Strengthen your interdisciplinary collaboration

Having interdisciplinary collaboration and a common reference point across departments can be the difference between failure and success. Unfortunately, it's not always easy. We can be blinded by each other's differences, and in the worst case, we end up working in small, closed units with like-minded peers. But according to Maibritt Thoft-Christensen, Head of Commercial Team at Atrium, interdisciplinary collaboration helps create a common goal for employees.

“It is important to have good collaboration across a company to ensure that blind spots are addressed. Different eyes with equally different skills can examine potential pitfalls, which reduces the risk of errors occurring. But interdisciplinarity is especially important to ensure progress, as collaboration means that employees have a common goal and a common understanding." explains Maibritt Thoft-Christensen.

Interdisciplinarity is about culture

Different disciplines are like different languages and cultures. People with different professional backgrounds have individual starting points, and what one person experiences as clear speech can be nonsense for the counterpart.

“It is a fact that one department alone cannot create the same results as a department that has incorporated different competencies. At Atrium, we have a culture that centres around a very short distance from idea to action. This means that our employees can quickly see that their diligence pays off – but also see if things need improvement."

Different personality-profiles create insights and understanding

Most prefer to collaborate with like-minded people who speak a common professional language. But that type of collaboration does not necessarily create the best results for the company.

"If you are open to new collaborations, you can ensure that you stay relevant in the market. If you are not open, and in addition feel that you know all the answers in advance, there’s a potential pitfall. Curiosity is what gives rise to new perspectives and innovation that can be used in processes and product development."

Interdisciplinarity and education

At Atrium, we experience a big interest from our participants in how to achieve better collaboration with their colleagues across departments:

“I believe progress is made when you expand your horizons. At Atrium, we have a humanistic approach to the scientific world. This gives us new insights that we use when we train people in the industry. We don’t have courses focused only on interdisciplinarity, but it is always included in our considerations when planning course content. "