Collaboration isn't a buzz word or a fad. In public policy and service delivery, it has long been touted as a fix-it response to complex problems that have many sources but no one owner. From protecting vulnerable people in our community to responding to public health epidemics to creating more affordable housing, collaboration strikes at the very heart of the role of government.
Our work is more comfortable when we know our job and we have bosses that are able to set and maintain the perimeter around what we should be doing. This allows us to specialise and find our way in the competitive labour market. It is also easier to work with people with similar professional backgrounds or at least a shared definition of the who should be doing what in the organisation.
Enter Collaboration. For collaboration to work, subject matter experts (SMEs) need be comfortable in a process that is undefined, with people that have different notions of who should do what and speak in an unfamiliar professional dialect. Moreover, SMEs need to be willing to be generous in listening to others and speaking in a way that connects with the understanding and interests of their fellow collaborators. At times they need to be willing to let go of how things should be done so as not to block a more important conversation on how the risks of departing from business as usual could be managed.
Senior managers are responsible in setting limits of what their staff can contribute for uncertain or what can seem to be unlikely outcomes. In practice, this inadvertently permits an approach whereby collaboration is cast as the lesser project. The outcomes won't shine brightly back on them, their staff may have an over committed work plan and there is plenty of evidence at failed collaborative attempts to choose from if you look.
If we resist collaboration turn up to meetings expecting to put out and have time wasted, we will not be disappointed. No original thought is garnered in relaying back to your team who will be the fall guy.
Hence collaboration has to be a personal choice about who you are professionally.
Being in a room with different experts and a problem to solve can be highly energising. The element of 'not knowing how this will go' can be like trying a new sport. It is critical in building our career resilience, professional adaptability, emotional and social intelligence.
Proper governance and time controls are important but let's see collaboration as the professional and personal choice that it really is.
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