Collaboration is the key to innovation and creating a successful workforce, but as work patterns change and the hybrid approach becomes increasingly more popular, how can leaders foster a collaborative workforce? In a report from The Work Innovation Lab, Jen Rhymer shares her prediction for collaboration at work in 2023.
Jen predicts that; “Organisations need to reimagine the ways to help employees work across both space and time.” Events in recent times have highlighted the importance of a collaborative workforce, however, there are significant challenges with locations and flexible working schedules which organisations must address. Jen suggests that leaders will need to specifically support collaboration styles that support this flexible working approach across time and physical space.
Jen’s advice for organisations is to invest in the technology required to create a single source of truth and document decision-making. This allows employees who are spread across space and time to coordinate and work from one centralised platform and understand the reasoning behind organisational decisions. Jen’s last piece of advice, and the most difficult of them all, is to empower employees to iterate in real-time - whereby work is shared in its draft form rather than delaying collaboration until it is finished or in a polished state. This requires a culture shift where progress on projects is rewarded and not perfection.
