A Quick Guide on Business Collaboration: Best Practices, Types & Tools You Should Use (2024)

Collaboration is the fuel that drives business success. Beyond weaving successful teams together, it's what makes some of the most novel ideas and innovative solutions around us possible.

Steve Jobs emphasized the importance of collaboration. In his words, “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.”

Effective collaboration is hard-won. But teams that get it right see high levels of productivity, stronger team relationships and successful business outcomes.

If you’re struggling to take your team and business collaboration to a whole new level, this quick guide on business collaboration has everything you need. We’ll cover the different types of collaboration and best practices for streamlining your collaborative process.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• What is a Business Collaboration
• Why Is Collaboration Important in Business
• What Are the 6Cs of Collaboration?
• Types of Business Collaborations
• 5 Best Practices for Better Business Collaboration

What is a Business Collaboration

Business collaboration is the practice of working together with internal and external connections to pool resources, create value, solve problems and achieve shared goals and objectives.

Collaboration in business can take many different forms, including partnerships, joint ventures, strategic alliances and consortia. It also comes in the form of synergy between employees and businesses and collaboration between businesses and their customers, partners, investors and suppliers, etc.

Successful business collaborations don't just happen. It thrives when you have these key ingredients: effective communication, trust, alignment of goals, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, a mutually beneficial relationship and the right tools.

Companies with an effective collaboration culture are able to eliminate silo mentality, increase productivity and increase the bottom line.

Collaboration vs. Competition

Collaboration and competition are two contrasting approaches in the realm of business. However, they are not mutually exclusive and can coexist in various contexts.

Here's a summary of the key differences between collaboration and competition.

Collaboration is a situation where two or more parties put in collective efforts to achieve certain goals. In collaborative environments, everyone is focused on synergy, cooperation, shared resources, and the exchange of information, ideas, and insights. You can leverage combined resources, strengths and expertise to create a win-win situation that enables everyone to thrive.

Competition, on the other hand, is more of an adversarial relationship where parties are striving to outperform each other. In competitive environments, information flow is selective, guarded and hoarded as parties seek to gain an advantage over each other.

Due to the focus on individual recognition, personal success, and surpassing others, this type of work environment is usually high-pressure and tense.

This infographic below provides a detailed comparison between collaboration and competition.

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Why Is Collaboration Important in Business

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The saying "no man is an island" holds true not just for individuals but also for businesses.

No matter the size of your business, you can't operate in isolation or disconnectedness. You need a culture centered on collaboration to build a thriving and cohesive workplace.

Let's look at the benefits of business collaboration:

Constant Flow of Fresh Ideas

When working on projects, it's common for you to get stuck on a particular train of thought or outdated techniques. Many companies go down this route and struggle to break through innovation brick walls. To make it worse, 95% of all product innovations fail, according to HBS professor Clayton Christensen.

Collaboration yields results only when there’s an exchange of information, ideas, and insights. Through brainstorming, ideation and discussions, team members can feed off each other's creative abilities to gain new perspectives, generate fresh ideas and develop innovative solutions.

Increased Productivity and Cost Savings

There are two ways to look at this.

First, a McKinsey report reveals that improved communication and collaboration raise employee productivity by 20-25%.

The beauty of effective collaboration is that there are open lines of communication. Everyone is clear on the collective vision and their roles. The result is that silos and costly bottlenecks are eliminated and work gets done faster and better.

Secondly, collaborative teams pool their diverse skills, knowledge and expertise. Armed with this collective intelligence and resources, companies can develop innovative solutions, optimize their processes, make informed decisions and dodge pitfalls, leading to increased productivity.

The best part is that when you address inefficiencies and streamline operations, you reduce waste, minimize errors and ultimately save costs.

Better Workplace Culture

Team collaboration, whether it’s physical or remote, cultivates a positive and inclusive work culture hinged on values, cooperation, trust and mutual respect. There's a premium placed on building good relationships and these things happen naturally.

