Collaboration is a very trendy word these days in the business world. Millennials love to collaborate and it seems to be a hot topic. Gone are the days of independently working on tasks. Most tasks seem to be shared by a team and collaborated on. What exactly is collaboration, and what are the benefits to a collaborative approach?
What is Collaboration?
Collaboration is defined as “to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor”. So collaborating is working with a team to get the job done.
Millennials love collaboration.
In fact, a culture of collaboration is one of the top things a Millennial is looking for in an employer. Do you have Millennials on your staff? They will most likely thrive when they are able to collaborate with others and feel part of a team.
What if you have a very small staff or are doing it all alone at the moment. It’s important to use tools that can grow with your business. Also, some tools can be used with not just staff members but also with others in your ecosystem – such as your bookkeeper, your tax preparer, and clients or customers.
How To Collaborate
You can take advantage of many different tools to collaborate. Many of these tools are inexpensive and easy to use. One tool we really like is Google Sheets where you can share a lot of information in a spreadsheet style. Stay tuned as we do a deep dive into Google Sheets in a few weeks and will share some tips and tricks we use.
Xero has many features that can be used to collaborate. Some of the Xero features that we like to use are the Discuss Feature and Xero Files. We will have blogs in the coming weeks on how to use these tools within Xero later this month.
Why Should I Collaborate?
Collaboration is an integral part of business. As the workforce evolves and more and more people are not working in a traditional office with traditional hours, and as we become more dependent on the cloud – collaboration will become even more important.
If you are a Millennial or have a Millennial on your staff, you will likely enjoy the opportunity to bounce ideas off of the team and work on projects together.
If you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur you likely need to delegate more. Why not use one of the great tools we mentioned today to help you do just that.
The cloud and collaboration go hand in hand. If you love the cloud then take some time to explore new ways to use collaboration to benefit you and your business.