Why Your Employees Hate Collaborating – And How You Can Fix It

Remember back in school, when your teachers would assign a group project – and you would dread the entire experience? Inevitably there would be one person who ended up doing most of the work, while the others would skate by doing the bare minimum. Even if everyone pulled their weight, there were almost always conflicts about how the work should be done, which ideas should be used, and who got credit for what.

As it turns out, many people don’t feel much different about teamwork in the workplace. Despite the fact that most businesses rely on teamwork to complete projects, innovate, and grow, research indicates that the majority of people would rather work alone. A University of Phoenix study found that 75 percent of people would rather not work on teams, and 70 percent of people have worked on teams that they described as dysfunctional. In some cases, that dysfunction has even led to verbal or physical altercations.

Since teamwork and collaborating in the workplace isn’t going anywhere any time soon, it’s up to leaders to find ways to improve collaboration and foster healthy, functioning teams. That begins with understanding why most people would rather not work in a group.

Why Teamwork is Difficult

Many of the reasons that professionals dislike teamwork in the office are the same as the reasons they hated it back in school. Among the most commonly mentioned issues with collaboration include:

• Concerns about passing the blame. No one wants to be the “fall guy” for a bad idea or execution.
• Concerns about communication issues and personality conflicts; i.e., being forced to work with someone they don’t like.
• Lack of clarity about goals. When an individual’s goals do not align with the team’s goals, frustration abounds. If there aren’t any clear goals for the team at all, frustration takes over.
• Poor leadership. Too many leaders is just as bad as no leadership. In many environments, especially those that involve individuals from multiple departments, there is often conflict about who the “real” leader of the project is. Without a proper process for identifying team leaders, it’s likely that the loudest voice will fill the role even if he or she is not equipped to lead.
• Ego overload. When individual egos are added to the mix, teamwork can suffer.
• Too many collaboration tools. Without a centralized place to communicate and share information, teamwork suffers.

These are just some of the reasons that employees say they hate collaboration. Other problems include the frustration that comes from waiting for others to complete their tasks, a lack of communication and updates, and disorganization when it comes to planning and assigning tasks.

Fixing the Problem

While collaboration tools won’t solve all of the problems associated with working in teams – egos are always going to be egos, after all – implementing the right collaboration tools can improve many of the issues that are most detrimental to effective teamwork, in particular poor communication, organization, goal clarity, and documentation, which is vital to ending the “blame game.”

And what constitutes the “right” tool? According to the latest Cisco news, collaboration tools that provide an experience that is as close to talking to someone in person. Such tools offer multiple methods of communication, including instant messaging and real-time conversation and collaboration capabilities – and above all, are easy to work into individuals’ daily work patterns. Most people don’t want to add yet another form of communication into their day, as they are already overwhelmed by email and other messages, so a collaboration tool must be simple and intuitive to use in order for people to adopt it.

Beyond making it easier to communicate, implementing a collaboration tool can alleviate many of the other issues associated with teamwork. For example, a project management solution that provides insight into what every member of the team is working on can keep the project on track. Separating individual task goals from overall project goals, and involving the team in the goal setting process, can also provide clarity and ensure that everyone is engaged with the goals.

There are always going to be issues associated with working in teams – and individuals who simply don’t work well with others. However, teamwork isn’t going anywhere, and is likely to become an even more integral aspect of any organization. Therefore, implementing tools and processes to improve it for everyone needs to be a priority.