Oct 16 / Natalie Savery

All Together Now

Why collaboration is easy to talk about — and hard to do

and image of an open book , glasses and a cup of coffee
Recently I was talking to someone about a conference I attended a few weeks ago. One of the key themes running through the event was collaboration, and how we need to work together more to be effective in the current climate.
We both agreed that it is a theme we have been hearing about for a long time, and it got me wondering: 

"If we have been talking about collaboration for so long, why are so many of us still finding it difficult to do well – or at all?"

Collaboration is more than people being friendly, sharing updates or sitting in the same meeting. It is people with different roles, perspectives or organisational interests working towards a shared purpose — bringing their expertise, sharing responsibility and finding a way forward together.

It does not mean everybody agrees about everything, gives up their own responsibilities or has an equal say in every decision. It means being clear about what we are trying to achieve together, what each of us brings, and how we will work through the differences when they arise.

Using the Collective Intelligence 

Leadership expert Keith Grint uses the term “wicked problems” to describe complex challenges where there is no simple answer, no single owner and no neat solution that works for everyone. Think things like climate change and health inequalities - these are never going to be solved by one person, if they can even really be solved at all. 

But wicked problems aren’t only found in the big societal issues. They show up in our working lives every day. How do we implement AI when we can’t yet agree on what it’s for, who it serves or what the risks are? How do we make hybrid working fair and flexible, when every option suits some people and costs others? How do we juggle competing priorities when each one is genuinely important? How do we keep up with the volume and pace of change while still doing more with less? 

These are not problems we can hand to the cleverest person in the room and expect them to fix. They need people who see different parts of the system, bring different expertise and are willing to build an answer together.

The more complex the challenge, the more collaboration matters

When collaboration works, it can bring huge benefits. It helps bring together knowledge and resources we would not otherwise have, helps us see a bigger, more diverse picture, it reduces duplication, generates better ideas and creates more joined-up support or services for the people at the centre of our work.

Most people would agree that collaboration is worthwhile.  

But let’s be honest, it just isn’t easy to collaborate. 

Part of the problem is that many of us have not had great role models or blueprints for genuine collaboration.

For a long time, work has rewarded us for standing out: being the expert, having the answer, taking ownership and getting noticed. There is nothing wrong with expertise or accountability. They matter. But they can easily tip into the belief that, to matter, we need to be the hero: the person who saves the day, knows more than anyone else or is indispensable.

Collaboration asks something different of us. It asks us to openly share information, credit, control and sometimes uncertainty. It asks us to admit that our perspective is only one part of the picture. It relies on trust and vulnerability, and the ability to compromise and communicate. 

That can feel risky, particularly when resources are tight. If funding, time, reputation or jobs feel under threat, it is understandable that people hold things close. Protecting our organisation, our budget or our contribution can begin to feel like the sensible thing to do.
Earlier in my career, I worked in a charity where we did not share much with other organisations. We kept things close to our chest. There was a real fear that if we were not reaching enough people, or making enough of a difference, we might lose funding to our ‘competitors’. It felt safer to protect our approach, our learning and our patch.

Looking back, I can understand why. It came from a sense of risk and scarcity – what if we can’t show our worth. But it stopped us from sharing information, and working together for the good of the people we served. Until one day, we had no choice to collaborate.

Now that same sector is almost completely built on alliances, consortia and partnership working. There is a growing recognition that no one organisation can meet people’s needs alone, and that we are better bringing our collective experience to the table. And it’s all the better for it. 

A different question

For me, the shift starts with a different question.

Not: How do we protect our piece of the pie?

But: What does the person or the challenge at the centre of this need from us collectively?

That shared purpose does not make the practical challenges disappear. Organisations still have their own responsibilities, accountabilities and constraints. But it gives people somewhere to return to when priorities compete.

Collaboration starts closer to home

Collaboration can sound like something that happens between large organisations or formal partnerships. But it starts much closer to home.

It is there when a team shares information early, rather than waiting until everything is perfect. When people are clear about what they own, but stay curious about how their work affects others. When someone asks for help before a problem becomes a crisis. When we make space for different expertise and do not need to have all the answers ourselves.

Within a team, collaboration does not mean that everybody does everything, or that every decision needs unanimous agreement. It means being clear about the shared purpose, the contribution each person brings and how you will work through inevitable tensions and competing priorities.

The Leaderful Action Collaboration Charter

We created our Collaboration Charter because we wanted to give teams, organisations and partnerships a practical way to have the conversations about how they operate as a collective — and to turn good intentions into clearer ways of working.

At its heart, it supports better understanding of the key elements of effective collaboration:
  • Shared purpose — clarity about why we are here, who we are here for, the outcomes we are working towards, and the scope and impact of our work. 
  • Shared identity — clarity about roles and responsibilities, the strengths people bring, and the values and behaviours they want to be known for.
  • Shared commitment — agreement about expectations and relationships, how people will communicate and recognise one another, and how they will make decisions and hold themselves accountable.
We use our Collaboration Charter with teams, leadership groups and partnerships who want to move beyond good intentions and create clearer, more trusting and more effective ways of working together. It can be the focus of a single facilitated session or form part of a wider development process.

Small ways to develop collaborative habits

You do not need to wait for a major partnership programme to work more collaboratively. Start with a few questions:
  • Who or what is at the centre of this work, and what do they / does it need from us collectively?
  • What could we achieve together that none of us could achieve alone?
  • What are we each trying to protect — time, information, funding, credit, control or something else? And why?
  • Where are our roles, decisions or expectations unclear?
  • What is one useful thing we could share now?
And if you are trying to bring a less engaged or less collaborative partner into the conversation, start with curiosity. 
  • What pressures are they under? 
  • What previous experiences might be shaping their caution? 
  • What would make involvement worthwhile for them?
  • What can we both agree on as being important? 
We cannot make somebody collaborate. But we can make it easier for them to believe that coming to the table will be worthwhile: that they will be heard, their contribution will be respected, the work will have purpose, and we will not disappear when things become difficult.

Then be reliable in the small things. Share the information you said you would share. Follow up when you promised. Give credit. Be honest when something changes. Invite challenge and listen properly to the response.

These may not sound ground-breaking, but they are the behaviours through which trust grows. That is where collaboration begins. 

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