What are the 5 Most Common Barriers to Collaboration?
There is no way to avoid collaboration with others, even if you run your own business. You’ll need to cooperate with clients, subcontractors, employees, or vendors anyway.
Disorganized systems may only make effective team collaboration more difficult.
The article on Fundbox.com describes 5 common barriers to collaboration and proposes some strategies for working through them. Let’s dive in.
Missing docs
It can be finding an email attachment you received several weeks ago and forgot to download it or managing multiple versions of the same document.
The solution can be found with the help of cloud-based document storage. It will locate files across multiple devices and ensure that everyone on your team can access the files they need.
Unclear expectations
If team members don’t know when something is due or what tasks they’re specifically responsible for, they’re unlikely to follow through.
Use a project estimate and it will get everybody on the same page right from the outset.
Missed deadlines
Projects can grind to a screeching halt when tasks are dependent on work from someone else but the other person drops the ball. That can set off a domino effect of more missed deadlines.
Apply automated reminders for upcoming tasks that can lift the project management burden and keep team members accountable.
Scope creep
Scope creep happens when a customer asks for work beyond what’s in your original agreement.
Discuss changes in scope with your customer and alert them that you need to bill for additional work. If you bill in project fees based on the number of hours you expect a project to take, then tracking your time can help you provide accurate estimates going forward.
Disagreement about what’s owed
Imagine that you reach the end of a project. In your mind, you’ve done everything agreed upon. In their mind, they’re expecting something more. Maybe they thought their website would include SEO-optimized copy and social media share buttons. Or they wanted their blog post to include photos and social media copy but they failed to articulate that expectation.
Discuss the details of each project before you get started. Your contract should include a detailed contract or scope of work (SOW) so that you can refer back to the SOW if disagreements pop up later.