Each new client and team member brings new opportunities as well as new challenges to your organization. Here are 5 key steps to increase collaboration during times of change.
Professional services firms aim to keep their business growth positive with new clients & opportunities. Each new client and each new project presents inspiration for the team members to get creative as well as the organization to achieve new heights in their success story.
However, with growing responsibilities comes with greater challenges. Healthy and creative collaboration within a work environment can be the key aspect to promote desirable business outcomes.
“The CEO's role in raising a company's corporate IQ is to establish an atmosphere that promotes knowledge sharing and collaboration.”
Bill Gates
Here are the top 5 ways to ensure team members and employees with complimentary skill sets collaborate healthily & heavily in order to achieve success in client projects.
Setting Clear Team Roles
Especially within Professional Services Firms such as Law Firms, Consultancy Services, Advertising Agencies, and many more; the intersectionality of work is crucial. Teams and team members with various skill sets need to work together to complete and submit large projects.
In organizations like these, project managers and VPs are strategically responsible to increase collaboration between all sides of a project. The first step in ensuring a collaborative environment is to make sure all teams are briefed and informed about each team's responsibilities & capabilities.
Setting clear roles for teams and team members will allow all participants of the project to set clear expectations and collaborate with honesty & trust.
Leading with Transparency
Another key aspect in ensuring healthy communication and collaboration between teams is to lead with values that all team members can easily empathize with and understand.
Being transparent about project goals, outcomes, possible blockers and personal challenges along the way will allow all team members to appreciate the manager's responsibilities.
Encouraging Communication & Accountability
Following up and building on the previous title; in order to encourage all communication and accountability for mistakes, project managers should always look for ways to stay approachable to their team members.
While being approachable and communicable is key; it is important to note that with projects that have multiple moving parts - keeping track and copy of all communication within teams and with the clients is the manager's definitive responsibility in an accountable project.
Using the Right Work Management Solution
Keeping track of multiple team tasks, their priorities, and progress; as well as client and team meetings that create new agendas every day is a huge undertaking for each project. In a work environment that requires multiple projects running at the same time, using a work management solution that is absolutely right for this purpose is crucial.
A fitting work management solution for a professional services firm should provide:
A quick overview of all ongoing projects & tasks
Easy creation of notes, meeting minutes, and ideas
In-depth categorization and filtering
Practicality & usability
Check out Ovvio's features here to get a full picture of our work management solution.
Socializing as a Team
Whether it is the onboarding of a new team member or an inspiring quarterly result; it is imperative to celebrate!
Via online calls, on-site happy hour drinks, or 15-minute coffee meetings to start the day; creating small pockets of time to relieve stress and share as a team is a surefire way to create an environment where everyone is comfortable to collaborate during demanding work hours.