Undoubtedly, the future of work is more relaxed. With technology at our disposal and the new shifts in the workplace dynamics, it is clear that offices being run on distributed teams are here to stay. The relaxed hours, the comfort of home, it almost seems like it was meant to be.
But it is hard being productive when you are working from home. The days are mundane, and the sources of motivation, almost invisible. Why is it that even with almost no distractions, and a comfortable environment, we are still not able to give our best
It is because, at home, we are alone, away from our talented colleagues and goal-driven teams. When you are bound to the space of an office, you have ideas flowing, the momentum going, and quite frankly, the motivation you get from watching your team make progress is incomparable.
So how do people working from home stay driven? How do they tap into the zone of maximum productivity?
Well, the answer to these questions lies in two words – Teamwork and Collaboration.
As you can see from what I’ve tried to explain above, company is something that keeps you tethered to your work and gives you an inspiration to progress. So, it won’t be wrong to say that people can easily be more productive when they are bound to one another in some way, shape, or form.
Why Is It Better To Be “Productive Together”?
As human beings, we can achieve very little unless we work together. It takes the passion and dedication of the whole team for an organization to reach full productivity.
When people come together, they play the role of uplifting one another up to reach their maximum potentials.
Find out why teamwork and collaboration play a role in increasing productivity:
Talent Interlock
“You complete me.”
You can see the very literal meaning of this statement in a team dynamic.
When you put together a team, you bring a diversity of thoughts, skills, and opinions into the picture. Now this team’s members have distinct talents, and if they use all their capabilities to work on one task together, they could achieve anything.
Take, for example, a content marketing team.
If we have a great content creator, an SEO professional, and a person who is adept in digital marketing, we can reach so many clients around the world.
But without each other, there’s something incomplete in all aspects of work. A marketer cannot deliver results if there is no content. Similarly, no matter how good the content is, it is of no use unless an adept marketer who knows where to pour the content uses it.
To maintain harmonious productivity, you need to work together, and stick together as a team.
Give & Take
“The whole point of collaboration is that you give and take from each other, and that’s how you create things that are totally new.” —Virgil Abloh
With people who are willing to work together, you have a workforce that is persistent for growth. In a team, there will always be a give and take relationship. But not to exchange things or gifts, but to exchange knowledge and information.
It is a natural process. If you spend a considerable amount of time with someone, you start to incorporate their qualities in your behavior. The same goes for knowledge.
When a person is around someone for long enough, they get to pick up on some lessons that are sure to help them throughout their careers, making them even more powerful assets.
Blooming Ingenuity
“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.” — Sundar Pichai.
Teamwork and collaboration cannot exist without a foundation of acceptance. This kind of no-judgment collaborative attitude is the birthing ground for good ideas and innovative strategies. The teams that work collaboratively have a better chance of coming up with creative solutions because it is easier for skills to bloom in an inclusive environment.
We need to remember that productivity is a result of motivation. And a motivated team is one that feels unity and acceptance with one another.
How To Channel Teamwork And Collaboration?
Now we know that the perfect way to bring in some much-needed productivity, we must discover how exactly we can harness this spirit of teamwork and collaboration.
#1 Allowing Uninterrupted Communication
There are still some organizations that think communication can slow down the team and disrupt productivity. That is not true. Only real understanding led by effective communication gives way to effective collaboration and hence, maximum productivity.
Because of workplaces that discourage communication and most teams being remote, we see teams losing productivity due to failing collaboration.
Here’s what you can do:
FOR REMOTE TEAMS:
- Provide an instant messaging software platform to the team so they can exchange ideas and progress.
- Try to keep everyone in the loop with regular team meetings through video calls.
- Get an application that can help you get rid of background noise in voice and video calls so that your team can actually communicate uninterrupted.
FOR REGULAR OFFICE-BOUND TEAMS:
- You can conduct team meetings at the end of the week to discuss progress and future agendas.
- Encourage people to share ideas and open up in team discussions.
- Include everyone and push them to speak up in team-building activities.
- Find chances for your team to be closer and communicate their thoughts better and more often.
#2 Sharing Targets and Goals
Another way to promote productivity through seamless collaboration is by making your team realize that they share the same goals.
There are a lot of ways you can do that:
- Keep goals on the front and center with a unified project management platform.
- Use a calendar application so people can see team goals and milestones with ease.
- Conduct meetings with a clear agenda to bring everyone in the loop about achieved targets and attained numbers.
- Communicate goals more effectively with the whole team and practice transparency.
- Celebrate together when the team collectively reaches a new high.
#3 Defining A Team Culture
Collaboration and the sense of teamwork come naturally at a place with an upbeat team culture. This team culture affects a lot of things in the workplace.
Morale, collaboration, teamwork, openness, and even happiness are directly affected by team culture. But the interesting thing is that this culture does not come from the team itself as much it comes from the leader.
Be open to discussing issues, new ideas, popular strategies, because these things help you create a space where everyone feels comfortable. Anxiety and fear can only break concentration and add to the factors that hamper productivity.
Therefore, you must:
- Create a welcoming atmosphere for people by promoting inclusivity and participation.
- Have an open-door policy so you can help people effectively solve problems.
- Appreciate teams and point out everyone’s contribution to give recognition to every member of the team.
Build a great team culture that helps you foster collaboration and teamwork to channel productivity better.
#4 Using Tools For Collaboration
Using collaboration tools is another thing you should do to give a push to the teamwork dynamic. Do not think of software platforms as something that is going to further alienate your employees, and get a collaboration tool to bring your team together.
In fact, look for the best collaboration platform to simplify cooperation and increase productivity. You must look for a tool that offers the following features:
- A tool that helps teams be on the same page in terms of goals, tasks, milestones, events, and deadlines.
- Space where the team can put up their ideas and have virtual team discussions with ease.
- A place where teams can view shared goals, assignments, and assignees.
A great example of this would be Wondershare Document Cloud, a dedicated cloud collaboration platform for PDF workflows. The browser-based utility offers free PDF storage, electronic signature sending, collaborative annotations, secure sharing via permission-based links, and a real-time collaborative environment for PDF documents. Simply upload your PDFs and share them with your team members, setting deadlines, making notes, asking project stakeholders to sign off on documents, and much more.
To Sum Up
Productivity follows a team that is dedicated to working together. So help your team achieve more by promoting effective communication and collaboration. You must promote the wellness and togetherness of your team to gain excellent results.
In fact, shoot two birds with one stone by taking better care of your employees along with increasing productivity at the workplace. Pay attention to their needs, promote teamwork, and take the help of reliable all-in-one tools for collaboration and uninterrupted communication.
