It doesn’t matter if you’re in a company with eight people or 80 — it’s easy to lose track of what your co-workers are doing when you’re so engrossed in your own projects. You may be aware of the bigger projects they are working on, but do you know what they’re doing on a daily basis?

Do you know how they break down their goals, or what projects they’re working on that could impact your own projects down the line?

Because the reality is, even if you lose track of it at times, everything that you do impacts your co-workers, and vice versa.

It’s harder to keep track if you work in a company with virtual offices or if you’re the only one telecommuting. We already know that the “Work from Home” phenomenon is growing, even if it hasn’t hit your office yet.

While you’re trying to catch up with work after vacation, you may miss an email or two. You could get so bogged down with work that you neglect the ‘water cooler.’

The bottom line is this: You need to know what your co-workers are working on, which is why the future of performance is social (on every level).

When you know what your co-workers are working on, and the way their goals are structured, you have the opportunity to make suggestions to them, along with adjusting your own goals as necessary. If the marketing team is moving up the deadline for a campaign, this could mean that you have to move up your own timeline for a report.

Company-wide collaboration, on a day-to-day basis, is a necessary piece of the puzzle.

Now it’s your turn to ask yourself: Do you really know what your co-workers are doing?