Tips for Better Collaboration as Your Staff GrowsBy Drew HendricksAs soon as a small business moves from a handful of employees to a few dozen or more, the task of corporate communication becomes more important than ever. However, at the same time, collaboration transforms from something that is natural and easy, to a task thats increasingly diffcult to manage.In a comple business with various teams, managers, and groups, how can you improve cross!departmental collaboration and make it a strength, as opposed to a glaring weakness"Why Cross-Departmental Collaboration MattersIt may seem like an obvious #uestion, but why does communication between different departmentswithin your organization matter" Tears down internal walls. $oure not in the business of making everyone comfortable,but what a world of difference it can make when your employees feel like they can be open and honest with coworkers, upper management, and everyone else they interact with in your organization. Healthy communication between distinct areas of your business tears down walls and allows everyone to feel at ease. To avoid dissension. %isagreements in the workplace lead to con&ict and tension, which are both detrimental to a healthy business. 'his is especially true when one department feels like another is treating it poorly. %issension can shut down your entire work&ow and greatly diminish productivity and effciency. An emphasis on cross!departmental collaboration, on the other hand, ensures problems are handled as they arise. Customer service. (inally, healthy cross!departmental collaboration is good for your organization because it improves your ability to deliver good customer service. )hen accounting, sales, marketing, and production are all on the same page, you can deliver a seamless and cohesive eperience to your customers * which keeps them coming back formore.Tips for Better Collaboration %espite the obvious importance of communication , its anything but easy to get everyone on the same page. +ach organization has its own issues and #uirks to sort through. )ith an understanding that what works for one business may not work for yours, here are some tips to consider, Admit theres a problem. -race yourself, this is going to sound like a psychologists answer, but you have to start by admitting theres a problem. 'his will allow you to gather key decision makers and uncover the root causes of why cross!departmental collaboration is so poor. Provide opportunities for mingling. In many cases .especially in large corporations/, the problem is that employees from various departments dont know their coworkers from other departments. 'his leaves them with a 0my department frst1 mentality and very little loyalty towards other areas of the organization. 2ne of the surest ways to overcome this is by giving employees opportunities to mingle, interact, and build personalbonds with other coworkers. Ideas for facilitating this include team building eercises and(riday afternoon miers. aunch h!brid teams. 2ne simple solution is to launch hybrid or cross!functional teams. 'hese are small cohorts of employees with one or two representatives from each department. 'hey meet on a daily or weekly basis and ensure their departments needs and concerns are heard. It also helps humanize each area of the organization by putting a face and name to the title. Sta! organi"ed. 3ometimes the lack of cross!departmental collaboration simply comesdown to a lack of resources. (or eample, if accounting needed to work through an issue with someone from marketing, is there an easy way to handle it" According to the blog post 04 5ollaboration 'ips for +nhancing 'eamwork1from )rike, you need to push tools for sharing. 'hese include real!time messaging tools .3kype, 6oogle Hangouts, etc./, task management tools, fle sharing tools, and knowledge based tools. Be willing to listen. If youre going to openly place an emphasis on communication, youmust be willing to deal with con&ict in the beginning. )hile the goal is to reduce the number of serious con&icts in the future, youre essentially opening the &oodgates at the beginning, and anything that was held up behind it in the past will seep through. -e willing and ready to listen * fre#uently and often.Establish the Right Environment7ltimately, the longevity and health of your business will depend on internal communication. As a manager, owner, or 5+2, its up to you to provide an environment thats conducive to cross!departmental collaboration. -y implementing these tips and understanding the critical importance of seamless communication between each area of your business, you can do 8ust that.