Collaboration in the workplace is vital to both employee and company success, especially when it comes to big projects and customer relations. Recent studies have shown that 86% of employees and executives believe workplace failures occur when there is poor collaboration and internal communication. It may take time and even a little bit of financial backing in order to put a collaboration process in place, but in the end, the benefits greatly outweigh the costs. As with any sort of change implementation, there will likely be growing pains and learning curves, but with a little time and dedication, it won’t be long at all until you see results and realize all the hard work is worth it.

One of the most effective ways to influence others is by setting great examples. Most people, especially when entering a new workplace or beginning a new position, tend to emulate their peers, helping them form their behavior in the workplace. Leaders who know this tend to be more active in ensuring employees at every level remain involved in day-to-day dealership functions. This not only serves the purpose of training and integrating a cohesive team, but it also keeps employees motivated and involved.

In today’s mobile and social world, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the communication and collaboration tools that can keep your employees engaged and connected. By doing this, you’ll stay closer to your employees’ day-to-day activities, and you’ll also be setting the example that collaboration is important across all levels of the dealership, from top to bottom. While there are many ways your dealership may choose to collaborate, there are three quick things you can do to quickly boost engagement and drive toward an improved bottom line:

1. Get social. Social networking is extremely important in today’s market. The average person spends about 2 hours a day on social media sites, and when it comes to your dealership, developing and utilizing an internal social network not only allows management to connect to employees, but also allows employees to easily share knowledge and expertise with one another. This not only improves the relationship between each employee within your dealership, but also improves their knowledge as well as proficiency in answering customer questions and solving any issues at hand. In a way, you’re creating a digital breakroom of sorts where employees can interact and share.

2. Encourage online interaction. Your employees are great proponents of your brand, and by enlisting their help to boost your brand recognition and online presence, you’ll also get a double-whammy by increasing employee engagement. Everyone wants to feel like a part of the success of the dealership, and when you put your employees’ online connections to work, you’ll end up with a far greater online reach than the dealership alone would have had.

3. Streamline communication. One of the best things you can do for your dealership is ensure your communication is top notch. Consumers today are looking for speed and efficiency, so when your dealership communication is seamless, you’ll win them every time. Check out comprehensive, dealership-wide messaging solutions like AutoAlert’s Pando, which addresses the specific communication challenges dealerships face every day. It’s worth the investment to gain the loyalty of satisfied customers!

When you foster a common vision for the dealership and provide valuable tools to help employees reach the goals you’ve set, everyone on your team will have a better understanding of their own roles and feel more invested in the contributions they’re making. In the long run, this improves both their individual performance, as well as the dealership’s performance as whole.

Interaction and collaboration are vital for the success of any team, and when you focus on the positive results you’ll receive by implementing just a few positive changes, you’ll soon see the impact throughout your dealership.