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Home Business Boosting morale by fostering effective collaboration

Boosting morale by fostering effective collaboration

by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
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iStock 1259416409

Boosting morale by fostering effective collaboration

Bryan Stallings, Chief Evangelist at Lucid

Remote and hybrid working has been welcomed with open arms by employees in the last few years, and it has become one of the biggest influencing factors for job seekers. This has changed the way people think about work due to the flexibility it allows them to have.

However, there are a few challenges that come with hybrid work. Fostering team bonds that are formed in the office can be tough to replicate. We’ve seen that affect organisations when hybrid work was at its peak during the pandemic with misalignment and poor collaboration habits being a key obstacle in how teams work. Misalignment can become frustrating and influence employees to quit, with our recent misalignment survey finding that 43% of UK workers are seeing talented staff leave their organisation due to collaboration issues. 

It’s no secret that hybrid work is here to stay and organisations looking to retain their workforce must take the necessary steps to boost morale and improve alignment across teams.

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Enabling better collaboration through a tool-based approach

Good collaboration is key to raising team morale and improving project outcomes. During the pandemic, many organisations hurried to adopt new workplace applications. While this was understandable given the urgency at the time, their continued use is prolonging unnecessary complexity and causing a disjointed employee experience. In fact, our same survey reveals 45% of workers used five or more productivity applications at work, and 42% found it frustrating to have so many. Too many apps can lead to misplacing documents and lack of alignment on roles, ownership and deadlines. To alleviate this, companies should evaluate what apps are most beneficial to their teams and look to consolidate their tech stack. By identifying which apps integrate with each other, companies can allow for a seamless workflow.

Working from home was a major shift in how teams operated, but the ideas of what made good collaboration stayed fairly rigid. Meetings were, and still are, heralded as the best way to collaborate. But this isn’t always the case. By embracing the right tools, organisations have the opportunity to redefine collaboration beyond meetings, and experience the benefits of asynchronous work. In turn, teams are given more time to focus on higher value work. In fact, Harvard Business Review found that a 40% reduction in meetings not only made employees more productive, but increased job satisfaction by 52%.

With job satisfaction comes higher morale, and this promotes a healthy working environment. Integrating tools such as interactive, visual platforms is a contributing factor to this, enabling teams to communicate and share complex ideas. When employees feel they can understand and add value to projects, they are more likely to be engaged at work. 

Ensuring a transparent environment

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Transparency is just as important when it comes to strengthening morale. Without it, trust and communication can break down within teams

When employees feel they have a transparent view of their company, it fosters a sense of ownership, belonging, and a pride to be part of the team. Managers can show transparency in numerous ways, such as talking to the team openly about the business environment and how mistakes or difficult business situations will happen, while inviting team questions and answering them. Leaders are powerful role models, and transparency and sincerity will spread throughout the organisation if displayed at the top. This environment encourages team members to be more open themselves, allowing them to share their anxieties and issues more freely.

Fostering team connection

Human connection is essential to a dynamic workforce, with studies finding 94% of employees report they are more productive when they feel connected to their colleagues. 

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A strong place to start when building these bonds is to focus on the value of the individual and recognise the unique perspectives each team member brings. Some workers may thrive in seemingly risky, experimental projects, whereas others do their best work in ongoing initiatives. By embracing these differences, every team member is encouraged to contribute their best work while thriving in a welcoming culture that fosters collaboration.

Despite this, we should not neglect the basics when looking to strengthen morale. Managers should also focus on purposefully integrating moments of genuine, human connection with team members throughout the day. Recognising humanity and empathising with each other will ultimately lead to a happier and more fulfilled workforce. These moments could be virtual coffee catch-ups, or brief discussions at the beginning of meetings on non-work related topics. This approach strengthens team bonds and ensures no one feels alienated, no matter whether they are remote or not.

Key takeaways

At the heart of every business operation is collaboration, and leaders must understand the value of prioritising all factors that enable it. By putting the focus on improving transparency, high-quality communication, and human connection, managers provide the circumstances for individuals to function at their best. A fundamental part of making this shift is choosing visual collaboration tools which allow teams to communicate complex ideas with ease and encourage better creative thinking.

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