One of the challenges to effective collaboration comes from misunderstandings about its meaning. To some, the word suggests polite cooperation. To others, it includes everything from shared data to joint operations. For managers, the essence of collaboration is suggested by the word itself. Collaboration is about co-labor, about joint effort and ownership. The end result isn’t mine or yours, it’s ours.

Collaboration basics include the following: 

• The parties must have a specific shared purpose or goal that they care about but cannot achieve on their own
• The parties must want to pursue a collaborative solution now and are willing to contribute something to achieve it
• The appropriate people must be at the table
• The parties must have an open, credible process
• The initiative must be led by a champion(s), someone who has the credibility and clout to make the initiative a high priority.

Many public and private organizations are placing more emphasis on collaboration…despite the many hurdles, managers and leaders are learning to work across boundaries to form successful alliances and coalitions. Their goal isn’t collaboration for its own sake. Instead, their goal lies at the heart of their organization’s mission: they are working across boundaries in order to deliver better service, value, and outcomes for customers, stakeholders, and communities, which is the ultimate purpose of any worthwhile collaborative effort.

To learn more about the benefits, and some of the key factors, of successful collaboration, visit ICMA’s online bookstore to see the IQ Report from which this excerpt was taken: Collaboration Across Boundaries: The Basics for Change.