• Work environments become supportive and encouraging and everyone puts their ego aside.
• Individuals feel confident seeking help or advice or help, more enthusiastic about participating in group activities and more aware of colleagues' roles within the workplace.
• Members support and rely on each other, creating a sense of shared responsibility that promotes accountability within the team.
• Team members know that their contributions directly impact the team's overall success, motivating them to perform at their best. This collective accountability creates a sense of ownership and fuels individual and team productivity.

What Are the 6 C’s of Collaboration?

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For teams to accomplish anything with each other, they must first understand the basic components of effective collaboration. The 6 Cs of collaboration provide a framework for effective synergy and teamwork across teams of all sizes.

• Communication/Conversation: Teams must be able to discuss openly and honestly. This involves team members having frequent and focused conversations and sharing information, ideas and feedback.
• Coherence/Coordination: Coordination involves establishing clear roles, responsibilities, processes and expectations for contributions. Proper coordination ensures a smooth workflow with no duplication or conflicts. Ultimately, everyone works towards the same goal and tasks are executed efficiently.
• Cooperation: Without cooperation and interactions, collaboration is as good as dead. Cooperation means everyone on the team needs to actively work, support, and coordinate efforts with each other towards a common goal.
• Conflict: Conflict is a natural part of collaboration. However, negative friction needs to be managed constructively and resolved quickly. Members must respect one another's values, beliefs and experiences and not allow professional conflict to derail the creative process by becoming personal.
• Contribution: When working on collaborative projects, you want to avoid situations where one person exercises control over the process. Make sure to foster an environment where every team member feels empowered to contribute their unique skills, knowledge, and perspectives.
• Commitment: Team members must pledge their resolve to actively participate, fulfill responsibilities, and follow through on commitments made to the team. Strong commitment fosters trust, reliability, and a sense of collective responsibility.
• Bonus C: Celebration: Teams that work together at the highest levels realize the importance of celebrating every accomplishment, large or small.When failures or setbacks occur, the team has the opportunity and responsibility to learn from their mistakes.

Types of Business Collaborations

Collaboration goes beyond the work teams do together or the strategy meetings or brainstorming sessions that take place in your organization.

Let’s take a look at the different types of business collaborations and how you can use them to your advantage.

Internal Collaboration

Internal collaboration happens between individuals or groups within an organization. However, the form and levels at which internal collaboration happens are different across companies, even within the same niche.

For example, Company X, a software development company, may encourage internal collaboration through regular cross-functional team meetings and regular brainstorming sessions.

People from different departments gather to discuss ongoing projects, share updates, and seek input from one another. They use collaborative tools and platforms to facilitate communication and file sharing.

On the other hand, Company Y, a tech startup, may have a more hierarchical structure and a conservative approach to collaboration. Decision-making primarily happens at the management level, with limited input from lower-level employees. Collaboration is mostly limited to formal meetings or established communication channels, and there is less emphasis on cross-departmental collaboration.

Regardless of the extent of internal collaboration, individuals or teams come together to share information, resources, and expertise. Successful internal collaboration leads to improved decision-making, increased efficiency and productivity, faster problem-solving and increased employee engagement.

External Collaboration

While you’re looking to build your dream team internally, having the right external collaboration is equally important. External collaborators can provide something that is not available internally.

This type of collaboration entails working with or sharing information with people outside your business or third-party entities. These external collaborators may include customers, suppliers, vendors, competitors, organizations, venture capitalists, government agencies, etc.

For example, businesses can network, exchange information and share resources with external collaborators in different ways, such as:

• Entrusting third parties with business processes such as accounting, customer service and payroll
• Exchanging guest posts with other companies on blogs
• Collaborating with other companies to host podcasts on industry-related topics
• Working with a group of customers to test early versions of your product and provide feedback

The upside of external collaboration is that it allows you to tap into specialized knowledge and skills that may not be available within your own workforce. You can expand your network and resource pool, gaining access to new markets, customer bases, distribution channels, and technological capabilities.

Portfolio Collaboration

A portfolio collaboration involves a larger company teaming up with a group of smaller independent firms (also known as portfolios).

The larger company manages a group of smaller external partners with diverse capabilities. Beyond acting as facilitators, they set and enforce the rules and coordinate collaboration and knowledge flow among the partners to achieve common objectives.

