In order for a business to be productive, it needs to think about many different things. It can be hard to be a manager, let’s face it!
You have the responsibility of ensuring the business thrives and grows, and you need to make sure everyone is happy in the process.
This encompasses many different areas: from the type of office you have, to the business furniture you decide to go for, the way you manage your employees and the way you handle issues and problems that come your way. Yes, being a manager can be difficult indeed.
There is one thing which can make a manager’s job infinitely easier however, and can seriously benefit a business overall.
Collaboration, and not just any old collaboration, but high quality collaboration.
This article is going to tell you everything you need to know about how to create a collaborative atmosphere in your office space, not only with the odd piece of trendy office furniture making people feel full of ideas either! We’re also going to tell you why you need collaboration in the first place, but first how exactly can it make your job easier?
Because collaborative spaces are far more fun to work in than static, dull offices. That means that your employees are going to be more in tune with each other, coming up with fantastic new ideas and problem solving endeavours, they’re going to be excited and motivated to come to work, and basically morale will be on the increase. Throw in the general appearance of the space, e.g. with some stylish office furniture, and you have a fantastic recipe for success.
How can there be a downside to that?
There isn’t!
So, first things first, what on Earth is collaboration?
What is Collaboration?
You could argue that collaboration is just a fancy word of team work, and in some ways it is. Collaboration is basically groups of people working together, consulting each other on issues, and covers the whole ‘two heads is better than one’ saying.
Of course in this case, there are going to be more than two heads!
Check out this video for proof of how vital collaboration is.
A collaborative workspace means that you have a dynamic, innovative, interactive and varied office. This is the ideal office layout and environment; no one day will be the same as another, and brainstorming will be a regular thing. You can decide to have separate sections for collaboration, to ensure that quieter, more concentrated work can still go on, or you can go all out and make the entire space bout bandying ideas back and forth. It’s up to you, and it has a lot to do with the types of personalities within your workplace too.
By collaborating on an idea, you’re getting the benefit of more than one view. You might look at a problem and see it one way, but you could ask a friend and they would see it a totally different way. The benefit of that different point of view means that the solution you come up with, and the solution they come up with, may be merged to create a totally new solution which works wonders!
It sounds complicated, but it’s really not. Effective collaboration is about coming up with creative and innovative solutions to problems which may otherwise have been left festering with no real answer. Collaboration also allows you the space to come up with new ideas for products, and this in itself could take your business down a completely different, and perhaps more profitable route.
Put simply, effective collaboration increases productivity, and that means money in the long-run. If you can put into place high quality office furniture to help the process along, you’ll see rewards quickly.
How Does Effective Collaboration Benefit a Business?
A recent study – carried out by Neilsen – revealed that two out of three business managers and professionals deemed effective collaboration to be one of the most important drivers behind business success and growth. A study by Stanford University showed that even thinking about working with other people on a specific project can be enough to create a sense of excitement and ‘charge’ on a project.
Most people prefer working together in an innovative environment than working alone, would you agree? Of course, there are people who prefer to sit alone and work quietly on a project, but team work has been around for so long now, with the benefits very clear.
Many studies have gone into why this is so, and all have shown that team work is the way forward!
So, how does collaboration and team work really benefit a business?
- Information sharing and idea sharing – Sharing ideas and information, perhaps even knowledge learnt online or from a training course, helps to bring new ideas to the fore. These ideas are likely to be more creative, because there is the input of several people. These ideas could be the difference between a project being a major success, and it simply being a moderate success
- Creative problem solving – Again, coming up with innovative ideas to solve problems can be the difference between success and failure. As before, if one person looks at a problem, they may see it one way; if another person looks at it, they may see it another way, add even more people and you get more views and more potential to finally solve a problem which has to date been left festering.
- Higher morale – There is a lot of evidence to suggest that collaboration can help to increase morale within a workforce.
A high level of morale is vital for productivity on so many levels, and we all know that productivity means money in profits further down the line. In addition, having a business culture which ensures that staff are told what to do and they do it, isn’t the best way to encourage or nurture. By allowing staff to collaborate, and trusting them to come up with new ideas, you’re placing responsibility on their shoulders, and many will rise to the task.
- Increased productivity – We’ve just mentioned this, but it deserves its own place on the list. Collaboration is known to increase productivity, not only because of morale, but also because it brings those new ideas to the fore. These new ideas can inform the moves which the business makes now and in the future, and many of those projects could turn out to be big selling endeavours
- Attracts new talent and retains valued staff – A company which has a reputation of listening to its staff, asking for ideas, acting on those ideas, and basically having a high level of morale will certainly attract new talent towards it. Most people want to work for a company which has the above mentioned traits, and your reputation will go before you. In addition, existing staff, the ones who you have placed years of trust in and trained up to a high standard, are more likely to stay with you, as opposed to jumping ship to one of your competitors.
