Everyone talks about collaboration, but when collaboration fails, do we really analyze what happened? Or do we pretend we’re analyzing what happened, but are actually assigning blame?

I love this article.  In this 2014 Harvard Business Review article by Nick Tasler, he points out two simple explanations for how things go wrong.  Simple, of course, once you hear them.

First – do you all agree on what you’re trying to do? 
You may think you all know what you’re collaborating for, but have you really stated it explicitly? I’ll take it further. Have you defined what success looks like? You may be saying, “we need to fix the student problem,” and everyone will nod and get to work. But what does a ‘fixed student problem’ look like? Unless you all agree on what it looks like, then you won’t be able to make decisions between multiple alternatives.

Second – how are you going to make a final decision?
Tasler’s article puts it in terms of who will make the decision, but the more universal way of looking at is how will you make a decision. With multiple collaborators, you need to decide that up front, before you get into the weeds.

To answer these two basic questions, your group may need an external person to guide the conversation – someone from another department, another organization, or a professional facilitator. You want to make sure everyone is heard and there’s a final agreement.

Nick Tasler wrote from the perspective of multiple teams in the same corporation. But what he says is valid within nonprofits, as well. And all the more so when you’re talking about collaborating with other organizations.

  • Be explicit about what you’re collaborating about.
  • Agree on how final decisions will be made.

Until you have both of those, expect a lot of time spent spinning wheels.

Interested in hearing how a facilitator can help smooth the way? Send me a note and we can have a conversation.