Creating a product is like building a puzzle with a team of members. There are several pieces that have to come together.
That said, the more people in a project, the more complex it becomes. This is because of the need for more communication and teamwork.
That said, here are 4 ways by which you can improve teamwork:
1: Hackathons
Hackathons are development exercises. That said, you can use it as a creative outlet minus the rules that apply at work. In other words, exclude style guides, conversions and business goals from the hackathon. By all means, pair people up and see what they come up with.
2: Design Sprints
People use sprints in development. But it can be pretty useful in design as well. Design is rather subjective and which is why one misses timelines. Sprints provide can help finish a large project step-by-step and in small amounts.
3: Pair Program (and Design)
Pairing a young developer with a senior member can be developmental for the former. Exploring the design process with a non-designer will help look at your choices too. These are aspects that you might take for granted. Also, it will give them an understanding of how you do think from the design side of things.
4: Lunch-N-Learn
Designing apps for certain fields requires knowledge about that field. For example, understanding the business of insurance first before designing. To do this, meeting up with insurance agent over lunch would be a good idea. Being open to insights will help you design better in a ‘foreign’ line of business.