mustafahacalaki/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways 90% of IT pros have felt isolated at work Face-to-face chats strengthen IT-business collaboration. Trust and ownership drive project success across teams. Working in tech can sometimes feel like a lonely experience. More than 90% of IT professionals responding to a survey on the Spiceworks community have felt isolated at some point, and over a third experience the issue often. That's a problem both personally and organizationally, when experts regularly assert that the key to digital transformation success is close alignment between IT professionals and their line-of-business peers. Also: 5 ways business leaders can transform workplace culture - and it starts by listening So, how can tech staff build closer bonds with people outside the IT department? Here are five ways to collaborate effectively with business peers. 1. Make time for face-to-face chats Steve Riley, head of IT operations and service management at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, said the best way to cooperate effectively is to talk face-to-face with peers rather than relying on collaboration tools. "Go and speak to people," he said. "We have so many tools now that are labeled for collaboration remotely, but I get a huge amount of value from going and speaking to people, especially if you're just trying to build a relationship." Riley told ZDNET that in-person conversations during the early stages of a project are crucial to generating value. "Once you're up and running, and you've got a relationship and you know who you're talking to, and you've got the direction that you want to go in, then all the collaboration tools are massively valuable. But in those early stages, I go and speak to people." Also: 5 ways Mercedes F1 harnesses data and the latest tech to perfect race day performance Most of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is based at the team's factory in Brackley, UK, but the global nature of motor racing means Riley goes out of his way to spend time away from the facility and build relationships. "One of the main reasons I travel to the track is to do exactly that -- to go and speak to the engineering team that aren't as frequently in the factory," he said. "That's why I always remind our folks to go and meet people, especially in the tech support function. With all the technology we have, it's easy to send someone a message or an update. But it's often better to speak with someone and deal with the issue." 2. Understand what makes people tick Kirsty Roth, chief operations and technology officer at business information services specialist Thomson Reuters, said you need to get under the skin of your colleagues. "Understand where they are at. What is it they're worried about? You might look at a business leader and think they're worried about revenue. They might not be," she said. "They might be worried about cost. They might be worried about retaining their best people. Understand where they're coming from, and how you can help them." Also: 3 smart ways business leaders can build successful AI strategies - before it's too late Roth told ZDNET that collaborating effectively with people isn't as complicated as some professionals might think. The crucial factor is investing time and effort in relationships -- and, like other business leaders, she recognized the importance of face-to-face conversations. "Spend time with people to understand them and what makes them tick, and what makes their business tick. In our modern world, making that time is sometimes challenging. We probably all spend far more time on video than we do in person," she said. "I'm still a believer that you must spend time with people in person to get that more holistic view. That might sound boring and old-fashioned, but it's worked for me." 3. Focus on generating trust Jakob Rissmann, principal product owner of data services at transport specialist FlixBus, said technology professionals must work hard to build confidence. "When you start collaborating, a big factor is trust," he said. "If you want to work together, there needs to be a level of trust, and trust doesn't build overnight. We all know that, and so you must have mechanisms in place to build confidence." Rissmann told ZDNET that selecting the right tools will help people around the business to trust your decision-making capabilities. Also: How AI-enabled autonomous business will change the way you work forever He referred to the example of how the company uses the Snowflake AI Data Cloud to help employees generate insights from disparate data sources in a scalable and flexible manner. "That's one reason why we implemented that technology, because we can visualize, for example, the data quality of the product. I can only trust the dataset if I know the data quality is good. So, technology is a key part of the trust equation." The other crucial element of the calculation is talking effectively with your line-of-business peers. "The technology is the starting point: 'Here's the data product. This is the owner. This is the data quality.' And then you can start talking to the team to understand how to use the technology effectively." 4. Give people ownership of deliverables Michael Vuong, head of project management at BrandAlley, said that planning is a great way to collaborate effectively on business priorities. "That's knowing which elements of a project can be handed out to team members," he said. "It's about giving ownership to some of your team members of major projects. So, it's like a divide-and-conquer process." Working with people to establish those priorities is as important for the project leaders as it is for the employees who complete the day-to-day work. "If you try to take ownership of everything, you'll struggle to deliver these large-scale projects," he said. Also: 5 ways to ensure your team gets the credit it deserves, according to business leaders Vuong told ZDNET about how BrandAlley is using a combination of Superlinked and Redis technology to push recommendations to customers across digital platforms. He said a collaborative approach to project ownership produces great results. "We had technical leads supporting us on the project. We also had a third-party consultancy working on these areas, and we worked together to deliver the project," he said. "But planning was the key to getting it delivered and also being as agile as possible throughout the project and not stopping for other initiatives for any reason." 5. Create a mutual support network Bev White, CEO at technology and talent solutions provider Nash Squared, said her peers are business leaders at competing firms and in other sectors. Spending time with these executives helps alleviate solitude. "Being CEO can be a lonely place sometimes, and I find it really valuable to chat, whether that's in person for a coffee or lunch, or over the phone," she said. "It's a chance to swap notes, compare what you're seeing in the market, and how you're approaching issues. You can learn a lot, gain insights, and share advice without giving competitive secrets away." Also: 5 ways to inspire people and create a more engaged, productive team White told ZDNET that these conversations provide mutual support, and IT professionals can also benefit from this approach. "It's about corroborating rather than collaborating," she said. "Attending industry events and conferences, often as a speaker or panelist, is another great way of corroborating and discussing trends." When it comes to internal collaboration, White said success is about finding a mutual challenge that's in everyone's interests to solve. "You also need a mutual or shared understanding of that challenge. Then it's about each bringing your perspectives and really leaning in with your respective skills," she said. "Draw on each other's strengths -- let the cloud expert be the cloud expert, the marketing expert be the marketing expert, etcetera. Work together to solve your challenge, listen to each other's views, and stay open to the ideas that present themselves."