- Increased customer satisfaction – Your customers are likely to be satisfied with the service you provide, if you’re constantly bringing new ideas to the fore and being innovative in your approach. This will stop them from going to your competitors for their business, and will also attract new customers your way.
The bottom line is that collaboration brings money to a business, and even if you take away all the other advantages, thats a pretty big bonus!
In contrast, check out this infographic which shows just what a disengaged employee does to a business.
Source: www.taxandbusinessonline.villanova.edu/resources-business/infographic-business/disengaged-employees-cost-too-much-company-culture-and-collaboration-increase-productivity.html
When you take those numbers into account, you can see why collaboration and ensuring the interest and excitement of your employees is so important.
How Does Effective Collaboration Benefit an Employee?
We’ve talked about business benefits, but what’s in it for the employee? Quite a lot, actually.
- Job satisfaction – An employee who is working in a collaborative and comfortable environment will probably feel quite satisfied in their role. When you enjoy your work, you want to get up and go to the office in the morning (possibly not every morning, but most mornings), and you feel excited and motivated by your tasks. This is a far better alternative to not enjoying your role! You will want to go to work and sit at your stylish designer desk, and you’ll want to head to the boardroom table with new ideas.
- A feeling of being trusted – The backbone of having a collaborative business means that you trust the ideas and solutions which your employees come up with. This means that you trust your staff. An employee who feels trusted also feels valued, and that’s a great feeling to have.
- Opportunities for growth – Employees who work in collaborative environments are far more go-getting than those who do not.
This is because they have countless ideas buzzing around their heads! This gives a real focus on the future and the career growth opportunities that might come your way.
- Higher quality working relationships – Working with people means that you have to get along with them, and whilst it’s possible that you won’t get along with everyone perfectly well, collaboration and team work helps you to develop effective and high quality working relationships. This makes life so much more enjoyable, especially as you spend so much time siting around office desks with these people.
- The chance to see your idea flourishing – Whilst nobody takes sole responsibility for an idea in this type of working environment, if you come up with the bones of an idea, it’s a great feeling to watch it being tweaked and changed, as you all work together to turn it into the final outcome.
Basically, the business gets a major boost in productivity and ideas, and the employee feels excited and motivated by their role.
There isn’t a downside when it comes to collaboration! Of course, you need to furnish your office with the right equipment for the job, but we’re going to talk about that in detail in a show while, giving you ideas on how to create the modern contemporary office, fit for plentiful collaboration.
How to Ensure All Personality Types Can Become Involved
Of course, within every workforce there are a different personality types at large. Introverted types might not feel comfortable enough to sit around boardroom tables and chairs and share their ideas within a large group of extroverts, or they may not be able to be heard by ambiverts. In this case, it’s important to identify the different types of personalities you have within your staff group and to perhaps create smaller groups, which are made up of a mix of personality types.
You might think that extroverts are the only group which are suited to collaboration, but that’s not the case. Introverts are listeners and watchers, they are also deep thinkers, and as a result they are highly creative. These ideas simply need to come out, and they need to feel comfortable enough and supported enough to be able to do so, and to know that they will be taken seriously. Unless you have a group of very over-bearing extroverts, it’s not likely to be a huge problem, however it is something you need to be aware of.
A few ideas to ensure that all personality types can become involved are:
- Create small groups/teams for collaboration, and ensure they are made up of different personality types
- Create a collaborative space which is small and comfortable, yet with enough space to do what is needed. You can easily purchase cheap contemporary office furniture to fill your collaborative space, without breaking the bank
- Have a company environment which encourages collaboration from all members of staff
- Listen to all ideas and never pass one off as not good enough – this will give all members of staff the confidence to speak up if they have an idea
- As a supervisor or manager regularly drop in on team collaboration sessions and ask various members if they have anything to add; this will ensure that it isn’t always the same people being heard
The single best way to ensure that all members of staff feel comfortable and encouraged to share ideas and to brainstorm without abandon is to ensure the environment is comfortable physically, and to support ideas and never simply throw them by-the-by.
A quiet or shy employee is not going to feel comfortable enough to share an idea they’ve come up with if they feel that their manager is not going to take it seriously. Whilst you don’t have to act on every idea if you feel it isn’t going to benefit the business, you have to listen to it and explore it at the very least.
Find the right corporate furniture solution which is comfortable enough for people to not be distracted, and ensure that everyone is supported physically – your staff aren’t going to come up with ideas if they have half their mind on the fact their back is hurting from uncomfortable boardroom chairs!
To add further weight to this subject, here are some of the most common traits of a successful collaborator. This may help you to put together your teams or groups.
