There are many advantages to a hybrid workplace. However, sometimes it can be difficult for employees on different teams to work together. To avoid common issues from reducing your collaboration and productivity, here are some tips that you can use when collaborating with other people on your team or in another department.
Keep up Informal Engagement
One of the main challenges of a large organization’s various departments is that they don’t spend much time together. This can lead to misunderstandings and even more conflicts.
However, you can change this by deciding to spend some time with employees from different teams and departments regularly outside of your formal work environment.
Schedule One-on-One Meetings
Schedule regular one-on-one meetings with your team members so they know that you are interested in their opinions. You can also use these to introduce them to people from other departments.
Try to Get Face-to-Face Time
When communicating with another team, try to set up a meeting or conference call where you can connect and speak face to face. Email and phone calls may not be as effective in getting your point across.
Take Time to Collaborate
Make sure that you create spaces for collaboration, whether in person or digitally. This can be anything from a shared wiki to an online chat window. For the best results, make sure that you pick something to let team members type out their ideas instead of just talking aloud.
Work on Team-Building Activities
If you feel as if there is a lack of teamwork within your department, try coming up with a few team-building activities for employees to participate in. These could include a pot luck dinner or a friendly competition.
Try Off-Site Meetings
If you feel like your team needs a fresh start, try taking them outside of the office for a day. If possible, bring in someone from another department to help facilitate this meeting and get people talking and connecting.
These methods will go far in helping your employees communicate more effectively with each other. They will also make it feel as though your team is more of a family, even if you’re spread out all over the place!