For example, big pharmaceutical companies have been successful in building portfolios by collaborating with small biotech firms. This approach allows them to acquire intellectual property rights, research pipelines, or specific drug candidates developed by small biotech firms.

In return, these smaller biotech firms get access to funding, infrastructure, and experience from pharmaceutical companies.

By leveraging the expertise and resources of smaller partners, they are able to swiftly bring new products or services to market. Smaller partners, on the other hand, also get to enjoy access to the resources and expertise of the larger company, enabling them to compete more effectively in their respective markets.

Ecosystem Collaboration

The main concept behind ecosystem collaboration is that organizations don’t operate in isolation. Rather, they are a piece of the puzzle—a larger ecosystem of interconnected organizations, individuals, and entities that work together to drive innovation, growth, and mutual benefits.

Essentially, the ecosystem consists of customers, suppliers, competitors, regulators, academia, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders. These ecosystems have established rules and norms that affect how participants interact with each other.

Their collaborators or customers determine the value of these ecosystems. This means that innovation is now a collaborative effort rather than just the responsibility of one company.

Ecosystem collaboration can be found in various industries and sectors.

For instance, in the tech space, companies in the same niche may collaborate within an ecosystem to develop interoperable products, share data standards or collectively address cybersecurity challenges.

Strategic Alliance Collaboration

A strategic alliance is a cooperative relationship between two or more companies. This type of alliance may be short- or long-term and aimed at achieving strategic objectives.

Companies typically enter into these alliances driven by common interests and mutual awareness of what they stand to gain from them. Each party involved expects that the other party(s) will bring something to the table that they are currently lacking.

Each company stays independent. But they make mutual commitments and investments that may involve pooling resources, capabilities, and expertise to execute projects or reach new heights that would be challenging or impossible to accomplish on their own.

One of the most popular examples of a strategic alliance is the Starbucks-Target partnership, which dates back to 1999. Whenever you walk into any Target outlet, you'll find a Starbucks counter ready to mix your preferred beverage.

Network Collaboration

Network collaboration is a type of collaboration that has evolved naturally from alliances and portfolios. The beauty of network collaboration is that it goes beyond traditional organizational boundaries. Organizations can work together with individuals or entities through networks or partnerships to:

• Achieve shared goals such as innovation, product development and more
• Address complex challenges that require a collective effort
• Create a positive social or economic impact

Network collaborations include industry consortia, public-private partnerships, research networks, cross-sector alliances, and community-based initiatives.

A good instance of network collaboration is a consortium formed by multiple pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and government agencies to combat a global health crisis, such as developing a vaccine for a new infectious disease.

Some of the entities that may be involved in network collaborations include organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations and community groups. These stakeholders bring different perspectives, expertise, and resources to the table.

Cloud Collaboration

Cloud collaboration enables multiple individuals or teams to work together through the internet, even though they are not in the same location.

It's the go-to solution for remote teams, e-learning, online training and remote onboarding. Even physical teams benefit from using cloud collaboration tools.

With these tools, users can do these things:

• Share files, documents, and resources
• Work on projects together
• Track changes and updates both asynchronously and in real-time

Cloud collaboration breaks down collaboration barriers, unlocks productivity and promotes effective teamwork. Examples of cloud collaboration tools include Visme, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Slack, Trello, and Asana. These platforms provide a range of features and functionalities like chat, video conferencing, or annotation designed to enhance collaboration and streamline workflows.

Watch the video below to see how Visme helps you collaborate with your team better and faster.

Here's the catch with using Visme. Whether you have a small or large team, it’s easy to invite everyone involved to view, edit or comment on the project.

Everyone can work on projects, tag each other, leave feedback or resolve issues in real time or asynchronously.

Marketing Collaboration

Collaborative marketing involves joining forces with other businesses to create and implement marketing initiatives. This can be as easy as sharing a social media post together or as complex as executing a co-branding strategy, promotional campaigns, content creation, events or product launches.

With marketing collaboration, companies can easily leverage each other's strengths to amplify marketing efforts. On top of that, you can reach a broader audience, increase brand exposure, tap into new markets or customer segments and generate more leads.

