Eighty-six percent of workplace failures come from poor collaboration or communication. A four-pillar framework—People, Purpose, Platform, and Problem—helps leaders build it: start with relationships, define shared goals so departments partner instead of compete, pick a communication channel, and hold regular check-ins where teams share roadblocks.
So how do you ignite collaboration among and across departments in your organization? Well, the key is to value collaboration. Salesforce reports that 86% of workplace failures, according to employees, are the result of poor collaboration or poor communication. So there's 4 things you want to focus on to help your people be more collaborative in their roles. The first is connect your people. People and relationships are important because relationships are the foundation of collaborative conversations. The second thing is make sure that you define a shared purpose. The people in different departments aren't competing. They need to understand that they are sharing information to support one another in pursuit of a common goal. The third thing is to make sure that you define a platform. Maybe it's Slack for you, maybe it's going to be Zoom, maybe it's email, but whatever that platform is, define a place or a channel where they can go to share and request information. And finally, help them share what their problems are. Have them Have them check in each week or every couple of weeks with what they're working on and what it is that might be a current roadblock so that others can help them to solve those problems. People, Purpose, Platform, and Problem. That's how you ignite collaboration as an effective leader.
