In a new article for The Workback, a publication sponsored by Asana, Dr. Heidi K. Gardner and other collaboration experts share tips, best practices, data points, and expert insights to help leaders build more collaborative, higher-performing teams. Here’s are the four tips Dr. Gardner provides:

“Focus on fostering smart collaboration

“Collaboration—when it is truly smart—saves time,” Gardner says. “The right people are brought into a project at the right time, based on their unique skill sets and perspective.”

Lead by example

“Leaders who believe in smarter collaboration exemplify trust, and empower their colleagues to do the same,” says Gardner, author of Smarter Collaboration.

Turn your learnings into repeatable processes

“Companies that identify collaborative bright spots and share them across the organization are well placed to replicate these successes elsewhere,” says Gardner. “And, by using data and analytics to understand the true collaboration barriers, organizations can make the necessary systemic, behavioral, or culture changes to address their issues.”

Praise collaborative team efforts

“Recognition for smart collaboration can go a long way,” Gardner tells The Workback. “For example, in Smarter Collaboration, we share how USAA, a financial services company for US military service members and veterans, shifted its communications away from recognizing ‘individual human heroics’ to praising collaborative success instead. According to former chief operating officer Carl Liebert, ‘Our communications changed to focus on the experiences of our members and the teams that made those experiences better. And it began to build on itself, with teams functioning in a team-of-teams way, like the Special Forces.’”