A Guide to Cross-Workspace Collaboration & How It Works

Different teams have different needs and therefore require diverse methods of collaboration.

Traditionally, the term workspace refers to a physical space for teams to collaborate, work on projects, and achieve results. In the digital era, a workspace can also mean a digital workspace: the central hub where elements like applications and data are managed and controlled. 

The tools a team uses shouldn’t determine with whom they can collaborate, which is where cross-workspace collaboration comes in! Keep reading to learn about cross-workspace collaboration, view its benefits, and determine how you can enable cross-workspace collaboration within your own team. 

• What is cross-workspace collaboration? 
• Benefits of cross-workspace collaboration
• How to enable cross-workspace collaboration with Fellow 

What is cross-workspace collaboration? 

Cross-workspace collaboration is the idea that teams can achieve their highest potential when they’re able to merge talents and aren’t limited to one tool or group. 

This type of collaboration occurs when individuals across physical or digital workspaces work on projects together or towards specific goals. It can mean everything from creating a floor plan for the office that mixes individuals from different departments to using software integrations that make it easy to collaborate across tools and teams.

Productive meetings with people outside of your company

Meeting notes scattered across multiple systems? Keep meeting agendas and action items in one place, by bringing everyone you work with—vendors, clients, agencies, mentors—into Fellow.

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Benefits of cross-workspace collaboration

• Improves collaboration
• Streamlines productivity across teams and organizations
• Encourages a positive work culture
• Fosters open communication and transparency

1Improves collaboration

Cross-workspace collaboration encourages groups to work together who may not have otherwise. When you place employees in a collaborative environment, individuals will be able to instantly and effortlessly share relevant information and resources.

When working with teams outside of your organization, cross-workspace collaboration can mean using project management tools, chat streams, and other software to work as easily with external stakeholders as you would with internal employees. Cross-workspace collaboration allows businesses to solve problems faster with new teams and offer incredible customer experiences. 

2Streamlines productivity across teams and organizations

Cross-workspace collaboration makes it easy to work productively with individuals on other teams and in other companies. When employees can physically or digitally see pieces of a project moving through a workflow, they’ll be more apt to stay motivated and keep working towards the goal at hand. Additionally, this type of collaboration keeps tasks organized by making it seamless to coordinate with others on deadlines, processes, and more. 

3Encourages a positive work culture

Positive work culture is built on a foundation of trust, accountability, and cooperation. These environments are the most conducive to employee success and growth! 

If you want your employees to feel connected to the organization, don’t limit their interactions to a single team. Some of your team’s best learning will come from other teams, departments, or employees at external organizations. Cross-workspace collaboration encourages a positive work culture by promoting characteristics like teamwork, communication, and a united effort. Additionally, those who work in collaborative environments are more likely to feel like they’re a part of something bigger and will understand how their own work contributes to the company’s mission, vision, and values. 

4Fosters open communication and transparency

The world’s most productive organizations foster a culture of transparency and open communication. When you prioritize cross-workspace collaboration, you encourage members of different teams, departments, and businesses to communicate more frequently and openly with each other. 

For instance, members of different teams who work in close proximity to one another are bound to communicate more frequently, develop bonds faster, and be more willing to notify each other of progress on tasks or major milestones. In digital workspaces, teams that can communicate across tools and systems won’t feel inconvenienced or slowed down either. 

How to enable cross-workspace collaboration with Fellow

If you’re looking for a tool that will make it easy to host productive meetings with people outside of your company, look no further than Fellow! Collaborate on meeting agendas, notes, and action items by bringing everyone you work with—vendors, clients, agencies, mentors—into Fellow. Using Fellow to enable cross-workspace collaboration also builds trust and reduces context switching.

Furthermore, with Fellow, you’ll build institutional memory in your meeting streams, resulting in a single source of truth for all of the decisions and conversations that took place between you and your external guests.

Parting advice 

Great internal and external collaboration will undoubtedly make your team and business more productive and successful. If you want to build a collaborative culture, start by ensuring your employees can share updates, data, and resources easily in their various physical and digital workspaces. Cross-workspace collaboration may seem challenging to implement, but it can be made easy with the right tools and processes. 

Search for a tool with an array of features that makes it enjoyable to meet with others, stay close to shared projects, and build synergy. Fellow’s collaborative features can help you transform meetings into productive work sessions everyone will want to attend.