Team Collaboration
How To Help Staff Connect, Encourage Ideas, And Move Work Forward
Share. Communicate. Innovate
Team collaboration is a prominent trait among today’s winning organizations. Done right, collaboration aids better decision-making, innovative thinking and improved productivity. Staff are happier, performance is boosted, and there’s less risk of error.
But many organizations have yet to figure out how to help colleagues work better together to achieve a common goal.
The good news is that there are tools and techniques that have proven to nurture a strong collaborative culture within the workplace.
Here, we shed light on the causes of poor collaboration, tips for improvement, and collaboration software that enables co-workers to share ideas and improve internal communications.
What Is Team Collaboration?
The definition of team collaboration is when two or more people work together to achieve a common goal. This is done through idea sharing, planning and executing in unison. In contrast to working on one’s own, team collaboration is regarded as a more productive way to get work done, and carries less risk.
Tackling a major project – such as a new product launch or the introduction of a new internal process – usually requires a teamwork approach. This entails bringing together a group of employees to allocate and complete tasks, within a set timeframe.
These days, with technology overcoming geographical barriers, virtual teams are popular. Companies are now appointing the best people for a project – regardless of their work location – to form part of a team and collaborate. This development has created new opportunities for businesses to innovate – but is not without its challenges.
Why Is Team Collaboration Critical In The 21st Century?
Never before has the workplace been so diverse. For the first time in history, five generations are working side-by-side. Each employee has a unique perspective. Their opinions are formed by their own personal experiences. And they have different communication styles – some prefer face-to-face, others the written word.
Such differences are a lot to manage, particularly when complex, project-based decisions must be made.
How a team interacts with each other will influence the final outcome. Communication, knowledge transfer and equal respect for each team member are essential for a high-performing team.
Younger generations joining the workforce are eager to further develop the collaborative skills they’ve learnt during education. They place place greater support on social tools for collaboration than their older colleagues (49 per cent millennials vs 31 per cent baby boomers). And considering that 46 per cent of 2020’s workforce are millennials (compared with 36 per cent six years ago), employers must act upon this growing generation’s preference for building team dynamics.
Furthermore, around 75% of employees now rate teamwork and collaboration as crucial to their performance.
Reasons For Poor Team Collaboration
It’s a common scenario when a collection of people come together to solve a problem, cross-functionally. There may be representatives in the room from IT, Sales, Product and Finance.
When collaboration fails, it’s often because these individuals partially listen to others points-of-view, but do not fully seek to understand what they were actually saying.
Each representative remains in their own paradigm rather than genuinely taking on board and seeking a solution based on other perspectives.
To counter this, effective collaboration requires recognition of diversity; that each individual has their own thought process and purpose. This requires greater understanding of the team individuals, and the concerns they may be feeling.
These could include the following:
- Skepticism about the success of the project i.e.‘doomed to fail’
- Uncertainty around who does what in the team, and where tasks and responsibilities sit
- Misinterpretation or miscommunication: wrongly assuming all staff have the same understanding
- Lack of direction, KPIs and milestones set out from the start
- Conflicting priorities: failing to appreciate an employee’s current workload before adding more
- Forcing staff to communicate in ways that may be uncomfortable for them i.e. introverted employees making team presentations
How To Improve Team Collaboration
Successful team collaboration is hard work. With so much to consider – silos, company culture, staff at different locations, leadership styles – good team collaboration doesn’t happen by accident.
Furthermore, Harvard Business Review has exposed an interesting paradox at play, based on its research into team behavior:
“Although teams that are large, virtual, diverse, and composed of highly educated specialists are increasingly crucial with challenging projects, those same four characteristics make it hard for teams to get anything done.
“To put it another way, the qualities required for success are the same qualities that undermine success. Members of complex teams are less likely to share knowledge freely, to learn from one another, to shift workloads flexibly to break up unexpected bottlenecks, to help one another complete jobs and meet deadlines, and to share resources.”
It also found that the higher the educational level of the team member, the more challenging collaboration appears for them.
But there are some best practices for building effective collaboration strategies, as follows:
Define And Repeatedly Communicate The Team’s Goals
This is the first step to bringing together a group of people. Goals should be reiterated at the start of daily huddles, referred to when key decisions are underway, and repeated across all communication channels (your intranet, for example).
Promote Open Communication Particularly When Faced With A Roadblock
This is where technology has become a game-changer. Instead of waiting for the next round-table meeting to overcome a roadblock, intranet tools such as forums, instant messaging, and shared files allow members of the same team to work through a problem collaboratively at pace.
Create Structure Within Meetings And Give Staff Time To Prepare
WIP (work-in-progress) meetings are an important part of effective project management. Ahead of each meeting, share agenda items, action lists and related reading material with all members of the team so there are no frustrating delays when teams meet.
