(ThyBlackMan.com) Whatever line of business you are in – creative or not – collaboration is becoming more important than ever before. Think of the rise of freelancing, for example, or remote working. All businesses are trying to tie together all these different strands to come up with something that is coherent. There are many problems to face, of course.
But, if you follow these simple rules and ideas, you should be in a safe place for all kinds of collaboration, either in-house or across the globe. Let’s take a closer look at everything you need for excellence.
Strategy
Before you even pick up the phone and call in your collaborators, it’s vital to have a plan in place. You have to understand why you are doing something before you move onto how you will achieve it. Good strategy takes time, of course – but it pays off in a big way. Collate all the info you need and make a plan of action. It will help you get to grips with what you need to achieve your goal, and how you will 
make it work. Everything, from communication down to simple tasking, will be all the better for it.
Leadership
There has to be a focal point whenever any business gets down to work. But, it’s even more important when collaboration takes place. As a business leader, you should be setting an example by collaborating with others, too. What you do at the top of the tree always rolls down to the bottom, and great leaders understand that getting buy-in from staff takes effort. You can’t expect people to do something you are unwilling to do yourself.
Systems
It’s important to have robust technology in place before you commence any kind of collaboration. You should include your IT support teams or services when you are planning your workload, so they know what to expect. While cloud computing has made remote working much more possible than a few years ago, there are still plenty of issues. It is vital that your systems can support any down time, or understand what you need in the event of things going awry.
People
Of course, people are central to collaboration. It’s important to get the right person for each job, or you will find too many kinks in the road to complete the assignment with excellence. Creative teams understand this more than most – you only need to look at job adverts in advertising to see why. Very few agencies bring in single creatives to work on big jobs, and they rely on freelance teams instead. It’s because they understand the value that a great team that understands each other brings.
Flexibility
When so many people are working on a project, it’s easy for them to get bogged down in unimportant details. It might be significant to them, of course. But, being a flexible leader will help you identify the areas of more concern. Take the Agile system of working that so many web development teams work on, for example. The idea is to get to an acceptable level of completion. That might mean leaving a feature out here, or a tricky line of code there. But, those aspects can be brought back into the equation at a later date. Be flexible, and you will get to completion far quicker – and you can look at the finer details with clearer vision.
Good ears
Great leaders know that many of the best ideas come from their employees. So, always keep an ear out when your staff and collaborators try to tell you something. They can spot problems before they arise, and come up with fresher ways of working. If it all adds up to better process and, most importantly, better results, it’s worth your while.
Support
Collaboration often involves using people with different skill sets and knowledge. This, of course, can lead to its own problems. Some team members may feel like they are out of their depth unless you provide the right training for them. There’s also the remote working aspect to contend with – do your freelance teams really feel like they are part of the team? Having a supportive environment can help iron out those kinks and produce better results.
Methods of measurement
How will you judge your success? One area many up-and-coming creative businesses fail on is measurement. You have to work out which metrics apply to the task at hand – and all of them should point towards making a compelling business case. Working towards social shares, for example, can be a valuable way of working out how popular an ad or article is. But does it bring value? If it’s purely impressions you are after, then yes – it can be good for branding. But if you are looking for monetary value then you need to look at the effect of those shares on your sales.
Balance
The best teams are a collection of different skill sets, of course. But, personalities are also of vital importance. Let’s say you have a few extroverts that you want to pitch together for a big task. What do you think is going to happen? Extroverts tend to be risk takers, they talk a lot and act on impulse. They are bold, and brash – but sometimes they need to be restrained. So, breaking up those ‘alphas’ is going to be a wise move – and fill up the spots with introverts for a counterbalance. This will give your team more consideration and thought about the subject in hand – and will bring better results.
Tools
Finally, make sure that you use the right tools for your collaborations. There are plenty out there – including some of our own, of course. Everyone needs to be comfortable in using your tools and training will be essential. Get that in place from the very start, and you find your team working much better towards their goals.
Hope this has helped some of you out there to learn a little more about the collaborative process. Let us know if you have any more tips to share in the comments section below.
Staff Writer; Craig Jackson