Some Notes on Collaboration

A few months ago Sandor P. Schuman, Research Associate of the Center for Policy Research, University at Albany, SUNY, and President of Executive Decision Services LLC, came to the organization that I work for and conducted a training about collaboration based on the book he edited “Creating a Culture of Collaboration: The International Association of Facilitators Handbook” (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2006). I will share some of the notes that were taken that day:

Collaboration is becoming more popular due to the fact that there are many changes happening in strategy in order to fulfill the requirements needed to accommodate this diverse, interdependent, and complicated world we live in today. Collaboration is being seen as the way to address problems, add value, and achieve desired outcomes in some of the most industries such as business, science, recreation, healthcare, social work, engineering, and governance.

Relationships are important, they provide social context in which we exchange information and make decisions and choices. Mr. Schuman stated that “Through our relationships, the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of each individual have the potential to contribute to greater shared meaning and choices that provide greater mutual benefits”. I agree with his statement, as the old saying goes “Two heads are better than one”, and in this ever changing world we live in, collaboration is necessary to tackle each issue that may arise and make it a better place to live in.

Mr. Schuman also emphasized the importance of making choices and decisions but in order to participate in decision making it is extremely important to have pertinent information. He states “A choice without information is hardly a choice at all”. This reiterates the importance of collaborative tools such as e-government.

Adapted from “A model for interdisciplinary collaboration” by Laura R. Bronstein. Social Work, (2003)48 (3), 297-306

Collective Ownership of goals refers to shared responsibility in the entire process of reaching goals which may include designing, defining, developing, and achieving goals.

Interdependence refers to the occurrence of and reliance on interactions among individuals where all are dependent on the others to accomplish their goals and tasks. – Working in a Quality Assurance dept in my organization, my position is always dependent on the quality of work produced by the staff.

Flexibility refers to the deliberate occurrence of role blurring. A characteristic of flexibility is the ability to reach productive compromises when faced with adversity and/or the alteration of your role. In my organization, some people are willing to embark in tasks that are outside of the job description to support collaborative problem solving.

Collaborative activities refer to acts, programs, and structures that amount to more than what is expected when the same individuals act independently which ultimately increases the expertise of each collaborator.

Reflection on process refers to collaborators’ attention to their process of working together.For example, Are individuals talking to each other about processes that need to occur to complete a task? Are individuals building relationships around processes?

This course and the training that was conducted have opened up my eyes to the new ways of collaboration. I will definitely invest in the book “Creating a Culture of Collaboration: The International Association of Facilitators Handbook” to obtain a even broader understanding of this new technique of working in a collaborative manner. I expect it to be a good read :)

Reference(s):

Schuman, Sandor P. (2007, July).Creating a Culture of Collaboration/ Strengthening Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Training conducted at Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families, New York, NY