3 Tips for Making Collaboration Fun and Productive Working together doesn't have to be a drag. Here are smart ways to make collaboration effective and fun.

Teamwork is essential to success, but it isn't always easy to get right. Excessive meetings, a lack of direction, and outside distractions can put a drag on even the most compelling projects. The best teams know that good collaboration takes planning, communication, and motivation.

One group that knows a thing or two about fostering collaboration is the team behind monday.com. A highly visual workflow platform for teams, monday.com helps different teams work together to manage numerous projects at the same time.

We interviewed monday.com head of communications, Leah Walters, to uncover three smart ways to get the most productivity and enjoyment out of your next project:

1. Plan visually.

Teams are more likely to succeed when they can see their progress. Looking toward the end goal, break the project down into stages that are more digestible to allow your collaborators to forge ahead, Walters says. Use tools that visualize deadlines, status updates and completed tasks so it's easy for your team to stay on track.

"There are so many platforms out there that are really hard to get your team to actually use," Walters says, but finding a tool that's fun and helpful can make all the difference.

Software solutions like monday.com use color coding to organize goals and deadlines, reducing the need for meetings to check on progress. The platform acts as a hub, showing you the status of multiple projects at a glance, and customizable building blocks let you plan in the style that makes the most sense for your workflow.

2. Prioritize transparency.

Keeping teammates in the dark can stall a project. By sharing the same information with every member of the team, it shows each person that they are essential to decision making and gives team members the ability to execute on their own.

"Transparency and trust empower your people. When team members have all the information it allows them to take their ideas and run with them," Walters says.

On monday.com, transparency is the default. While managers have the option to create private boards and special permissions, all team members start with the same view. That means each person can track their own progress and see where coworkers stand with their assignments.

"The platform is built to make you a better manager because it removes a lot of the friction from the process," she says. It allows team members to see when managers have viewed their tasks, eliminating the need to constantly check up on your team.

3. Celebrate the small wins.

Sometimes, our largest goals can seem intangible and unattainable. But breaking them up into smaller tasks can make every step of the process feel like a victory. Don't wait until the final stages are complete to praise your team for their work, Walters says. Take time to appreciate little milestones.

With monday.com, the small stuff can be automated. The platform includes functions that will perform mundane tasks for you—like sending confirmation emails and synchronizing scheduling—and can be customized for your team's specific needs. Integration with tools like Slack and Google Suite makes it possible to automate your workflow from concept to delivery, so you can spend more time tackling the tasks that matter and celebrating your progress

Celebrations can mean applause in the office for reaching a goal or something as simple as sending a gif or animation as assignments are finished. When using monday.com, whenever you mark a task as "done," little bits of confetti shoot up on the screen. It's a small recognition, but it can boost morale and enhance collaboration by bringing a little joy to each assignment.

"Celebrating and acknowledging when the team completes a task or hits a goal really creates a happy environment where people want to work harder," Walters says.

Click here to learn more about how monday.com can help your teams work better and accomplish their goals.