- The ability to listen well
- Analytical skills
- Effective communication skills, and knows how to word their sentences without upsetting another person, i.e. emotional intelligence
- Enjoys brainstorming ideas
- The ability to compromise for the good of the business
- Team-spirit: a group mindset and not an individual mindset – there is no ‘I’ in team!
- The ability to delegate and work hard
- Reliability and a deadline meeter
- Forgiving of mistakes and doesn’t hold a grudge
- A sense of humour
- Ability to give credit where credit is due
- Open to new suggestions and ideas
- Always takes responsibility for any mistakes or errors they make
The Different Types of Collaboration Within The Workplace
The way your business collaborates is probably going to be slightly different to the way your competitors collaborate, and that’s because your employees are different to theirs! The general direction is always going to be the same however, i.e. the outcome and the aim.
You want to come up with new ideas and you want to do it in a way which encourages staff to feel comfortable enough to speak out.
The three main types of collaboration are:
- Brainstorming in Groups – In this type of collaboration you are likely to have one large group or several smaller ones and members share all their ideas and ask questions about them. This ensures everyone has their say and everyone has some input. This is probably the most common type of collaboration you’ll come across and it’s simply known as ‘brainstorming’. Everything that people come up with, you write it down and unpick it all to find the best ideas and possible leads towards new approaches.
These types of sessions often take place around contemporary boardroom tables with plenty of space, but it depends on the area you create.
- Multi-Disciplinary Teams – In this type of collaboration you will mix together different levels of staff, e.g. admin staff, managerial staff, supervisory staff, and collaborating on ideas and suggestions. By mixing together leaves of skill you encourage ideas from different stand points and you also ensure that the ideas you do come up with will reach out to different audiences too.
This type of collaboration is likely to take place around a conference table, due to the number of different levels of staff in attendance.
- General Discussion – The best way to describe this is as a general meeting. This will often take place in a boardroom or conference room and everyone will just chat. As a result, you’ll need meeting room furniture to fit the bill. This is a less formal type of meeting and ideas will be shared and explored in that informal setting. It’s a good idea to have this type of setting for your general meetings regardless, as it encourages people to stay engaged and avoids the discussion going off topic and turning into time wasting territory.
However you choose to arrange your collaborative sessions, remember that there is more than one way to go about everything. Whilst you might prefer brainstorming in groups, that doesn’t mean that you can’t add in multi-skill levels as well, to give you the benefits of both methods.
Can You Still Collaborate if You Work Remotely?
Thanks to technology, yes you can!
More and more businesses are opening up to the idea of employing remote staff, and as a result, the need to come up with collaborative methods for staff who aren’t actually in the building is far greater. This is easier than you might think, and all that is required is a quality Internet connection.
Many remote workers regularly check in with their core workplace via Skype or other video calling technology, and it’s easy to set up a video link within a conference room. This means that the person is literally in the room, and can share ideas and discuss with the people who are there in person. A glass conference table or a stand height table is a great addition to a technologically minded meeting room!
If video calls aren’t suitable, messaging groups can also be set up for collaborative purposes. This is a stream of messages which will need to be reviewed and unpicked at a later date, but everyone gives their input and shares ideas. It might seem a little unorganised, but this type of ‘random’ collaboration can often yield some very creative results!
There are many online platforms & apps, such as Zoom, Slack, Trello or iDoneThis which allow teams to collaborate and communicate effectively. The downside of this is that the collaboration process can take a little longer than if it is done in person, but that can simply be one of the very few downsides of employing remote workers.
Having workers who regularly work outside of the office should certainly not be a barrier to collaboration however, as there are many interesting ways this can be done. It comes down to what is best for your company and the people who work there, but there are many multi-national companies who need to have meetings with people across the other side of the world, and they manage to do it!
If they can, you can too.
Equipment to Create a Quality Collaborative Space
Now you know what collaboration is and we’ve talked about the ways to do it, we now need to get practical – how can you set up an office space which welcomes and encourages collaboration?
It’s actually easier than you think.
Firstly, look at the space you have already. How much space do you have? How many employees do you have? These are the two pieces of information you need in order to move forward. You should also think about the good quality office furniture you already have and how can be utilised effectively.
Collaborative Zones and Breakout Spaces
The main issue with open plan offices in particular is that sometimes there will need to be a mix of quiet and collaborative work going on. You don’t need too much noise for those who need to sit and concentrate, but you also need to allow collaboration to go on without limits. In this case, zones are a good idea, or even a breakout space. Quiet areas could also include desk pods, for extra privacy.
