b'14 Local Government LawyerGet out of your siloDylan Brown considers how the public sector lawyer can embrace collaboration.When the lockdown first came into play, weyou can use to increase communication and2) Create clear communication guidelinesall made an effort to stay in touchvirtualcollaboration amongst your team and across drinks, quizzes, escape rooms and the likedepartments.Youre used to working under pressure, became so widespread that by the time theoperating to tight deadlines, and managing a second lockdown came into effect we were all1) Introduce regular meetings truckload of cases and projects at once.feeling fatigued. But when you move things to an online The benefits of interacting with yourIf you were to catch up with a friend everyenvironment, a previously high-functioning colleagues, both professionally andweek compared to every few months, chancesteam can easily lose direction and end up socially, have long been provenincreasedare youd have much more to talk aboutwasting time. productivity and reduced overlap, higherbecause youd have a much better idea of theThere are dozens of communication employee engagement scores, betterday-to-day goings-on of each others lives. Itschannels at your disposaldecide as a team opportunities for innovation. essentially the difference between How didwhich channel is the preference (Slack, However, as organisations throughoutthat job interview go the other day? to AreTeams or even WhatsApp) and stick to it. the public sector permanently adopt remoteyou still at the same job? Also establish clear guidelines over when to or hybrid working models, collaborationThe same applies to how frequently youmessage (ideally within working hours) and opportunities could easily slip off the agendacommunicate with colleagues. By introducingwhen to expect a response. For instance, for some teams. This is particularly theregular short and sharp meetings intoMerck have created acronyms for their case for legal departments, which are ofteneveryones calendar, your team can keepinternal response expectations, like Four siloed from other departments within theirothers updated on major projects, highlightHour Response is 4HR and No Need to organisations and operate on extremely tightblockers, and increase the opportunity forRespond is NNTR.timescales.collaboration. It may seem counterintuitive toAnd instead of firing over short and sharp Improving collaboration andteams that are time-poor, but if you set a clearmessages, which can often waste other communication doesnt have to equate to day- agenda and 10-to-15-minute window, theypeoples time by trying to interpret your long workshops and corporate team buildingcan be incredibly effective. It is also a goodmessages, encourage your team to take the retreatsnor does it mean yet anotherway to reduce the need for other one-to-onetime to write things out properlyyou can virtual quiz (unless you like them). There aremeetings, which can easily suck up more time.never be too clear.a number of easy to implement approaches'