3 tips for awesome cross-team collaboration

BUSINESS

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all see eye to eye, all of the time?
Truth is, when you’re working across multiple departments, with deadlines coming at ya on the regular… tensions can flare. So it helps to have a handful of human-taming tactics up your sleeve. Here are our top tips…

Use verbal bridges

Let’s face it, sometimes you just wanna change the subject. But how, without being an impolite douchebag? You use verbal bridges. For instance, if someone’s babbling on about their amazing productivity rates, you can say, “We like Slack too, but we’re actually more of a face-to-face team.” From there, you can talk about the brilliant meeting you had that morning and the points you wanted to raise.

The magic persuasion elixir

When you’re working with footloose creatives and military-style production teams—all with their own communication styles, it can be exhausting expressing your needs. But there’s a magic persuasion elixir that everyone responds to—empathy. So discuss, don’t demand. Ask questions. And use listening to sharpen your people acumen.

Always have an A.I.M.

Before you fire off that email, ask A.I.M… what is my audience, intent and message? It will help you clarify: who you’re speaking to, what your goal is, and what you want that person to know. Often, the key to better communication is simply in the preparation. We all want to work happily together, but it’s not always easy. Use these tips for smoother cross-team collaboration.

PRINT 101

Registration of the four colors on press
Bullet marks are printed on the sheet to help the press operator and the automated register system keep all four colors lined up correctly.

INSPIRATION

Podcast: Team’s latest pick

How to Build a Self-Managed Team
Cracking the code on how to hire, grow and lead a self-managed team. Find out how to build a team of A-players!