Cooperation in the workplace can make the difference between success and failure for many businesses. In a cooperation-rich workplace, individuals voluntarily engage in open communication. Management and lower-level employees work together and try to keep arguments to a minimum. Workers are proactive in the sense that they try to prevent problems before they have a chance to occur. Cooperation is not always an easy thing to achieve in the workplace, but it is worth the effort because it leads to a more harmonious and productive operation.
Increased Productivity
When everyone is working together, things can get done more quickly and efficiently. Cooperation saves time because workers and management don’t have to dedicate valuable time to bickering or resolving conflicts. Because workers can dedicate more time to their duties in a cooperative workplace, they are more productive.
Improved Job Satisfaction
When arguments and bickering prevail, workplaces are not enjoyable places to be. By increasing cooperation among employees, managers can make their workplaces more welcoming and inviting, which increases workers’ enjoyment of time spent on the job. Working to foster cooperation can also help managers reduce peripheral problems, such as arguments and conflict, that leave employees dissatisfied or eager to leave the job.
Employee Buy-in
As they toil away day-after-day, it is easy for workers to feel like cogs in a big machine, doing a job but having no real impact. In cooperative workplaces, employees feel less like drones and more like valuable components in a well-oiled machine. Management commonly reaches out to lower-level employees in cooperative workplaces, seeking input as to what should be done or how a task should be completed. Because employees are afforded the opportunity to provide this input, they feel they have a voice in the organization and a stake in its success.
Reduction in Misunderstandings
In workplaces that lack cooperation, workers commonly divide themselves into factions. When a workplace is divided in this fashion, misunderstandings prevail. If management actively promotes workplace cooperation and prevents workers from placing barriers between themselves and their colleagues, they foster understanding and communication.
References
Writer Bio
Erin Schreiner is a freelance writer and teacher who holds a bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University. She has been actively freelancing since 2008. Schreiner previously worked for a London-based freelance firm. Her work appears on eHow, Trails.com and RedEnvelope. She currently teaches writing to middle school students in Ohio and works on her writing craft regularly.