Stronger Together: Improving Interdepartmental Communication and Collaboration

For modern businesses, excellent interdepartmental communication is pivotal for success. The way we talk and collaborate across teams can inform business objectives, leading to improved efficiency, agility, and knowledge. Here are a few pointers to help you refine your process.

Overview

Interdepartmental communication doesn’t just refer to the sharing of information; it can also take place via adjustments to inventory, joint project collaboration, and any other tasks that require the involvement of more than one department. Responsibility for this important facet of business management often falls upon the shoulders of HR departments (or CHROs), project managers, and the individuals involved in the project.

One of the main ways that interdepartmental communication has evolved in recent decades is through technology innovation. We have never been able to collaborate as efficiently and seamlessly as now due to the advent of cross-compatible software and systems - these include comms apps, project management tools, collaborative design tools (such as Sketch, which allows developers and designers to coordinate in real-time), CRMs and more. Often, interdepartmental communication does not involve direct communication at all, as tech solutions track and record the actions of each individual automatically.

Strategies

Interdepartmental communication is a wide-reaching and highly context-dependent area of business, so strategies can vary drastically. However, examples from one context may be able to inform solutions in another - if you are a copy editor, proposal writer, or business plan writer, Google Docs has collaborative functions like in-document annotations to help highlight and explain edits, and Trello has real-time task management features so that all team members can track progress on an ongoing task. Learning about the various methods implemented by incumbent software providers can help you to improve your own processes or, if you have in-house developers, adjust your proprietary system to better facilitate communication.

You may also encounter strategies with universal applications - process mining, for example, uses data to discover, validate and improve workflows using artificial intelligence. Not only can process mining help to improve efficiency and collaboration and reduce inter-departmental disputes, but it can also help you to increase sales, reduce risk and help unveil previously hidden opportunities. You can begin to utilize process mining by identifying potential data sources, mapping out a timeline, and determining key stakeholders. Click here to learn about process mapping.

What To Avoid

At its core, interdepartmental communication creates transparency between different teams, encourages information sharing, and facilitates collaboration via technology. For this reason, it’s important to focus on adopting tech solutions that can be adopted across departments. For example, if one team uses G-suite and another Microsoft 365 and the need arises to collaborate, trying to share documents or spreadsheets may become unnecessarily difficult. To avoid this, look at the various software in use across your company and try to create a cohesive tech ecosystem in which they are all able to interact with each other.

Another consideration is to do with the office space itself. A common mistake amongst organization executives is dividing employees by department, relegating each team to different corners of the office or even different rooms. If you want to create a culture of collaboration, it’s important to have common areas (such as cafeterias or recreation spaces) and to break down physical barriers that might make interdepartmental communication more convenient.

When improving cohesion across your company, ensure you’re approaching the issue from a physical and virtual perspective. A truly coordinated business is synchronized both on and offline.

Here at Optix, we innovate and transform. We keep things human and deliver with doses of creativity and inspiration. For communication services ranging from business communication planning to life coaching, step into our world and experience communication as an art form. Learn more at: www.optixcommunications.com

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