Today’s workplace designs emphasize collaborative spaces – flexible, reconfigurable work areas where staffers come together as a team to address specific tasks. Leading a collaborative team takes some special skills; without them, the best results are hard to achieve, no matter how well-designed the collaborative space may be. Management advisor Tallyfox.com offers these six insights to help build a collaborative team environment:
- Set realistic expectations. Clearly communicate the team’s goals, the individual members’ roles, and the reason for the team’s existence.
- Build strong leadership. Leaders who are flexible, supportive, and focus on relationships as well as tasks, will produce great results.
- Create an environment of trust. Respect and integrity are essential to building trust among all team members.
- Support a community spirit. Opportunities for team members to socialize informally outside work will foster a cohesive “family” feeling.
- Invest in team members’ skills and expertise. Continuing education supports continuous improvement and makes team members feel valued and valuable. Knowledgeable teams are more productive.
- Invest in collaborative technology. Streamlined communications support all of the team-building tips above. Collaborative technology can be electronic devices or specialized software. It can also be adaptive office furniture that facilitates face-to-face interactions, while allowing for a quick change to individual task execution. Whatever form it takes, collaborative technology is vital to a smoothly functioning team.
If you’re adopting a collaborative management style in your business, talk to a design expert about finding the right collaborative technology for your business.
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