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Why Collaboration Is Crucial

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It’s no surprise that workplace collaboration is important—some even say it’s the most significant determinant of business success. In fact, the World’s Most Admired Companies believe that collaboration is the one behavior that will have the most positive impact on business outcomes—if everyone does it. Why? Collaboration fosters greater communication, creativity and productivity. It also leads to better decision-making and problem solving.

But remote work, complex structures and siloed teams can make it difficult to collaborate effectively. How can organizations overcome this?

View our infographic for three ways leaders are driving team collaboration, and five questions to ask yourself to ensure success.

infographic - transcript below

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Why Collaboration is Crucial

According to the World’s Most Admired Companies

The World’s Most Admired Companies know collaboration is the behavior that will have the biggest impact on their business—if everyone does it. Here’s how they’re driving collaboration among their teams to transform for growth—and how you can do the same.

“We’re leveraging the collaboration muscle we already had and being very intentional about ensuring it drives innovation and results.” - Kim Evans, Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Inclusion and Social Impact at Northern Trust

“We Before I” Mindset

Team members who raise their hands, put others first, and are willing to work together are top performers.

“You need to be deliberate about how you collaborate. Very often in corporate America, the impulse is random acts of collaboration.” -Adam Bauer, Director of Issues and Policy Communications at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Top Collaboration Challenges

  • Complex Structures
  • Remote Work
  • Siloed Teams

3 Collaboration Secrets from the World’s Most Admired Companies

Empower your people to create, cross-sell and innovate across teams and borders.

1: Reward Effort

Incentivize and recognize employees for acting collaboratively.

Lenovo’s Annual Team Excellence Awards recognize and reward people for collaboration across teams. 

2: Support Inclusivity

Embrace hybrid and virtual options to foster inclusivity and innovation.

Northern Trust optimizes its online tools to ensure a smooth-running hybrid model that supports inclusivity.

3: Test, Adapt and Improve

Embrace experimentation to find the right approach for different teams.

DHL Supply Chain is testing a total flexibility model: employees come into the office as needed to meet their working needs.

“Teamwork is so important here. To provide new solutions to customers, we have to work together more and in new ways.” -Lan Gao, Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Lenovo

Improving Collaboration: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

  1. How has the way you collaborate changed over the last five years?
  2. Is your digital and in-person collaboration equally effective?
  3. Are you collaborating with intention and purpose?
  4. Are you only focusing on end-to-end responsibilities?
  5. Can you solve this problem on your own, or does it require other teams?

Cultural Transformation

Is your culture working for or against you?

Learn more

Collaborative work is evolving

Is your organization on track for success? To learn more about how Korn Ferry can help your teams be more collaborative, explore our Culture, Change and Communications solution.

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