Collaborative work: Between opportunities and challenges

Collaboration spaces are multiplying within companies in order to promote collaborative intelligence. Considered as a relevant way to achieve goals and gain resilience, teamwork is a source of numerous opportunities. However, in order to achieve its goals optimally, it is necessary to take into consideration the limitations of teamwork, or rather the challenges to be met during its deployment. In this article, we present the advantages of collaborative work and the method to benefit your team.

Understanding collaborative work

Let's start by defining collaborative work: an approach that allows different individuals working together to achieve a common goal. Of course, it's not just about sharing the tasks to be done. While task management is an integral part of collaborative work, collaborative work is more than that. Indeed, teamwork is also about sharing knowledge, ideas, or resources in order to solve complex problems.

The interdependence of the members of the group and the synergies that occur create a dynamic process that will reinforce the involvement of employees. Creativity and commitment are then maximized.

Advantages and limitations of teamwork

Making room for collective intelligence within a company and provide employees with the tools and methods to better collaborate is a relevant idea. This is because the advantages of such an approach are numerous. However, to allow you to take advantage of these advantages, it is necessary to understand the limits of such an approach and the challenges that lie ahead.

The benefits of collaborative work

If you succeed in making your company a collaborative business, you can reap the following benefits:

• Increased productivity: Optimizing processes allows tasks to be completed more quickly and the resources of each project to be used optimally. The improved productivity is evident globally.
• Stimulation of creativity: The exchange of information and ideas encourages the development of innovative ideas and new approaches. This is due to the pooling of the creative strengths of team members.
• Quality improvement: When individuals work closely together, everyone can check on the work of others and help improve it. By doing so, the quality of products and services is maximized.
• Increased engagement: By working with other collaborators, each employee is more motivated and more involved in their work. This group dynamic also makes it possible to increase the retention rate of employees.
• Acquisition of skills: When employees work together, they can share best practices and learn from their peers. In this way, learning and the continuous improvement of skills are promoted.
• Creating a positive environment: Finally, deploying a collaborative, open workspace based on caring communication makes it possible to create a pleasant environment for employees.

The disadvantages of collaborative work

Of course, the implementation of teamwork is not without some pitfalls that you need to know in order to avoid them:

• Management efficiency: The first difficulty is that of succeeding in managing and coordinating numerous individuals simultaneously. If management is not appropriate, the deadlines for completing the project can be extended.
• Probability of conflicts: Interactions between different profiles and temperaments require detailed conflict management by the team leader. If this is not the case, tensions may arise and permanently affect the effectiveness of the group.
• Communication difficulties: Open and transparent communication is essential. Everyone must have access to essential information via collaborative work management tools in order to avoid any misunderstandings.
• Uniformization of thought: The participants' desire for harmony can lead to a drift: group thinking. This is an important pitfall to avoid in order to maintain the flexibility and resilience of collaborative work.
• Lack of participation: Although teamwork promotes involvement, some individuals can take advantage of this mode of operation to let other collaborators take care of some of the work they have to do.
• Information protection: While some information needs to be kept confidential, maintaining confidentiality may be more difficult as the number of participants increases.

How to adopt teamwork calmly?

While collaborative work is one of the most effective ways of working, it is essential to follow certain best practices. So you will be able to solve the challenges of working as a team and take full advantage of it

Set clear goals

A good product or service is generally the result of successful collaborative work. To achieve your goals through teamwork, you must right from the start clearly set these goals. In this way, each member of the group will know what they should do, how they should do it, and why they should do it. The ideal is to set up a monitoring table via a collaborative solution, then set up performance indicators that can be understood by all. In this way, all employees will be able to follow the evolution of the project and their involvement will be maximum.

Selecting the right profiles

For effective teamwork, it is necessary to choosing the right people. Indeed, the selection of skills is not enough. Taking into account interpersonal skills is as important, if not more so, than know-how in this type of configuration. Each collaborator must have the ability to work in groups and share information. The personality of each person as well as the complementarity and compatibility of profiles is essential.

Encourage fluid communication

Trust between employees is a key element in the success of your project. To ensure it, it is important that at all times, communication is direct and transparent. To do this, we recommend using collaborative work software. This will allow employees to exchange information via file sharing or messaging channels. Collaboration will then be more effective and the risk of conflicts will be reduced.

Use collaborative tools

The use of a collaborative platform is one of the fundamental steps in the deployment of collaborative work. These collaborative technologies are essential, because they centralize numerous tools that are specifically designed for teamwork. Thus, a good collaborative software can integrate instant messaging, the possibility of collaborating on the same document, a virtual whiteboard or shared calendars. Each user then has access to all the information he needs, at any time, and regardless of its geographical location.

Manage conflicts calmly

Finally, one of the main difficulties is to avoid conflicts. However, if a conflict occurs, you will have to manage it constructively. To achieve this, testing everyone's arguments and difficulties through open communication is the first step in resolving the conflict. The objective is then to take into consideration each point of view in order to find a solution that benefits the entire group.

While teamwork can stimulate innovation and increase production, there are concomitant challenges such as the risk of conflict or equity in the distribution of work. In order to resolve these apparent contradictions and difficulties, you need to take a positive approach. Transparent and caring communication as well as the acquisition of appropriate tools can help you solve these difficulties and achieve success through the implementation of collaborative work.