Today’s blog post is written by a guest contributor. If you’re interested in contributing to the blog, email deandra@deandradeandrajalisa.com.

More and more business owners are recognizing the benefits of joining various departments in dynamic, collaborative efforts. Research shows that relying on your own expertise without taking advice from others only limits your options and lessens your chance of success. Growth and expansion are vital components of a strong business model, and improving collaboration opens the door to new opportunities. Consider these expert tips from DeAndra Jalisa for team building as you look into new adventures for your business. 

Create a Culture of Open Communication

The traditional cubicle office keeps workers in separate compartments, pulling them away from the opportunity to work together. When employees feel comfortable sharing ideas, they are more likely to collaborate on projects. Sometimes this requires breaking down physical workplace barriers and bringing the team closer together. Businesses with multiple departments can join differing areas of expertise by creating cross-team collaboration opportunities, choosing members from various departments to share ideas to problem-solve a single issue. 

Additionally, staff feels more comfortable communicating will they receive encouragement. Reward collaboration efforts that require interdepartmental communication and respond positively to feedback. When you listen carefully to employee needs and take action showing that you understand what they need, you create a culture where employees feel comfortable coming to you with complaints and ideas. Conflicts may arise, but productive conflict resolution nurtures open communication. Encourage all parties involved to vocalize their issues in a meeting with you and assert your leadership with a strong solution to the problem. 

Let the Team Join on Social Media

Social media has become one of the greatest marketing tools for every industry. Businesses benefit by making social media outreach a collaborative project. Allows teams to cultivate their own Instagram posts about office activities to promote a sense of camaraderie. However, remind them of the importance of only posting stylish and professional-looking photos. This includes resizing images to fix platform upload requirements. This may require the use of an online resizing tool, which simply resizes the image online for downloading and posting. 

Use Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools may serve many different purposes. For example, employees may work together on a single document using the editing tools online through cloud-based services. Online collaboration means that employees can work from anywhere, including their perfect workspace at home, so you can oversee projects online and avoid micromanaging. Capture insights from employees that may eventually move on from the company. Even when they are gone, you still have access to their experience and expertise through past projects. Collaboration tools also encourage employees to offer feedback to one another rather than taking all directions from a top-down approach. Then everyone gets to buy into the process and feel like a leader. 

Form Multi-Departmental Teams

There are many advantages to bringing together a team from varying departments:

• It helps you develop your management skills by working with a group from diverse backgrounds.
• You gain more insight about individual employees, how they work in a team environment, and what skills they bring to the table. 
• With so many different perspectives, the possibility of more innovative ideas increases. 
• Employees will feel more engaged in projects when they represent their entire department.

As you continue building a company with a strong culture of communication and appreciation, don’t be afraid to ask employees what aspects of your policies are the most rewarding for them. Encourage suggestions for improvement, as well. 

Image via Pexels

Today’s Guest Post was written by Courtney Rosenfeld of Gig Spark.