There are some errors anybody can make, errors that stands in way of better collaboration in the company. Here are the most common obstacles for better cooperation among teams.
Article continues below
The first thing that can ruin collaboration in the company very easily is a rigid organizational structure. That's the situation where the chain of command must be followed to the letter and in that situation there's no way to make easily and effective collaboration.
Every try to talk about something must go up one department's chain, and then down another department's, and the third... Everything must be approved by middle and senior leadership, and time is used more for getting approvals than for real problem-solving talks.
There's no compromise between departments. Collaboration is by definition a give and take process. One department must be willing to give something to get something, and in an efficient company there is no room for "We won't stand back" spirit. Every single teams must work together with other and forget the idea that it is the most important part of the company with everybody else below it.
Messy communication lines. Here we don't talk about a company that has everybody in one place, but about offices scattered around the country or more countries. As you might know, it is a bit difficult to have fast and meaningless talks when some office is three hours ahead of you or on another continent.
There are two things you can do in that situation. First is to use all collaboration tools there are, such as video conferencing, especially those that allow live conversation. Second, establish time of day when everybody must be available. Yes, we know it's a bit hard if you must wake up in 3am for a meeting but that goes with the job, nobody said work in a big company is a milk and honey.
Negativity. Yes, negativity can ruin each and every collaboration plan you have. However, that's easy to solve. Similar to brainstorm sessions, just forbid "No" as the first answer to other people's suggestions. This is more of a psychological problem than an organizational issue but if you tell your teams to focus on the best solutions instead criticizing other ideas, your time will be spent in a much better way.
Another obstacle for efficient collaboration may be the owner. Yes, the owner. Although it seems obvious that the owner of the company should be interested in the best communication as possible, the owner is not necessarily an expert in business communications. Some of them are trying to figure out how their departments should collaborate and that can lead to all kinds of problems.
Sometimes it is very difficult to deal with the owners, especially if they established the company from the scratch, but they should know that they can leave some decisions to others. In other words, hire communication experts and let them set effective collaborations protocols. Don't let your ego be an obstacle to your company's success. ■