A more collaborative finance team is not just about increasing efficiency and productivity but also about creating shared priorities and vision. As options for communication and data sharing expand, so does the ease with which previously siloed departments can connect, share data, and achieve goals.
Businesses must prioritize these new opportunities for collaboration and connection, especially for their finance team.
While this isn’t always easy, it’s undoubtedly achievable with some focus and strategy. So, we’ve put together eight tips you can implement to help improve collaboration among your finance teams.
1. Create a shared vision and goals between all members of the finance team
One of your priorities when seeking to increase collaboration among the finance team should be a shared set of core principles. When everybody involved is connected by a mutually agreed upon purpose, this can drive actions more cohesively.
Make sure the vision and goals are not simply dictated to your employees. There will, of course, be tangible targets that must be communicated to your accounting team.
Everything else surrounding the shared goals and values should be the subject of group discussion. Encourage your finance team to collaborate on creating a set of driving principles they can all genuinely get behind and work together to achieve.
2. Evaluate current collaboration methods and sticking points.
If you’re seeking to improve collaborations among your finance team, it stands to reason that your current methods aren’t entirely cutting it. However, it’s essential to be specific if you find a practical route forward.
By thoroughly evaluating your current methods, you can identify the sticking points and design solutions to overcome these.
To some extent, reviewing the key performance indicators (KPIs) of previous collaborative projects can show issues with productivity. Nevertheless, the individual members of your finance team can provide fundamental insights into what elements of previous collaborations have been challenging. They may also be able to highlight what resources were missing that could have made a difference.
3. Invest in good tech and training.
In all likelihood, your finance department will already be utilizing technology in the form of accounting software. But it’s also worth putting some investment into technology to bolster collaborations.
Tools that foster effective communication and project management software helps to ensure everyone is on the same page throughout the process. This is particularly vital when members of your finance team work remotely.
It’s not enough for technology to be present, though. Any digital transformation relies on effective employee adoption and buy-in. All relevant staff must understand how to access and use these tools equally.
Alongside gaining employees’ input into the most relevant tech for their collaborations, this should include providing thorough and regular training on the effective use of these tools.
4. Encourage newer staff members to seek collaboration with more experienced employees.
Mentorship is an invaluable tool for any company. Everything from managing expenses in remote teams to company-specific strategies can be better understood through practical guidance.
This shouldn’t just be limited to formal mentorship relationships, though. By encouraging newer staff to collaborate with more experienced employees, there are opportunities for more dynamic learning experiences.
To begin with, different collaborations with a range of more experienced employees tend to result in a more diverse set of skills being passed on. Not to mention that newer employees gain guidance on collaborating on various tasks with employees of different personality types. It can also help to forge strong relationships across the entire finance team. This will be valuable for larger collaborative projects.
5. Create opportunities for actual collaboration.
Organizational silos are among the key hurdles to meaningful collaboration for finance teams. However, when different departments work together, each can better understand how their actions contribute to the collective goals of the business.
As such, it’s essential to ensure your company isn’t just focusing on internal collaborations between finance team members. Instead, your leadership needs to create opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration actively.
Most projects will require contributions from multiple departments. Avoid situations resulting in departments simply treating their role as a mini-project of its own and proceeding in isolation.
Ensure members from all the contributing departments are involved in collaborative planning processes from the outset. Build joint goals that require everyone to work together and communicate meaningfully throughout. This results in not only better outcomes but also stronger cross-department relationships.
6. Drive collaboration between finance and procurement.
In many ways, the finance and procurement departments are already closely aligned. For example, while finance teams strategize and analyze budgets, procurement is responsible for planning and executing purchasing activities within these budgets.
Yet, despite their overlapping activities, it is often the case that there is little close cooperation between these departments. By taking steps to drive continuous collaboration between finance teams and procurement, your business can thrive with better returns on investment and a more holistic spending strategy.
This can start by ensuring employees from the respective departments gain a little expertise in the other’s activities. For example, give financial training to procurement staff and vice versa. Help them to understand better how one another’s departments operate and how they can develop shared planning and execution methods.
7. Prioritize data and analysis.
Effective collaboration between your finance team and other departments must also be data-driven. Reliable data is one of the most valuable resources your accounting team and financial analysts have to devise effective strategies that impact the direction of the entire business.
Unfortunately, collaborations can be derailed when irrelevant data contaminate them.
Therefore, establishing solid data collection and analysis principles is essential to help your finance team cut through the muck during collaborations. This must include practices to manage internal and external data so they can both be analyzed appropriately for best use.
For instance, finance teams collaborating with sales departments can determine how internal income data should be reviewed to gain accurate impressions of company growth. External social media data, on the other hand, may require marketing and accounting teams to work together to analyze ad placement investment.
8. Share recognition of successful collaborations.
Recognition is a significant influencer of employee engagement. Unfortunately, programs for rewards are often focused purely on individual achievements. Good examples of this behavior need to be documented and rewarded to encourage your finance team to seek collaborations with one another and other departments.
This isn’t only effective because tangible rewards can motivate positive actions. Instead, it also shows your employees that meaningful collaborations are both achievable and result in good experiences for everyone involved.
Documenting the details of successful collaborations can also guide teams when embarking on new partnerships, either with finance colleagues or with different departments.
Conclusion
Effective collaborations can strengthen finance teams and help drive business growth. You can take various measures to make improvements, from providing effective technology to establishing actionable data analysis methods.
However, perhaps the most critical element across most of the tips we’ve laid out is employee involvement.
Members of your finance team need to be involved with the planning and execution of any collaborative improvement measures. This in itself is a form of collaboration that can ensure your financial experts and your business thrive.
