Today’s project managers and heads of sales face challenges pulling a distributed workforce together for collaborative projects. Communication and ideas suffer, staff, become demotivated and there is a disparity between cross-functional teams.
The goal for project managers is to focus on the profitability of a project and foster the well-being of your team. A fully-functioning team is more productive which translates into more profit.
In the past year, studies have shown that managers are struggling to meet project goals with remote working teams. There has been a number of reasons for failure, but three of the key factors have been breakdowns in communication, a lack of motivation and incoherence.
On the flip side, a decade of research focusing on the correlation between happiness and success has shown that a happy workforce can increase productivity by 31% and sales by 37%.
Whilst remote working gives enterprises the scope to downsize and cut overheads to invest in other areas of the business, productivity and profits are increased when team members sit together on collaborative projects.
Improve communication
Communication is the glue that holds a project together. Seamless communication is pivotal to promoting creative ideas that tackle complex problems.
More ideas breed more discussions, and ultimately more solutions. When collaborative experiences are coherent and efficient, the team is better equipped to achieve goals and boost productivity.
Brainstorming and exploring ideas are clearly more effective in an office environment. Moreover, a team is more effective when the members are sitting with one another.
Improve co-ordination
Sharing the same office space also makes it easier for project managers to coordinate the project in its entirety. It also saves time having to shoot off emails when you can simply turn to the person next to you and ask a quick question – “how are you getting on with that…” etc.
Projects between cross-functional teams often fail in multi-departmental companies because the team members are confined to their relevant departments and are thus separated.
Companies typically create silos in which IT teams sit in the IT section, sales personnel sit in the sales sections and so on. This is usually due to a lack of space in the office.
With more companies downsizing to smaller offices or dispensing with office premises altogether, renting co-working space is an affordable solution that fosters the well-being of your team members, and the collaborative process and ultimately increases productivity.
Motivate staff
Remote workers report feeling disconnected and lonely working from home. Demotivated team members have a negative impact on productivity levels and can be damaging to mental health.
During the Covid lockdowns, managers were trying to overcome this issue by motivating staff with virtual lunches and virtual coffee breaks. It is clear that the solution is bringing the team together.
Renting co-working space and meeting rooms is a cost-effective way for companies to get the best out of a collaborative project. At BluDesks, we make it managing your projects even easier by giving you access to multiple offices in your area with one pass. What’s more, the hourly rate pay-as-you-go solution means you have complete control over your budget.