Encourage Creativity And Free-thinking: All Ideas To Be Respected
Brainstorming sessions can be fun and fruitful. Team leaders must give advance warning though so staff can do their own research. And if you’re the manager, resist the urge to direct and jump in immediately with your ideas, as staff may feel obliged to follow.
Log Important Decisions And Their Backstory
Avoid the “he said/she said” nature of spontaneous conversations; make sure ideas are contextually documented in a central space, accessible for all, and not lost in the moment.
Invest in Collaboration Tools
Team collaboration tools have shown the way here. Employees can set up team channels where decisions can be made in real-time. Slack, the popular chat tool, has been joined by a host of other instant messaging tools, virtually eliminating the need for traditional email. Video conferencing, in the wake of Covid-19, has become the default meeting format. And forums are another effective channel for effective team collaboration.
Check For Understanding
Nodding heads does not necessarily mean agreement and understanding. Many co-workers won’t like to admit they don’t understand something. Reiterate major decisions – during and after meetings – providing clarity and an opportunity for others to ask further questions. Engage in two-way communication with all members when possible.
Create Ways For Less Outspoken Team Members To Contribute Ideas
Not everyone has public speaking skills. Shy people will not feel comfortable sharing their idea in a room full of colleagues, but may happily submit an idea via a forum or chat channel. Make it known that individual thinking is unique and valued, and that every team member should be able to communicate with equality and authority.
Share Experience, Knowledge And Resources
Use an intranet to capture treasured insights – physically and virtually with file-sharing software. This will save mistakes being repeated, and knowledge walking out the door when someone leaves. Don’t leave this to chance: embed a process for eliciting and storing this valuable intelligence as part of your regular WIP meetings. Add tags to meeting notes that can be searched for later on.
Acknowledge And Celebrate Individual And Team Success
Highlight individual qualities and the special skills that each team member brings to the table. Go big when a milestone or key task has been ticked off with a team building celebration event. This boosts morale and makes people feel valued.
Appoint Task And Relationship-Oriented Leaders
HBR research found that the most productive and innovative teams had leaders who could outline clear goals and responsibilities and easily switch to relationship-building mode i.e. smoothing out internal tensions.
Limit Group Sizes
Not always possible – particularly if you’re about to organize the next Olympics – but aim to keep teams small enough so that staff get to know (and respect) each other, and ideas exchange freely. Big teams tend to be more vulnerable to tunnel vision, or the ‘squeakiest wheel wins’.
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Collaborative teams are 5 x higher performing as they feel motivated towards a common goal
Source: i4cp
Team Collaboration Trends
Team Collaboration tools are evolving to suit the changing needs of businesses today.
Flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with existing systems increasingly matter. Because of this, enterprise players such as Cisco, Slack and Microsoft have no choice but to integrate with each other.
Some other noticeable trends in team collaboration include:
Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning tools and bots can help an entire team improve the way they collaborate by making it easier to find information instantly. They can also offer things like real-time translation and transcribing during video conferencing meetings.
Unique Experiences
As more technology vendors come to the integration and interoperability party, open-source platforms with the help of APIs are enabling employers to build their own collaboration experience, just right for their internal culture.
Love Of Video
This format’s popularity continues to rise, but so do expectations around its performance. With remote teams the new normal, businesses are relying more on video conferencing, which must be reliable, secure and consistent.
Team Collaboration Software
Creating a workplace using team collaboration software is a practical move that can really transform how you and your colleagues collaborate.
MyHub’s cloud-based intranet is designed specifically for organizations in search of an affordable and adaptable collaboration solution. It’s fully scalable, designed to support your company’s growth. And fully customizable, to meet your exact needs.
Combining a company internal newsfeed, instant messaging and secure cloud storage, MyHub is the perfect choice for your important projects-in-progress.
Whether you’re an IT pro or completely non-technical, MyHub’s cloud-hosted solution offers all the features and functionality you’ll ever need.
We’ve made it so that it’s super simple to set-up (no coding skills or IT experience required) – and is enjoyable to use!
Using simple drag-and-drop functionality, you can create a professional space for your team to start collaborating in minutes! Being cloud-hosted also means you’re future-proofing your investment: you get to benefit from our latest new features and enhancements as soon as they’re released.
Useful Team Collaboration Resources
Cloud-Based Intranet vs. Company Network: Which is Right for Your Business?
When choosing between a cloud-based intranet and an internally hosted one, it’s important to consider your company’s specific needs, including cost, physical space, and IT resources. Cloud-based intranets require no on-site servers and usually come with lower upfront costs and built-in support, making them ideal for businesses looking for a quick and scalable solution. In contrast, in-house intranets offer more control but demand more maintenance, physical space, and dedicated staff.
Cloud intranets also offer greater accessibility and mobility for remote workers, ensuring employees can log in from anywhere and even during office outages. They often include better document search and organization features compared to typical cloud file storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive, allowing for smoother workflows and more efficient information retrieval.
