why would they want to work together and develop new projects? promoting employee recognition requires different solutions. Naturally, the financial aspect is to be taken into consideration, bonuses can be envisaged. Also consider the well-being of employees. Providing them with management tools to simplify their daily lives, offering them benefits in kind such as sport in the workplace, knowing how to simply congratulate the teams when they carry out their mission, everything contributes to developing collaborative work.

9. Create a relaxing space for informal exchanges

Another solution to be developed to promote team collaboration: offer them an alternative space at work. Welding teams requires providing them with all the tools to work better together, of course. But the development of a human cohesion also passes by the knowledge of the other. Employees who have a space to relax, to discuss subjects other than work, create a bond that will be felt in their daily actions. Employees who know each other will be more likely to collaborate and achieve goals together.