Questions and Answers on Interaction Between Departments in Organization - Paper Example

Explain the need for collaborating with other departments

There are various departments in an organization which includes administration, marketing, finance, and human resource department among others. There need for collaboration between various departments which is ensured by communication between the various teams. In an organization, there are various types of communication which can be used between and amongst teams, and they include interpersonal, written, oral, and non-verbal communication. When the marketing department has prospects of introducing or promoting a product, it is important that they collaborate with the sales team. Communication between the two teams should be aligned with the customer needs. The communication must be a daily occurrence to realize the full potential benefits of the sales and marketing department. It can be by holding weekly meetings or sharing ideas and information using CRM platform. There are various reasons as to why departments work together. This includes enabling employees to establish a holistic view of the company's work, helps in sharing the ideas, compliments the needs of the various departments and help in instilling the spirit of camaraderie. The common goals entail the provision of high-quality goods and services to ensure customer satisfaction.

In some cases, there are factors that are barriers to appropriate collaboration. This included lack of effective communication, lack of the reducing issues that prevent equality, diversity and inclusion. However, there are steps that can be followed to prevent barriers to effective collaboration. To prevent this, diverse groups of employees are allowed to participate in regular meetings are scheduled and periodic goal setting. Effective communication should be promoted.

Communication and collaboration are important in that it helps employees gain a holistic view the work since they can learn from other departments. For best results, departments need to work together since they complemented the needs of the different departments. It also makes it possible to share information and ideas.

Explain the nature of the interaction between your own team and other departments

The interaction between teams and other departments is important since it helps in the attainment of various goals. Working with a customer service personnel, a customer came enquiring on a product they purchased online but had not yet reached the destination address. I had to enquire the same from the sales department. They check for the online tracking system and were able to check for the problem. The product was able to reach the client's address on time. In helping in this situation, the sales department noted a problem with the online purchasing platform and were able to rectify the issues.

Explain the features of effective collaboration

Collaboration is important since it helps the team members to share ideas and information. There are some characteristics of effective collaboration and include personal conduct and self-discipline since teams members must carry themselves appropriately. To prevent confusion, there is the need for alignment of team's goals which means the various activities should have similar objectives. There is the need for open communication so that the team members can openly share ideas and also their dissatisfaction. For the employees who are collaborating to feel valued and that they are important, there is the need for equal access to information. This will help since all employees who feel obliged to work towards the common goals. Respect is also important, and team members should be in a position to promote their perspectives being offensive to others in the team. To ensure this, there is the need for self-control and genuine respect for the opinion and feelings of others in the team. By having effective collaboration, the organizational goals will be realized which translates to the provision of high-quality products and services. This ensures that there is customer satisfaction.

Explain the potential implications of ineffective collaboration with other departments

Ineffective collaboration results from lack of respect, trust, cooperation and appropriate commitment. The lack of collaboration would lead to the team being unable to realize the set goals and therefore dissatisfied clients. A team might find it hard to share information with another since the organization has not ensured equal access to information, the team members do not have a feeling of being valued. Lack of effective collaboration leads to loss to the entire organization since essential information is not shared. This will also mean that the organizational goals are not achieved, and customer orders will not be delivered on time. The result is dissatisfied clients, and the organization will lose its market share.

Explain the factors relating to knowledge management that should be considered when collaborating with other departments

Knowledge management is important is ensuring information management and enabling function such as routing documents through a specific workflow. To allow effective collaboration, there is need to establish proper communication channels such as exchange of emails and online meetings through virtual whiteboard. For an organization with the large establishment, there is the need for informational communication enable effective collaboration. The organization needs to develop a structure to determine how knowledge is stored and shared. When there is effective collaboration, it will be easy incorporate freeform communication and structured knowledge gathering and storage for great organization gain.

Communication and collaboration are important in that it helps employees gain a holistic view the work since they can learn from other departments. For best results, departments need to work together since they complemented the needs of the different departments. It also makes it possible to share information and ideas. As discussed earlier, effective collaboration with ensuring that employees in the many departments have a holistic view of the work carried out globally. The various departments complement each other and can share information effectively. This result in enhanced performance and goals of the organization are achieved. This creates competitive advantage, and the company gains more market share. By being a market leader, the payment terms improves since the products quality ensures high prices and suppliers and be paid more to high demand. A good relationship with suppliers can help in improving the quality of the products. There can also help in innovation in which they help with important contributions towards product development.

In many organizations, trust and respect are important in collaboration with teams and suppliers. The various shareholders should be willing to share information with each other. There is also the shared knowledge that the customer needs should be fulfilled within the required time. Open communication and collaboration help in ensuring the organization goals are realized, the employee morale is promoted, and there is the enhancement of customer satisfaction.

References

Bordeianu, S. & Lubas, R. (n.d). Repository.unm.edu. Retrieved 21 June 2017, from http://repository.unm.edu/bitstream/handle/1928/20582/InteractionBetweenDepartments.pdf?sequence=1

Crispo, V., & Crispo, V. (2017). Why Working Across Departments is Important - Idealist Careers. Idealist Careers. Retrieved 21 June 2017, from http://idealistcareers.org/why-working-across-departments-is-important/

Johnwiley.com. (n.d). Team Communication. Retrieved 21 June 2017, from http://www.johnwiley.com.au/highered/eunson2e/site/downloads/sample_chapter.pdf