Security and support are key benefits of cloud intranets as providers handle system protection and troubleshooting. While on-premises intranets give companies full control over deployment and customization, they require internal expertise and greater investment in long-term upkeep. Ultimately, cloud-based intranets offer a more practical solution for many modern businesses needing flexibility and ease of use.
Avoid The Chaos – Introduce Employee Intranet Forum Terms of Use
Clear terms of use are essential for maintaining order and professionalism in internal intranet forums. Without them, discussions can quickly become confusing, disruptive, or even unsafe. This post introduces a downloadable template that organizations can use to establish guidelines for appropriate forum behavior.
The terms cover everything from respectful communication and banned content to moderation rules and how to report issues. Users are expected to avoid things like advertising, personal info sharing, and offensive or illegal content. Moderators have the final say on disputes, and all users must follow their decisions without public challenges.
Having clear forum guidelines not only prevents chaos but also supports digital transformation efforts. It helps create a secure and engaging space for collaboration, reduces misunderstandings, and encourages positive participation across the company.
Collaboration Skills: Does Your Team Have What It Takes?
Effective collaboration hinges on strong communication, shared purpose, and seamless coordination. Modern intranet tools—like MyHub—empower teams with real-time chat, forums, shared calendars, document libraries, and automated workflows, helping remove silos and streamline decision-making. These platforms centralize information, making it easy for teams to access and share updates, feedback, and project files.
Real-time collaboration features—instant messaging, activity walls, and forums—minimize email overload and speed up responses, fostering a more agile, connected work environment. Automated tools give visibility into tasks and deadlines, so everyone stays aligned without constant manual check-ins. Customizable groups and branded project spaces help structure communication around specific goals or teams.
Beyond efficiency, collaboration tools help build trust and engagement. Features like staff profiles, feedback, and ideation spaces support cross-functional bonding and innovation . Mobile access extends these capabilities to remote employees, ensuring inclusivity and consistent culture whether team members are in-office or on the go helping weave strong collaboration skills into everyday operations.
100 Useful Performance Review Example Phrases
Conducting effective performance reviews can feel daunting—especially when finding the right words to describe strengths, growth areas and future goals. This article begins by emphasising that reviews are not just about judgement, but about engagement, development and two-way communication. It highlights that preparation is crucial: balancing positive and honest feedback, setting specific and achievable goals, and avoiding vague statements.
The core of the article is a curated list of 100 example phrases, organised by common review categories: achievements, interpersonal skills, attendance and punctuality, communication skills, collaboration, productivity, time-management/administration, leadership and delegation, problem solving, creativity, vision, potential. For each category it offers both positive and developmental (i.e., areas for improvement) versions, making it simpler for managers to adapt wording for different performance levels.
Finally, the article underscores that the phrases themselves are only a starting point: they must be backed by concrete evidence, examples, and tailored to the individual. It also stresses the importance of a review being a two-way conversation, where employees feel listened to, and that tangible goals and follow-up actions should be set. With that approach, performance reviews can become tools for motivation, not just measurement.
Knowledge Transfer Process In Six Simple Steps
The blog introduces a straightforward six-step knowledge transfer process designed to help organizations capture, share, and retain both explicit and tacit expertise. Given the risk of valuable knowledge walking out the door—especially with retiring baby boomers—the guide emphasizes using structured templates and intranet tools to save time, reduce errors, and improve compliance.
Each step builds on the last: Identify and prioritize critical knowledge, collect and organize it via forms and templates, share through intranet forums and newsfeeds, update regularly with workflows, apply through mentoring and quizzes, and finally, create new knowledge to perpetuate the cycle. Throughout, MyHub tools are showcased—surveys, feedback modules, document hubs, approval workflows—to make each phase seamless and scalable
These practices lead to better continuity (protecting operations when staff depart), efficiency, reduced errors, and a more innovative, collaborative culture. The included knowledge transfer template makes it easy to get started and promote a more resilient, knowledge-rich workplace.
Employee Engagement Action Plan: Time to Drive Real Change
Employee engagement isn’t just a feel-good HR initiative—it’s a vital business driver tied directly to productivity, retention, and profitability. With less than one-third of U.S. workers feeling truly engaged at work, companies need to act now. This blog post provides a detailed roadmap for building and implementing a powerful employee engagement action plan that makes real change happen.
From identifying key engagement drivers like purpose, communication, and development, to gathering employee feedback and setting SMART goals, the post breaks the process down into simple, actionable steps. You’ll find expert tips on onboarding, recognition, wellbeing, and creating collaborative strategies that empower managers and involve your entire team. Plus, there’s a free downloadable action plan template to guide your journey.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining your current strategy, this guide is a must-read. It ensures your efforts are targeted, measurable, and sustainable—turning employee engagement from a buzzword into a business asset.