In the last two decades, the time spent by managers and employees in collaborative activities has increased by over 50 percent. While collaboration in the workplace used to be limited to in-person brainstorms and project coordination, the way we work and how we work together has changed entirely. Additionally, according to Harvard Business Review:
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At the heart of it, it’s the effectiveness of this collaboration that truly matters. Are employees getting the most out of their time together? Do they have the tools, resources and access to materials that will enable them to work together synchronously and asynchronously? The result of effective collaboration is that amazing minds can come together and help businesses become more profitable, efficient and innovative.
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Collaboration Without Effectiveness is Costly

Poor collaboration comes at a high price and can lead to delays, errors, and increased costs — all of which have an impact on profitability. Additionally, did you know…

• Dealing with the consequences of ineffective communication claims as much as 20% of your employees' time
• Nearly 15 percent of employees’ total work time is wasted through inefficient collaboration and communications

The challenge post-pandemic has now evolved to: how can HR leaders help employees successfully collaborate while also navigating the common work structures and dynamics that get in the way of effective collaboration in the workplace?
 

Effective Collaboration Leads to Increased Creativity and Innovation
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Did you know that successful collaboration at work between employees improves innovation by 30%? Or that effective workplace collaboration saves companies thousands of dollars per employee? The proof is in the pudding. Effective collaboration helps take creativity and innovation in the workplace to a higher level. 

Unfortunately, demanding that employees innovate more often won’t result in better ideas. To foster greater innovation, companies are turning to collaborative workstream platforms, where employees pool their knowledge and perspectives to learn and innovate faster.

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Effective Collaboration Produces Value

A study by Google showed that more than half (56%) of executives surveyed ranked a collaboration-related measure as the number one factor impacting their organization’s overall profitability.

• Teamwork and workplace collaboration efforts increase company sales by 27%
• Companies that promote effective collaboration at work have 5X better performance rates than those that do not
• Companies that practice effective collaboration are 36% more productive than those that do not

Meanwhile academic research from Stanford University has shown that collaborative work fuels intrinsic motivation, driving people to stick with their tasks longer, have higher engagement, lower fatigue, and higher success rates compared to those expected to work on their own.

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Effective Collaboration Increases Employee Efficiency & Engagement

Collaboration is the key to a more transparent, productive, and happier workplace. When employees collaborate by sharing ideas and skills, they feel connected with each other, are more engaged, and contribute to a culture of innovation and growth.

When workers feel their workplace is concerned about their growth and development, they are more likely to remain loyal to their goals and to the organization, as well as feeling more fulfilled on the job. 

A supported employee is a satisfied employee, one who is comfortable sharing ideas and aligned with team goals, but also prepared to tackle what’s next. And a satisfied team member comes in each day ready to work and help the rest of the team. Engagement is important for many workplace benefits including productivity, profitability, retention, and happiness, to name a few. 

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Effective Collaboration Improves Employee Retention

What’s the most important component of increased employee engagement? A happy and satisfied worker. A happy employee will never consider leaving a job if they are excited about the projects they are a part of and enjoy collaborating on, especially if tools, access and resources aren’t barriers. Also, if the colleagues they work with are excellent team players, and if they’re getting the recognition they deserve, then they are likely to stick around far longer.

In fact, employees believe collaborating with a great team is the main reason for staying at a job. Effective collaboration will put in place a more flexible work culture within the organization and allow for a higher quality of engagement and collaboration between individuals.

• 87% of human resources leaders have placed their employee retention attempts as a number one priority for the next few years
• Strong management transparency leads to 30% better employee retention
• Employee happiness is 23.3% times more correlated to connections with coworkers than direct supervisors

These statistics help prove that collaboration with peers matters. There is also a clear connection between retention and a company or team's collaboration culture. This is much harder to manage without physical proximity. Hybrid/remote organizations in the future of work must be even more intentional and strategic about encouraging these connections.

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Increase Effective Collaboration with Workplace from Meta

Connected teams are more motivated, engaged and innovative. But after you get people talking with each other, you also need to help them work together effectively for the best quality of collaboration. Effective collaboration matters because it can reap big rewards for the organization. 

While organizations talk about the importance of teamwork and collaboration skills, it’s not always easy to achieve. Before the pandemic, only 14% of companies were confident their internal processes for collaboration and decision making were working well. This is where having an effective workstream collaboration platform comes into play.

‍Workplace from Meta enables HR leads to communicate with team members and increase instances of effective collaboration. The workstream collaboration platform makes staying in touch with the team easy and convenient to:

• Send and receive messages
• Ask questions
• Share documents
• Find information

Groups & Chat

Tremendous value can come from having purpose-driven communities. Employees can share stories, embrace peer support for reassurance, and gain moral support for their well-being. With Workplace from Meta, companies can leverage groups and chats to increase employee engagement and collaboration among dispersed teams.

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Live Streaming & Live Video

Enterprise-sponsored events, content and Q&As with leadership representatives add value and increase engagement. At ServiceRocket, one way our CEO, Robert Castaneda, shares his strategic vision with the company to achieve alignment throughout the organization is by using Workplace’s live streaming feature. He often broadcasts time-sensitive communications about new company-wide initiatives, and also engages in fun engagement activities like “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” where employees ask him any questions they may have. Employees watching live can comment in real-time and the stream is also recorded.

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Asynchronous Viewing

All video streaming features on Workplace can be saved for later viewing, allowing both synchronous and asynchronous communication from HQ to employees, no matter the location or time zone. Employees can also comment and add to the discussion later on.
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Workplace from Meta — Teamwork Made Better

People are your company's most valuable resource. The more they work together, the better the outcome is for your company. So, investing in effective collaboration is a no-brainer. Time and time again, data shows that on-the-job collaboration improves efficiency, creates a better workplace dynamic, and increases profitability. 

Without collaboration, innovation would wither. ServiceRocket and Workplace from Meta facilitates effective collaboration across dispersed teams in order to help your employees and organization grow.

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