Collaboration is an integral part of organisational growth. It’s important that teams remain connected and work well together on tasks and projects, whether that’s in-person or virtually. Organisations need to ensure their teams are working towards a shared goal, as well as making contributions as individuals. With many teams now working remote, it’s even more crucial to promote effective collaboration and relationship-building. Below, we discuss how businesses can improve their team’s virtual collaboration.

Always set expectations

When it comes to virtual collaboration and managing remote teams, it’s important to define expectations, whether that’s related to logistics, collaboration tools or preparing for a meeting agenda. As a leader, it’s essential that your employees understand what’s required for successful collaboration. This means encouraging the importance of casual communication to ensure people feel connected and socially engaged. Improving collaboration is about establishing what you’re trying to achieve, as well as the type of conversations your team should be having. With the right collaboration, leaders can pave the way for a high-performing team.

Create a feedback culture

One of the best ways to improve your team’s collaboration is by creating a feedback culture. Having feedback built into your organisation’s culture can improve communications, as well as productivity and morale. When you’re managing a remote team, it’s all the more important that every employee is happy and understand what they’re doing well, and where they can improve. By providing feedback, leaders can collaborate more frequently and effectively with their team members. Furthermore, with a feedback culture, employees will likely want to focus more on working well together and building strong relationships.

Establish trust

Trust is the foundation of any good team in the workplace and it’s incredibly important when working virtually. It’s essential that you regularly engage with your team members, whether that’s through weekly meetings or monthly check-ups. In a remote environment, it’s important to be proactive with communication and give people as much freedom as possible to achieve their targets. Also, it’s crucial that leaders regularly recognise and rewards the success of their team, and find growth opportunities that can lead to improved collaboration. When in-person team interactions are rare, it can be harder to build trust, so leaders need to pay extra attention to how they’re delivering information. All team members should feel comfortable engaging and collaborating with one another. Building virtual trust helps empower people with the right skills to perform at the best of their ability.

Encourage participation

Leaders need to take the time to understand everyone’s personalities and communication styles. For example, some employees prefer written communication rather than verbal. It’s important to be organised and give everyone in your team a chance to speak during a virtual meeting which allows for a more productive and engaging session. This could mean directly asking for someone’s input and bringing others into the conversation. Providing adequate support and taking care of your team’s well-being through equal participation will have a positive impact on the work and increase the team ethic. Above all, improving your team’s collaboration is essential for the success of your business.

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Swisslinx is a leading recruitment consultancy, specialising in a range of recruitment markets, including financial services, digital and technology, and healthcare. We have an excellent team of consultants who have a deep knowledge of the sectors they recruit into. Over the years, we’ve built a great network of clients and candidates, and are able to provide market-leading recruitment advice and expertise. We recruit for roles globally on both a permanent and contractual basis. If you’d like to know more about our services, contact us and keep reading our blogs for more news and updates.