Many benefits come from creating a positive work environment for employees.
A positive environment is one that motivates, challenges, fosters teamwork, and helps employees grown in their careers.
A positive, collaborative work environment is one where all employees work towards a common goal and help one another along the path to reaching that goal.
It took Lewis and Clark a whole team to travel from one side of the Americas to the other. It also takes a team to run a business today.
Make sure that all team members are supported and feel valued in their efforts.
1. It creates a stronger company culture
A collaborative work environment can help to create a place where employees can work together. Most of us don’t like an overly competitive work environment.
Some thrive in it, but for the rest of us, we like an environment where we aren’t competing with our coworkers for a prize, especially for a desk.
Let the competition be among the team to reach a certain goal and then let them decide how they get there as a team.
This helps to define your values as a business. You want to practice what you preach.
So, if you state that you want people to work together as a team, encouraging a collaborative work environment will help you develop this as part of your company culture.
Positive, collaborative company culture helps to make a better first impression for potential employees.
If they can see that they will work in an environment that is non-toxic and supportive, they will be more likely to want to work there.
Existing employees will also want to come to work every morning, knowing that they work at a company and on a team that is interested in helping them reach their goals.
No one likes going into the office where they compete with others and where their boss fires them for not keeping up with their coworkers.
Don’t be that company.
Jeff Arnett, CEO of an event security product manufacturer claims:
“A collaborative and supportive culture also means happier employees. Employees who are not stressed about competing with their colleagues will more likely perform better in groups when working together rather than attempting to achieve more as an individual to outperform their colleagues”.
A great example of emphasizing teamwork is also shown through their website, as they display individual photos of their team members and what they are capable of despite their size.
2. Improves communication skills
A collaborative work environment encourages employees to interact with each other rather than being in a place where no one talks to each other.
Whether it be through email, direct messaging, talking face-to-face, a collaborative work environment means that people must communicate to get things done.
This communication can have several benefits:
A. It helps employees learn from each other.
Discussing the details of how to do a project or which process to take requires employees to compare their processes.
B. Sparks creativity.
Comparing processes can inspire improvements or different ideas to come to light and will help make the process better or make the process a better fit for those involved.
C. Great communication skills prevent small mistakes from happening.
When employees are communicating, especially face-to-face, but also over the phone or email they must get their details straight.
This type of communication puts everyone on the same page and facilitates completing the task.
D. Collaborative efforts also speed up tasks and improve everyone’s overall performance.
When multiple employees are assigned on a project, chances are the result will be much better than individual work.
E. Strong team communications make new employees feel more welcomed.
A team that supports one another will support a new member coming in and help them to adapt to the rest of the group faster.
3. Keep employees motivated
When employees collaborate, they share a common goal.
And if they as a team are invested in reaching the goal then it is also in everyone’s best interest to make sure that everyone on the team can do their part to reach that goal.
This makes everyone highly motivated.
Online kitchen and bath renovator and marketing expert Wesley Ward explains:
“When employees have the same interest, they are willing to work twice as hard to make sure the goal is reached and can help others if necessary. A team that is motivated to reach a goal will put in the effort needed to make sure they accomplish what they set their mind to”.
Motivation also improves employee loyalty.
When employees are acknowledged or recognized for their hard work, they are more likely to keep performing well.
Consider sending a thank you email, rewarding them with a free coffee, or perhaps a team outing when you want to reward the entire team.
Let them know that you see, value, and appreciate their hard work.
Collaborative work environments also foster learning opportunities. Professional development is essential for employee career growth.
A strong team member showing leadership skills can get additional responsibility such as overseeing employees within the team or serve as a resource when other employees need help.
This will free up time for you as a manager or head of the department by giving that employee coaching and management experience.
Seeing employees take on new roles and responsibilities is rewarding and makes you realize you are contributing to their career growth.
As stated above motivation is a key aspect for performance, if employees know that they have a potential career path as a reward, they will want to stay with the company to earn those rewards.
A happy team gets more done!
A collaborative workplace is essential for employees. It helps foster an environment where team members support one another to reach a common goal.
It benefits your business as employees will work harder and have better quality output.
A collaborative team is also, generally, happier, which means that employees like working there.
That means that you don’t have as much employee turnover and more experienced team members.
Take the time to develop a collaborative culture on your team and in your business, hire the right people and be supportive.
The rewards will greatly exceed the amount of effort needed to put into it!
Karina Mojica is a contributor editor for 365 Business Tips and a Marketing expert for Texas Hard Money First. From sunny Los Angeles; California State University Dominguez Hills she made her way back home to beautiful San Diego. She has a degree in Marketing, with experience in PR, and social media marketing.
