5 New Ways to Improve Your Project Collaboration

When project collaboration is missing, your project is much more likely to fail. Meanwhile, your team members will not work to the best of their abilities, and your relationship with stakeholders will shudder.

However, you can still improve your project collaboration by using these five tactics in every interaction with all involved parties in your project.

1. Consider and Appreciate Different Approaches to Solving Problems

Stakeholders, team members and skilled workers are people too, and they want to have their voices heard. Some ideas may be highly unusual, and you will have times when different approaches seem like the worst ways to correct an issue.

However, you need to listen to and appreciate the approaches presented by all individuals involved in your project. It opens up discussion and helps you brainstorm ways to overcome the problems you will face.

2. Give Your Team Time to Think

Throughout your project, it is easy to want immediate solutions. Some problems and issues can be major, but many problems develop over days, if not weeks. As a result, requiring immediate action can leave your team feeling hopeless and unworthy.

Give your team members time to think of solutions to possible problems. Furthermore, this shows you value the time and opinions of your team as well.

3. Be Transparent

The transparency of your project management office also impacts the ability of your team to work together. All processes and activities should be transparent throughout your project. Avoiding full disclosure of information breeds hostility and destroys employee morale.

Make sure all team members have access to appropriate information, and communicate your rationale for all decisions to all applicable team members.

4. Use a Collaborative PPM Tool

The software you use for project portfolio management (PPM) also needs to have collaborative features. For example, the software should have the ability to view baselines, schedules and messages from any location. This is especially important for team members and skilled workers in remote locations.

5. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Your team will work together better when you set clear goals and expectations for all team members. In other words, avoid ambiguity in providing direction, and do not favor one team member over another.

This helps to create an environment that encourages equal work and participation in the project for all staff, team members and workers. Furthermore, it makes your responsibilities easier to manage.

Improving collaboration between your team and all other parties in the project is critical to success. Unfortunately, collaboration can be fickle, and you need to start working on improving collaboration even when all team members are working together successfully. As a result, start using these tactics in all of your interactions and processes immediately.

Key Takeaway

• Consider the opinions and insight from all team members.
• Give your team time to think of solutions, and be transparent in all activities and processes.
• Use a PPM tool that enhances the ability of staff to work together.
• Set clear goals and expectations for staff members from the onset of a project.