Problem

Teams or departments fail to share critical information, leading to misunderstandings, delays, or duplication of work.

Workshop Title

"Bridging the Gap: Improving Inter-Team Communication"

Objectives

• Identify common communication barriers between the teams.
• Practise active listening and clear articulation.
• Develop actionable strategies to improve communication.

Materials Needed

• Flipchart or whiteboard.
• Large sheets of paper and markers for the Collaboration Canvas.
• Sticky notes for brainstorming.

Process

1. Welcome and Icebreaker (10 minutes)

Activity: Cross-Team Introductions
↳ Ask participants to pair up with someone from another team.
↳ Each pair takes 2 minutes to introduce their role, primary responsibilities, and one communication challenge they face when working with other teams.

2. Identifying Communication Barriers (15 minutes)

Activity: What Gets in the Way?
↳ In small groups, participants brainstorm barriers to effective communication between teams (e.g., unclear expectations, lack of tools, conflicting priorities).
↳ Groups share their insights with the larger team, and the facilitator records themes on a flipchart.

3. Building Awareness of Team Needs (25 minutes)

Activity: The Collaboration Canvas
↳ Each team creates a “Collaboration Canvas” on a large sheet of paper with the following sections:

• What We Do: A brief overview of their team’s role and key objectives.
• What We Need: Information or support they require from other teams to succeed.
• What We Provide: Resources or support they can offer to other teams.
  ↳ Teams present their canvases to the group.

4. Designing Communication Strategies (25 minutes)

Activity: Creating a Communication Plan
↳ In mixed-team groups, participants design strategies to improve inter-team communication. Encourage them to address:

• Preferred communication channels (e.g., shared tools, regular meetings).
• Frequency and format of updates.
• Escalation paths for urgent issues.
  ↳ Groups share their plans, and the facilitator consolidates ideas into a shared "Inter-Team Communication Guide."

5. Closing and Reflection (10 minutes)

Activity: One Thing I’ll Do
↳ Each participant shares one action they’ll take to improve communication with other teams (e.g., “I’ll start sending weekly updates to X team”).

Facilitator Notes

• Welcome and Icebreaker (10 minutes): Purpose is to foster connections and initiate discussion about communication.
• Identifying Communication Barriers (15 minutes): In the debrief highlight common challenges and emphasise that these are solvable.
• Building Awareness of Team Needs (25 minutes): In the debrief discuss how understanding each team’s needs and offerings can improve communication.
• Designing Communication Strategies (25 minutes): Output is a draft communication guide that all teams can use.
• Closing and Reflection (10 minutes): Encourage participants to view communication as a shared responsibility.

Follow-up

Schedule a follow-up meeting in 4 weeks to evaluate how the communication strategies are working and refine the Inter-Team Communication Guide.