How to collaborate

Charity collaboration can happen at many different levels, from whole organisations working together through to two colleagues teaming up to work on a project.

 

Collaboration can bring huge benefits. That includes saving money, pooling resources, increasing reach, and preventing work from being duplicated. And bringing together people with different perspectives can inspire creativity, build knowledge and drive new ideas.   

 

Whatever form a collaboration takes, from short-term project to long-term partnership, there are some common principles that underpin its success. 

 

 

Trust

 

Collaboration can involve people working with others they don’t know or haven’t worked with before. For people to share their ideas and give genuine feedback, they need to feel safe enough to trust each other.

 

Building trust within the group can free people up to be honest, contribute new ideas, and speak out when things need to change.

 

One way of doing this is to have a clear goal for the collaboration, so that everyone is working towards the same endpoint. Staying curious, using great listening skills, and being transparent about decision making can also help to build a solid team, based on trust.

  

 

Empathy

 

Empathy is genuinely understanding another person’s experiences, motivations and emotions. When people feel heard and understood, they are more likely to trust each other and to feel safe to share their ideas.

 

When it comes to collaboration, having empathy might mean understanding that a colleague is feeling overstretched, why a group member is frustrated about a decision, or what a service user needs from a new product.

 

One way to demonstrate empathy is to use active listening skills – making sure that you listen carefully to another person, and letting them know that you understand them. You can do this, for example, by reflecting back what you heard them say to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood what they meant. Listening in this way can help people to feel heard, understood and respected.

 

 

Inclusion

The very point of collaboration is that it brings together people with a range of experiences, knowledge and skills to create a better endpoint. 

 

Different viewpoints can lead to greater creativity, better decision-making and sparking new ideas. But that only works if everyone within the group feels included and is given the space to contribute and be heard.

 

When the group starts working together, take time to name the values that will underpin its work. And while it’s important for every member of the group to be inclusive, leaders can help to model positive behaviours, for example active listening, encouraging all members to contribute to discussions, and welcoming everyone at the start of meetings.

 

 

Clarity

 

Having a clear understanding of the group’s mission, values and ways of working are crucial if the collaboration is going to be effective. Defining and sharing these right at the start will help to build strong foundations, avoid any confusion, and enable the group to work effectively together.

 

For example, it’s important to have well-defined roles so that people know what they’re expected to contribute and who has responsibility for any given task. To allocate roles, it will be important to look at people’s existing roles, backgrounds and experiences to see how they link to the project or ongoing partnership. Try to play to people’s strengths, as everyone will have something unique to bring to the collaboration. 

 

 

Communication

 

Clear communication is crucial for a successful partnership, and is especially important if the team is working remotely or in different locations. Set up agreed ways of communicating. That might be regular in-person meetings, weekly video catch-ups, or chats on Teams or Slack.

 

As well as setting up the right communication channels, encourage a culture of honest communication. This will help people to feel comfortable to ask questions, offer critical opinions and share ideas. If you’re leading a group or meeting, make space for everyone to contribute and see that everyone’s opinions are respected. 

 

 

Efficiency

 

Find the most efficient ways of working for the group. That might include:

• Using online tools such as Slack or Teams so that everyone can easily communicate with each other, wherever they are working
• Defining how decisions will be made from the outset, to avoid disagreements later on
• Only having meetings when they’re necessary, and making sure that every meeting has a clear agenda and action points are allocated to an individual
• Putting the right tools in place for people to collaborate online (for example, having a shared space, such as Google Drive, to store key documents that everyone can access)