Teamwork is one of the factors that significantly influence the success of an organization. Teams can only develop their full potential and be productive if the collaboration works well. But good teamwork does much more: Good collaboration can reduce sick leave due to overwork and increase employee retention in general.

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For these reasons, organizations invest up to 2% of their annual spending on initiatives aimed at improving teamwork. However, this often lacks a basic understanding of what teamwork actually is and which factors enable good collaboration within teams. That is why on this page we will shed light on the various facets of teamwork and give you a guide on how you can ensure successful teamwork for yourself in just a few steps.

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What does collaboration mean?

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What does collaboration mean?

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Not every team that works together on a project is actually working collaboratively. Collaboration enables a particularly intensive form of teamwork, which is based on maximum personal exchange and takes place at high speed.

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Why is collaboration important?

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The dynamic markets and multiple crises around us require companies to be able to react quickly to market changes. Collaborative working methods help to understand complex problems and develop solutions.

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What are key elements of successful collaboration?

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With the following tips & tricks, you can create the conditions for successful collaboration.

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1. Set clear goals

A common understanding of the initial situation and objectives is an important prerequisite for successful collaboration. In addition, goals should be discussed with all parties involved and communicated transparently. For example, it is easier to set the right priorities.

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2. Open communication

Be sure to promote open and honest communication within your team. Collaboration cannot work without a good basis for communication. An open communication structure reduces the potential for conflict and strengthens the connection between each other. Use regular feedback to improve your communication step by step.

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3. Share information & knowledge

For efficient collaboration, knowledge must be freely accessible and information must be easy to find. To avoid information silos, you should centralize your knowledge and make it available to everyone involved. There is good collaboration software for this today, such as Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace.

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Generally speaking: What makes for a good collaboration?

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Successful and efficient collaboration depends on many different factors, which have been evaluated as part of various research projects. One of the most well-known projects is Google's Project Aristotle, which was about better understanding what makes teams successful. Google conducted a comprehensive study to decipher the dynamics in effective teams and came up with some insightful insights. The most important factors that, according to the findings of the Aristotle project, make for a good collaboration are described below:

• Psychological safety: This is the most important of the five factors. A team member feels psychologically safe when they dare to express ideas and concerns without fear of humiliation or punishment. Teams where members feel safe are more open, creative, and engaged.
• dependability: Team members must be able to rely on their colleagues to complete their tasks on time and to satisfaction. High reliability in a team leads to greater mutual trust and more effective cooperation.
• Structure and clarity: Clear roles, goals and execution plans are crucial for successful team collaboration. When each member knows exactly what is expected of them and how their work contributes to the overall success of the team, this can significantly increase the efficiency and productivity of the entire team.
• Importance of work: Team members must find their work meaningful. This means that they understand how their specific tasks and projects contribute to the bigger picture and why their work is important.
• Influence of work: Another important factor is the feeling that your own work has a real impact. Teams whose members believe they can make a positive contribution through their work are more motivated, engaged, and ultimately more successful.

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The results of the Aristotle project underline the importance of soft factors, such as interpersonal interaction or communication, to ensure good collaboration within a team. They show that the key to better team collaboration is creating a supportive, open and trusting work environment in which every team member can contribute to joint success.

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Definitions of terms

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Teamwork refers to the collaborative efforts of a group of people who work together to achieve a common goal. The team uses the individual skills, experience and knowledge of its members to solve tasks efficiently and effectively. Although individual team members within the team often have different roles or tasks, they all feel equally responsible for achieving the overall goals. Ideally, a team has also defined appropriate rules, standards and etiquette that provide the framework for cooperation.

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What are the important principles of cooperation?

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The foundations of collaboration are crucial to be successful as a team. First, you need clear goals and expectations. Each team member must know exactly what is expected of them and what their contribution to overall success looks like. Clear distribution of roles helps to clarify responsibilities and avoid misunderstandings.

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Open and transparent communication is key. Teams that talk to each other regularly, share challenges, and actively listen create a culture of trust. It is not just about speaking, but above all about understanding the perspectives of others.

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Mutual trust is another foundation. Trust makes it possible to give honest feedback, take risks and talk openly about mistakes. This creates an atmosphere in which everyone feels safe and can grow together.

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After all, a shared vision is important. Only when everyone pulls together and pursues the same goal can real teamwork be achieved. Teams that focus on their strengths and work together instead of side by side not only create better results, but also develop stronger collaboration.

These foundations form the basis for successful teams that overcome challenges and continuously improve.

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What must be considered when working across sectors?