The Uber and Spotify partnership is a prime example of how two businesses can collaborate with each other to achieve marketing goals. When you take an Uber, you can connect your Spotify to the car’s radio and stream the music you want for the entire ride. Beyond personalizing experiences for their users, both companies enjoy massive coverage and brand appeal.

5 Best Practices for Better Business Collaboration

Knowing the different types of collaborations and the benefits they bring to your team is an important step. But the next hurdle is to assess your team's current situation and know the changes you need to make to enhance team collaboration.

Here are five best practices for planning, managing or executing any type of business collaboration.

Set Clear Goals and Communicate Expectations

Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) from the get-go.

Be sure to communicate these goals with your team on a daily or weekly basis. Not only does it give your team a reason to show up, but it also keeps everyone focused, fired up and productive.

Beyond goal-setting, you want to ensure everyone knows what’s expected of them. For internal stallholders, in your employee onboarding and evaluation process, remind employees of their roles and responsibilities, including the teams they’ll be working with. For external stakeholders, use Amazon six-pagers, partnership agreements, and strategic partnership documents to keep each partner on the same page.

Once everyone has a clear direction, they can collaborate like a well-oiled machine. Rather than trying to outperform each other, everyone can make the most of their collective talents and work together to make magic happen.

Communicate collaboration goals and keep your team’s efforts aligned using this free goal-setting template below:

Create an Enabling Environment for Collaboration and Creativity

Are you looking to boost creativity or take collaboration in your company to the next level? Create a friendly, supportive, and inspiring atmosphere where ideas can flow freely and teamwork can thrive.

Here are a few ways you can do this:

1. Schedule regular team meetings or check-ins to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide feedback.

Remember, every voice matters. Create a safe space for team members to share their ideas or express their thoughts, even if they are “out of the box” or unconventional. Besides sharing ideas, team members should actively listen and leave constructive feedback.

2. Embrace a culture that celebrates experimentation and risk-taking.

Mistakes are stepping stones to success and innovation often comes from taking bold leaps of faith. Encourage your team to think outside the box, try new approaches, and learn from failures.
By fostering a supportive and non-judgmental environment, you'll inspire your team to push boundaries and unleash their creative genius.

3. Recognize that your team members have different backgrounds and experiences.

Embrace their unique strengths and perspectives and use them to your advantage. Make everyone feel valued, respected, and involved in decision-making.

4. Build rapport by organizing team-building activities and casual social gatherings. When people get to unwind and relate with each other outside of work, they feel connected. Ultimately, the magic of collaboration naturally flourishes.

Lead by Example

When leading a collaborative team, team members will look to you for direction. So you need to walk the talk by showing them how to collaborate right.

For example, the way you share ideas or communicate ideas openly can reinforce the need for them to do the same with other team members. One-on-ones with team members show you’re always ready to listen and address their concerns.

Also, conflicts are synonymous with human interactions. And how you resolve these conflicts can be a good example for team members. Show team members how to find common ground and focus on finding solutions rather than dwelling on the issues.

Recognize and Celebrate Achievements

Don’t get lost in work and forget to enjoy the great moments. Recognize and celebrate achievements, both big and small. When your team achieves a milestone or comes up with a brilliant idea, give them the recognition they deserve. Whether it's a simple shout-out during a team meeting or a small celebration, acknowledging people's efforts fuels them to do better.

Invest in Collaboration Tools and Technology

The best way to ensure your team's collaboration keeps on giving is by investing in the right tools. Empowering your team with the right resources will help them do their best work.

Take advantage of tools that make brainstorming, ideation and workplace collaboration super seamless. It could be a well-equipped workspace, access to collaboration software, or brainstorming tools.

When choosing a collaboration tool, settle for software with a wide range of features like Visme. In addition to being an all-in-one visual design software, Visme comes packed with super useful tools for:

• Whiteboarding
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• File management and secure document sharing
• Project communication and management
• Tracking and reporting

Jaime Kelm, the Director of Business and Data Strategy at LAFC, has some stunning feedback on Visme's collaboration tools.

“I absolutely recommend Visme due to its dynamic functionality and ability to integrate everchanging media and digital technologies. That combined with a collaborative environment which empowers our team to be more efficient with time has been a huge plus.”