Let’s address zones first of all. In this case you would have a section for collaboration which is situated away from the other parts of the office. This allows those who need to sit and focus the ability to do so, but those who need to brainstorm can do that also, without worrying about who they’re interrupting. Bench desks are a great idea for these types of collaboration zones, because paper can be laid out, laptops can be left there without being knocked over, and everyone can scribble down their ideas in a way which encourages creativity. You could even think about interactive whiteboards on the walls.
A breakout space is a separate area completely. These are either placed in the corner of an office, or more commonly, outside the main office space. Occasionally these might be placed in the reception area, close to the reception desk, but this is less common because of confidentiality issues. These can be used for breaks, quiet times, a recharging five minutes, or they can be places where accidental collaboration goes on. For instance, two members of staff might go to the breakout space separately for a coffee break, but whilst there they start to talk about a project they’re both working on, and new ideas crop up. Always look for opportunities for collaboration!
Utilising The Conference Room and Creating Themes
For businesses which have less space, the conference room is a good choice, with some comfortable executive office furniture in place. When a regular meeting is not going on, collaboration can take place in this room and this doesn’t risk causing disruption to anyone else, e.g. those doing quiet work in the main office. You could even think about decorating a conference room in a theme, which may help to encourage the information sharing and idea generation process. Think about funky office furniture here, in colourful and vibrant shades!
If you’re going to use your conference room, make sure that your furniture is comfortable and ideal for brainstorming, and also make sure that you have a room booking arrangement in place. This means that staff know when the room is free and they can go there to discuss an idea or problem which needs solving.
Furniture Which Encourages Brainstorming
One of the best ways to encourage brainstorming and idea sharing is to give your staff the tools to do so. This means desks which are large enough for endless papers, those interactive whiteboards we’ve just mentioned, plenty of pens and paper, laptops and charging points, comfortable chairs, modular office furniture which can be moved around according to whoever needs to use the space.
A collaborative space is far more haphazard than a regular office space, and generally isn’t as tidy or organised – sometimes brainstorming gets a little messy!
Space is Vital, so Minimise Clutter
Plenty of space is another thing you need. Ideas can be suppressed when there isn’t enough space for your employees to express themselves. Perhaps an idea needs acting out, maybe someone needs to walk through a situation in order to explain what they’re thinking to their colleagues. This all requires space, so make sure you get rid of any clutter and allow collaborative spaces to be clear of anything which will get in the way.
Remember the old adage of a ‘tidy desk is a tidy mind?’, that really works with collaboration too. Mess just clutters up the mind and ideas can’t find their way out! A storage wall is a good idea if you have less floor space.
Consider Refreshments
People think better when they’re not hungry or thirsty, so consider a water fountain in your collaborative space, a coffee machine, perhaps a fruit bowl with delicious and nutritious brain foods. These small touches make a huge difference!
Think About Technology
What types of technology can you utilise to make the collaborative process easier? We’ve already talked about interactive whiteboards and charging points for laptops, and you’ll probably already have quality Wi-Fi to ensure people can research online, but what about video calling equipment? If you’re going to collaborate with remote workers you will need a screen and a video link, and these can be easily installed in your conference room, to allow the person to feel like they’re basically there in the room with you.
You don’t have to spend a fortune on different types of technology for collaboration if you don’t have the budget, sometimes paper and a pen works just as well! If you do have the scope however, you’ll find many different types of tech which help with this endeavour.
Think About Colours And Decor
Finally, think psychologically. We all know that colours can affect mood, so it stands to reason that colours can affect idea and creativity too. Blues and greens are known to be serene colours, but they also help to boost creative thinking. Yellow is also another colour which you might like to add as it affects emotions and thinking up new ideas sometimes needs to have an emotional attachment.
Red is also a possibility but do remember that red is known for passion and fire, and unless you want your collaborative sessions to be rather loud and raucous, perhaps go with orange instead!
You could also add plants and make sure your space gets plenty of fresh air. These are known to boost focus, and therefore help you come up with new ideas and solutions.
Final Thoughts
Collaboration is without a doubt one of the best ways to bring a new sense of excitement and freshness to your workspace.
Without new perspectives and new ideas, a business can easily turn stale and become static. When this happens, competition will take the opportunity grab the impetus and take over. This will mean you lose productivity quickly and as a result you will lose customers and profits. Employees will also feel stuck in their jobs and won’t have an outlet for the creative ideas which are brewing in their minds.
Take advantage of the brilliant ideas which your staff will come up with, and allow them to thrash it all out in a brainstorming session. You’ll find some fantastic ideas and solutions you may never have thought of yourself by doing this, and as a result, problems which have long been unsolved may just be figured out in an instant!
Staff also thrive in a collaborative environment, and whilst you need to find the happy medium between constant collaboration and quiet work, hitting that sweet spot and giving your staff the tools and environment to be able to do that will bring you many benefits and rewards as a business.
Thank you for reading!