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When it comes to cross-divisional cooperation, a number of special factors are decisive for success. First, clear and transparent communication between departments is essential. Different teams often speak “their own language” and have different working methods, which is why it is important to avoid misunderstandings through regular coordination.

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Another important point is the definition of common goals. Everyone involved should know why they work together and how their contributions lead to overall success. Without a clear, overarching goal, conflicts or incorrect prioritization of tasks can occur.

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Understanding and respecting the different perspectives and competencies of the teams involved is also crucial. Each sector has its own expertise, which should be respected and used. This not only creates an appreciative culture, but also a better basis for decision-making.

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It is also important to define clear responsibilities to avoid overlaps and gaps. Agreements about who will take on which tasks and by when they must be completed help to make collaboration efficient and structured.

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Cross-divisional cooperation therefore requires not only clear communication, but above all coordination, respect and a common goal so that it is effective and profitable for the company.

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What does intercultural cooperation mean?

Intercultural cooperation refers to the cooperation of people with different cultural backgrounds, whether in professional, academic or social contexts. In a globalized world, where teams often consist of members who speak different languages, come from different cultures and have diverse international experience, the ability to work together interculturally is crucial. For intercultural cooperation to be successful, several framework conditions must be created:

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• Promote cultural awareness: It is important to understand and value differences between cultures. Knowledge of different working styles, forms of communication, holidays, traditions and behavioral norms is essential for this.
• Strive for open communication: The ability to communicate effectively and respectfully across cultural borders is central to intercultural cooperation. This includes not only language skills, but also sensitivity to non-verbal signals and a willingness to clarify misunderstandings that may result from cultural differences.
• Experience flexibility and adaptability: To enable harmonious and effective collaboration with team members from other cultures, everyone must be prepared to adapt their own approaches and behaviours.
• Strive for balanced conflict resolution: Resolving culturally related misunderstandings and conflicts often requires a creative approach and the will to find joint solutions that respect the diversity of the team.
• Focus on common objectives: Focusing on shared goals and values can help the team bridge cultural differences and foster a strong team spirit. It is about seeing diversity as an advantage that brings new perspectives and solutions to the group.
• Show respect and appreciation: Respecting and positively evaluating diversity, striving to learn from one another and to appreciate the contributions of all team members is a fundamental prerequisite for successful intercultural collaboration.

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Intercultural collaboration is not only an ethical obligation, but also offers practical benefits, such as promoting team diversity, ability to innovate and solve problems, and creativity. Companies and organizations that are able to cultivate an inclusive culture of intercultural cooperation are often more successful in the global economy.

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What is agile collaboration?

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Agile collaboration is an approach that focuses on flexibility, continuous improvement, and rapid adaptability. Originally from software development, the approach has developed into a comprehensive working principle that is used in many industries. Agile teams set their goals autonomously and work in iterative cycles. These are designed to continuously generate added value for customers. Customers are often involved in the development process. It is characteristic of agile teams that they act in a self-organized, cross-functional manner.

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In practice, agile collaboration means that organizations deviate from rigid, long-term plans and instead choose a more flexible approach that enables rapid adjustments and decisions. This includes:

• Sprints: The work is structured and carried out in short, manageable cycles, which allows a quick response to changes.
• Stand-ups: Coordination as part of daily short meetings helps to give the team an overview of progress and to quickly identify and remove obstacles.
• Retrospectives: The practice of regularly reflecting on how the team works enables continuous improvements.
• ‍Kanban boards: Visual representations of the workflow increase transparency and help to show progress and upcoming tasks.

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Factors for successful agile collaboration

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To ensure the success of agile teams, organizations should consider the following factors:

• Cultural change: Agile collaboration requires a cultural shift towards more openness, flexibility, and an increased focus on collaboration. Organizations must make changes to this end, such as dismantling traditional hierarchies and promoting a culture of trust and personal responsibility.
• Communication and transparency: Open and clear communication is critical to ensure that all team members are on the same page and can focus on common goals. Transparency in decision-making processes and work processes promotes trust and cooperation.
• Continuous learning and adaptability: Teams must be willing to learn from experience and continuously adapt their working methods. This requires an open attitude towards feedback and trying out new approaches.
• Empowerment of team members: Agile collaboration requires team members to be able to make decisions autonomously and manage tasks independently. Empowering all team members promotes motivation and commitment.
• Focus on the customer: Agile teams focus their work strongly on customer needs and feedback. This requires close collaboration with the customer and the flexibility to quickly adapt products or services to maximize customer benefits.

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What exactly does integrative collaboration mean?

