Overcome the 5 most common barriers to cooperation

Even if you run your own business, you still have to collaborate with others, whether it’s customers, subcontractors, employees, or suppliers. Disorganized files and a cluttered system can only make effective team collaboration harder.

Here are five common roadblocks to collaboration, as well as strategies for overcoming them.

1. Missing documents

From finding an email attachment you received a few weeks ago and forgot to download to managing multiple versions of the same document, dealing with digital files or even hard copies becomes complicated. !

Solution: Cloud-based document storage can help you locate files on multiple devices and ensure that everyone on your team can access the files they need.

2. Ambiguous expectations

When team members don’t know when something is due or what tasks they are specifically responsible for, they are unlikely to follow through.

Solution: Use one project estimate Get everyone on the same page in the first place. Follow up with a detailed project plan. The ability to look up deadlines or download files instead of emailing them to ask also helps avoid unnecessary delays.

3. Deadline Missed

Projects can stall when tasks depend on someone else’s work but the other person ignores it. That can create a domino effect of more missed deadlines, which is frustrating for all involved.

Solution: Automated reminders for upcoming tasks can lift the burden of project management and keep team members accountable.

4. Creep Range

When a client asks for work beyond what was in your original agreement, that’s called creep range. It won’t be a big deal if you bill by the hour, as your salary increases as the project gets bigger, but if you bill on a flat project fee, you will lose money every time you agree to a fix. modify or provide something beyond the original scope of the project.

Solution: Discuss scope changes with your client and notify them that you need to bill for additional work. If you pay project fees based on the hours you expect a project to take, tracking your time can help you provide accurate future estimates.

5. Disagreement over what is owed

Imagine that you come to the end of a project. In your mind, you did everything according to the agreement. In their mind, they were expecting something more. Maybe they think their site will include social sharing buttons and SEO optimized copy. Or they want their blog posts to include photos and social media copy, but they don’t express that expectation clearly.

Solution: Discuss the details of each project, including progress, project specifications, revisions, and delivery, before you begin. Your contract should include a detailed contract or scope of work (SOW) so that you can refer back to the SOW if there is a disagreement later.

Promote a smooth relationship

Being professional and organized can go a long way toward alleviating many of these pain points, as well as maintaining great client relationships.

Using the right tools can help ease the pressure on you as an individual and help remove many of the barriers listed above.

This post was written by Susan Johnston Taylor of FreshBooks for Fundbox. Fresh books making invoicing and accounting easier for millions of small business owners.