3 Common Collaboration Problems & How to Solve Them

Collaboration within a small business is a wonderful thing.

Pulling together to solve problems and overcome challenges is a great way to boost morale. It also helps to develop a team atmosphere throughout the entire organization.

Collaboration pulls together different talents, knowledge pools and expertise from across your team. It allows them to work in a way that highlights their individual talents whilst working together as a group.

But what do you do when you hit a roadblock?

Collaboration doesn’t come without its problems. We’ll take a look at why effective collaboration is important and the 3 most common collaboration problems you can face. We’ll also take a look at how you can take steps to solve any issues that arise.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

Why Is Collaboration Important?

Common Collaboration Problems and How to Solve Them

Key Takeaways

Why Is Collaboration Important?

Effective collaboration plays an important role in the growth of any small business. As the saying goes, no man is an island.

You can only get so far as a one-person band and you will eventually get to the point where you need to bring more people in.

Therefore it’s imperative that you learn to work as a group. But shifting from a solo view towards a collaborative culture can take some practice and time.

Large projects can live or die on the team’s ability to work as one towards a common goal with a sense of mutual trust. So therefore it’s vital that you get it right.

Common Collaboration Problems and How to Solve Them

1. A Battle of Egos

It’s nice to think that everyone will always get along, but the reality isn’t as simple as that.

When working collaboratively towards a large project, there is always the chance that people will disagree.

People tend to be used to working a certain way. They will have their own processes and working habits that they have always used. So getting people to work harmoniously together may prove difficult.

The key to bringing everyone together is down to team morale, and team trust. It’s easy to get along when the going is good, but when things get tough it can be a struggle. Therefore if you can fall back on an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, you can weather any potential storm.

2. Communication

When working in a large team, it can be very easy for things to be miscommunicated.

As things get busier, the chances of something being missed or misinterpreted grows. This is especially true if your team is working remotely from one another which we are seeing more of since the COVID-19 Pandemic.

That’s why good communication is one of the key elements of any project.

The best way to counter poor communication is by putting the proper systems in place beforehand.

By using any of the numerous different types of instant messaging apps, your team can communicate freely. You can also use collaboration tools such as FreshBooks. This will work to avoid any potential communication hiccups.

3. Workload Management

When you’re setting off on a project, you can feel like your team can tackle anything.

This feeling can lead to you biting off more than you can chew so to speak.

When working on a big project with a lot of team members, it can often happen that there is too much work to be done for the time you’ve been given.

To avoid mistakes such as this, it’s vital that you allocate time at the beginning of the project to properly manage and plan out your time.

It’s a good idea to break the project down into smaller chunks, each with its own deliverables and deadlines. This means you can accurately judge whether or not you can achieve what you’ve been assigned to do.

Using time tracking software allows you to easily manage your team’s efforts and make sure you can deliver what you promised.

Key Takeaways

Effective collaboration is a fantastic way to grow your business and reach new heights.

It’s important to have a harmonious, respectful team that works for each other. Having this culture of collaboration means that you can tackle numerous challenges. Eventually, you will be able to complete large projects with ease.

As the project leader or business owner, it’s up to you to identify and solve any problems that may arise.

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?

Then check out the FreshBooks resource hub.

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