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Integrative collaboration refers to an approach to teamwork in which members work together to find holistic solutions by taking into account as many perspectives as possible. This approach aims to create synergies and achieve results that are beneficial to all stakeholders. Here are a few key elements of inclusive collaboration:

1. Common goals: The focus is on the common goal, not on individual interests. Team members strive for solutions that benefit the entire team or project.

2. Inclusion of all perspectives: Inclusive collaboration values that the ideas and opinions of every team member are heard and taken into account. The diversity of a team therefore also plays a central role: It enriches the team process through a variety of perspectives, experiences and knowledge.

3. Creative problem solving: Instead of limiting itself to compromises in which each party gives up something, integrative collaboration looks for creative solutions that meet the needs and interests of everyone involved.

4. Effective communication: Open and honest communication is critical to ensure that all points of view are considered and misunderstandings are avoided.

5. Conflict management: Integrative cooperation sees conflicts as an opportunity to understand different perspectives and find innovative solutions. Conflicts are tackled constructively and with the aim of reaching agreement.

6. Team-oriented decision making: Decisions are made collectively, often through consensus or other inclusive decision-making processes that ensure that the voices of all team members are heard.

7. Interdependence: There is an awareness that the success of each member depends on the success of the team. Team members support each other and work together to achieve common goals.

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Integrative collaboration is particularly valuable in complex, interdisciplinary projects or in situations where innovative, comprehensive solutions are required. It promotes an environment of cooperation in which the team's collective intelligence is fully exploited.

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Why is it important to clarify cooperation expectations at an early stage?

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Clarifying expectations early on is the key to success when it comes to team collaboration. This approach not only lays the foundation for efficient collaboration, but also helps to avoid common pitfalls.

According to Patrick Lencioni, a pioneer of the organizational health movement, there are typical problems that prevent teams from reaching their full potential. These dysfunctions range from a lack of trust to neglecting team goals. A key element to avoid these dysfunctions is to clearly define expectations.

1. Lack of trust and unclear expectations: Trust is the foundation of every strong team. When team members don't know what is expected of them, uncertainty creates, which erodes trust. Clear expectations create an environment of security in which openness and vulnerability can be lived.

2. Fear of conflict due to unclear communication: Conflicts are unavoidable and even necessary in teams. But without clear expectations, disagreements can lead to destructive conflict. Clear communication right from the start enables the team to address conflicts constructively and openly.

3. Lack of commitment due to lack of direction: A team that knows its direction is a committed team. Unclear expectations can lead to disinterest and passivity. Clear goals and roles, on the other hand, motivate team members because they understand what they're working towards.

4. Avoiding responsibility and responsibilities: When each person knows exactly what they should do, it is easier to take responsibility. Clear expectations help prevent anyone from feeling responsible, which in turn often leads to a lack of accountability and commitment.

5. Lack of attention to results: Teams that have not clearly defined their goals can easily get lost in minor issues. By setting clear expectations in the team right from the start, everyone can act in a results-oriented manner.

6. Strategies for clarifying expectations: Clearly define team goals and ensure that each member understands their role and responsibilities. Regular meetings, transparent communication, and established feedback methods are crucial to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

What software is available to support collaboration?

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When choosing software that helps to optimize team collaboration, the goal of using the software and the needs of all team members must be clear. Only then should you start looking for the right solution in the software jungle. In principle, there are three broad categories: collaboration tools, survey solutions and data-driven team development platforms.

There are a variety of collaboration tools, such as Miro, Jira or Figma, which simplify the joint creation of output and the coordination of collaboration. The functions of the various software are comparable in many ways and the teams should choose the software solution for themselves that can be optimally integrated into the system landscape and ensures the simplest operation. It is worthwhile to analyze in advance what the costs of the software are for a broad rollout across the organization, as this collaboration tool has a major lock-in effect and subsequent changes can be very expensive.

Teamwork agents for better collaboration

There are also various survey solutions, such as Mentimeter, Google Forms or Officevibe, which are used for better collaboration. Team members regularly evaluate certain topics of collaboration and the answers are aggregated and displayed transparently to everyone. This often helps managers to better understand how collaboration works, but has the disadvantage that the process of finding solutions is not supported.

In recent years, data-driven team development platforms, such as Moodtalk, have come onto the market, which help to make team development measurable and therefore less “biased”. In the case of Moodtalk, the team answers a set of questions about the individual mood and the topics of collaboration that concern the team. In this way, relevant topics are identified at an early stage and provide a structured basis for subsequent discussion within the team. In a democratic process in which all team members are involved, solutions to the identified challenges are worked out together. This is therefore a holistic approach that goes beyond traditional survey solutions, as the process of finding solutions is also supported. Through this practice, teams also internalize how to reflect on collaboration over and over again so that teams become or remain so super teams.