What Is Collaboration? Types of Collaboration & its Significance

What is Collaboration? Importance Significance of Collaboration

The World of business especially those businesses requiring technical competency or dealing with technical products is all about having the necessary domain knowledge and extensive competencies. For a company to have all the infrastructure, technical support, well-equipped facilities, sound system, laboratories, and well-trained staff may be a farfetched idea.

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You may be producing a particular technical thing, but certain components are being used in it that your company may not be able to manufacture. Where lies the solution then? In the absence of such components, you can't produce the final product. How do you address this problem?  Well, you must have heard the term " Collaboration". This is exactly what you need in such a situation.

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This term emphasizes the need to work jointly whereby two or more companies work in a manner to extend necessary support in manufacturing certain components that will be mutually beneficial. It can be explained as a form of partnership or some kind of union to manufacture stuff together. In our personal life too we approach people and work with them because we feel they are more equipped to handle certain things better than we can individually. This case is visible very strongly in today's business environment.

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Instead of doing something solely, if a better outcome can be achieved by bringing in another company to upgrade a product to satisfy customer's demand then it is a win-win situation for all. Most of the companies dealing with manufacturing various materials depend on other companies leading to a profitable and viable business model benefitting all the involved entities. This is what collaboration is all about. This article will assist us in understanding the significance of collaboration in the current content of business. Let's get going.

What Is Collaboration? The Need of the Business World

You see collaboration in every field. Be it Tiktok Mansions or a simple case of eating some ready-made food, it is quite possible that it is a joint initiative by two or more companies. You get the end product so you may not need to figure out how many parties are involved in providing you the same. Yes, if you carefully scrutinize or study the sequence of production, you may find that most of the products consumed or used by you are a result of two or more companies coming together.

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Types of Collaboration: Collaboration Can Be Segregated into Two Categories

1. Synchronous Collaboration 

2. Asynchronous Collaboration 

1. Synchronous Collaboration can happen in real-time or in some cases in -  person. You can adopt various means for it like video conferencing, live editing of documents, online chat or through meeting in - person.

2. Asynchronous Collaboration is not possible in real time. You can add or edit notes or for that matter comment once it has been shared by the creator. Vidcast is one example that lets you go for asynchronous collaboration.

Let's See Some Other forms of Collaboration Considered Significant

1. Team Collaboration: 

This is a case when a group of people acts as a task force to address a specific need or comes together to create something. It is significant and used as and when required enabling individuals to contribute and fix the case.

2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:

If you witness a case where different teams working for the same company across different departments chip in and work together to execute bigger projects then it is an example of Cross-functional Collaboration.

3. Social Collaboration: 

This term is indicative of the fact that it is a community collaboration. When strangers come together to form a team for a shared cause it is called social Collaboration. It may be minuscule at the beginning but can easily turn out to be a colossal campaign. 

 

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Software Collaboration Types

• We must also shed some light on Software Collaboration involving three forms and they are :
• Contextual collaboration reflects an ever-increasing integration of collaborative applications. 
• Cloud Collaboration is that form that leads to synchronous collaboration while working with virtual teams.
• Virtual Collaboration is a kind of collaboration that takes place via cloud, online, or social platforms. 

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The Importance of Collaboration

The demand for supply, manpower, know-how,  competencies and expertise all point towards the need for collaboration. You may argue against it by saying that it can lead to friction which cannot be ruled out entirely. Interpersonal issues may affect the outcome. Effectiveness cannot be guaranteed or taken at face value when a group of people comes together for a joint cause.

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If you want to negate such a situation then the right people must be picked for it. Effective team players try to keep their ego or personal issues aside and focus on the larger picture. They are well versed in skills like embracing new changes for betterment or asking for help and support. it's the larger goal that must be given due importance therefore, good team collaborators are good at adjusting and acclimatizing to new environments and team members. When people having experience and expertise come together they use their skills and learn from each other. They contribute and see to it that the desired organization goals have been achieved without any major hiccups.

Conclusion

Nothing works better than collaboration. Can we say so? Yes in most cases in today's business world barring few situations may be. It does help achieve better outcomes. A company may have little expertise so bringing in or taking the support or services of another company to fine-tune a product makes sense. Most organizations have realized the worth of forging partnerships or working in tandem with other partners. So collaboration is here to stay. It is no longer one one-man show especially when we talk about modern-day business models. 

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