Encourage Collaboration

Collaboration — two or more people working towards shared goals.

In the next part of our Essential campaign, we look forward to discussing the topic of collaboration, and why it should be encouraged. Throughout the campaign, we talk about some of the essentials to success at Walter Code.

When you have the potential to include active collaboration into your work, it becomes more efficient. Having the ability to do tasks side-by-side with your colleagues allows for more work to be done, as well as new thoughts and ideas to be born.

Today, we are going to dive into the topic of collaboration, while focusing on the reasons for which it should be encouraged. How can collaboration improve the results of labor? What other benefits may arise? Potential issues while collaborating are also going to be looked at in this article.

We have to agree that the potential of individuals is limited, be it by resources, capacity, knowledge, or energy one has. No, it doesn’t mean an individual is not capable of fulfilling tasks successfully. But, in today’s rapidly moving market, going from one assignment to another — quickly, can make or break businesses.

So how can an individual's work be enhanced, improved, sped up? Well, you double it, or triple it.

Collaboration allows for more potential to be unlocked, by connecting two or more people via the same goal. If you increase the number of units going towards the aim, more will reach the objective. This is quite simple to comprehend.

Let us give you a simple example, to break down why collaboration should be encouraged.

Jack was working on a project with a tight deadline. As a software engineer, he did most of his work alone. Hundreds of lines of codes, thousands of different div’s, and he’s had to do it all alone. A lot of stress arose from this project, as it was for an important client. With the stress, came errors. And bugs. Jack was being pressured even further by the deadline moving closer. The entire responsibility of the project laid on his back, so he knew there was nobody else to blame if the project was not done in time.

At the same time, Jill was assigned a similar project. But, she had no such constraint as to work alone on the project. That’s why Jill assigned herself and a colleague to the same project. They’ve immediately split the workload. The entire call of duty was made much more straightforward by adding another variable into the mix, a partner!

Drawing conclusions from the example

These simple examples have a clear goal, to explain why collaboration should be encouraged. Solving problems, examining the bigger picture, increasing efficiency, Jill and her colleague were much more likely to achieve these results. Throughout their project, they would have also gotten the opportunity to inspire self-analysis, while teaching and learning.

Working collaboratively is an excellent way to perceive your strengths and weaknesses. You get to figure out which areas you are good at, as well as where you need assistance. All this time, the chance for you to learn new skills from your teammates increases, as well as vice versa. So, indeed, collaboration should be encouraged.

Now, this article wouldn’t be complete without looking at some of the issues that may concern you while collaborating with others. In teams, most are different. Everyone has something distinct that they bring to the table. This, as much as it seems helpful, can sometimes be an issue. How do people agree on the best solution to be used? Without this one ingredient, collaboration and teamwork would possibly be less productive due to all the arguments that would arise while choosing the optimal. That one ingredient is leadership.

The end line

Assign proper leadership to collaboration, and you’ve made a step forward to making it more successful. Collaboration allows for more resources, recognition, and rewards. Then, why would you shy away from it? Encourage it!