5 Ways to Improve Team Communication and Collaboration

Team collaboration is a big deal in today’s workplace. There are entire workplaces are designed around the concept of team collaboration and team communication. There are degrees specifically designed around best practices of building good collaboration to improve communication at the workplace.

If you don’t have the kind of money for that education, what are some tips and tricks you can employ to foster your business’ communication at work? What tools can you use to help foster this? Don’t worry, this list has you covered, read on for 5 great ways to improve team communication and collaboration!

1. Don’t Always Rely on Email
When thinking about internal communication tools, people usually think of email. Unfortunately, email is not the primary communication method of choice for many people these days. People in today’s workforce are used to texting or group chat.

So, it’s not a surprise that many younger workers hate using email, and would prefer to use something else. Programs like Slack allow structured communication in the work environment. It can also be a great boon when working remotely.

2. Make Use of File Sharing
Companies like Dropbox make file sharing much easier to keep track of. Before programs had to be compressed, sometimes split up between multiple files, and then sent over email. The email client might get picky and only let you send a distressingly small about of data with your message!

If all the parts were received, then you had to stick them back together and decompress them to look at them. With file-sharing companies like Dropbox, you might not even need to compress it to upload it! This makes for a cleaner experience and a safer one.

3. Make Meetings Useful
The only good things about meetings are usually the snacks at the conference table. Making meetings less boring, or even eliminating them in favor of team collaboration tools is an option to bring more team collaboration to the table. Pair that with good project management software, you can read more here about that, and you have a recipe for helping boost your collaboration!

4. Get Collaborative Feedback
Company feedback is an important metric for managers in a company, and if you use team collaboration tools you can use things such as polls or emoji to gauge employee interest. If you use collaboration tools such as Slack, these functions are built-in. Emoji or polls can both be used as reactions to gauge employee reactions to an announcement.

5. Use After-Work Parties to Boost Morale
After-work parties can be a great way to improve team dynamics. These events are great ways for employees to get to know one another and their managers. Games and recreation bring coworkers together and foster a sense of teamwork that is stronger than so-called team-building exercises.

Team Communication Is Key
A workplace works better when team members communicate. It also works better when team members are comfortable talking to each other and their managers. Anything that you can use to improve team communication is a boon to your business!