Read the complete case study here: How a Professional Soccer Club Achieves Ease of Use With Visme.

Visme’s online whiteboard software offers hundreds of templates and an infinite canvas where you and your team can collaborate, brainstorm and whip up novel ideas.

During strategy or brainstorming sessions, you can create mockups and wireframes on a whiteboard and invite product team members to share ideas.

• Team members can annotate (pin, circle, point or draw) on any part of your project to leave feedback, review, respond and resolve comments.
• Collaborators can make changes to the document or whiteboard asynchronously or in real time using the “Live Editing” feature.

After the session, you can share your whiteboard by downloading it as a high-resolution JPEG, PNG, PDF, or HTML5 file or by generating an online link.

Also, Visme offers lots of tools to help you stay organized, on track and manage your projects effectively.

Templates for Business Collaboration

Looking to streamline project, sales, marketing and business collaboration in general? Visme is packed full with a wide range of amazing and easy-to-use templates to get you started.

1. Mind Maps

Visualize your ideas and communicate them with other team members using this mind map template below. Once you’re ready to share with the team, you can do that using an online link. Or download in JPG, PNG, PDF and HTML5 format and share offline.

2. Concept Maps

Simplify complex concepts and make it easy for both experts and non-experts to understand them. The template below is a great starting point. Elevate your concept maps using stunning design assets like icons, shapes, illustrations and cool graphics.

3. Process Maps

Easily map out and communicate any type of process with internal and external stakeholders. Be it a communication, recruitment, onboarding, evaluation, procurement and decision making process. The template below is one of our best picks.

Make it more engaging by using Visme’s interactive elements like animation, hover effects, pop-ups and links.

4. Workflows and Process Diagrams

With our workflow template, you can plan, organize, and streamline your work processes. This workflow template outlines the necessary steps in a QA process to ensure the software works without glitches. Once you’ve shared it with your team, check Visme analytics to see who has visited, viewed and how long they’ve spent.

5. Reports

Communicate the progress of work in different departments using our wide range of report templates. Here’s one to help get you started.

Use Visme’s dynamic fields to easily update common fields across multiple pages of your project.

6. Presentations

Present key findings with other people in the team and ensure everyone is in sync with an eye-catching presentation template like the one below:

Incorporate data visualizations, charts, graphs and maps to communicate complex data relationships and data-driven insights with your audience.

7. Videos

Everyone loves video. This is your chance to communicate with your team just the way they want it and secure their buy in. You can use it for employee training, workshops and strategy sessions. Easily navigate the Visme platform using our shortcut tool.

Just type forward slash (/) on your keyboard and a search box will appear. Type in your prompt to find anything you want.

8. Training materials

Increase participation and drive effective training outcomes using any of our training material templates. But Visme’s AI-powered brand wizard ensures your training materials stay on brand.

Simply insert your website or landing page URL and the wizard will pull them and provide templates that match your brand.

9. Sales Collaterals

Empower your sales teams to reel in more clients and close more deals with our rich assortment of sales collaterals. Amp up your sales materials with our wide assortment of free high-resolution images. And if you don’t find anything suitable, our AI-powered image generator is your best bet. Simply type your prompt and the tool will pull up lots of different options for you.

10. Marketing Materials

Create a buzz around your brand and communicate the value of your products or services using our wide range of marketing materials. With Visme’s intuitive editor, you can easily change colors, fonts and other elements to fit your branding. It just takes a few clicks and your content will be ready to dazzle your audience.

Make Collaboration Seamless with Visme

Let’s face it. Business collaboration is no longer just an option; you just have to get better at it. By implementing everything we’ve discussed, we’re confident you can maximize collaboration in your organization.

Whether you're looking to boost internal or external collaboration in sales, marketing, projects, training or HR, the possibilities are endless with Visme!

Visme has a wide range of project management, brainstorming, ideation and collaboration tools, including an infinite whiteboard, secure file sharing, data visualizations, an easy-to-use editor and professionally designed templates to give you a creative head start.

Sign up to unlock the limitless potential in collaboration and set your team up for success.