Home Campus-Community Connection Tools & Resources Partnerships Characteristics of Successful Collaborations
Characteristics of Successful Collaborations
Does Your Collaboration Check All the Boxes?
- Common purpose and clear understanding
- Agreement on mission, values and goals
- Variety of stakeholder groups in the planning stages
- Significant and differing contributions from each partner
- Share in the risks, liabilities and responsibilities as well rewards and successes
- Agree on population in need and shared geographic area
- Autonomy and ethics of each professional are maintained
- Shared governance structure for coordination decision making
- Clearly defined roles & responsibilities
- Clear communication processes
- Collaborative data and tracking information
- Open, inclusive, transparent, accessible, and tailored to need
- Easy to access and navigate services for service users not providers
- Common definitions, processes, protocols and assessments
- Resource lists are shared and regularly updated
- Educational resources are shared amongst the partners
- Conflict resolution process in place – solution focused, positive
- Compatible organizational cultures that support collaboration and cooperation
- Diversity is honored and respected – operates within an anti-oppression, anti-racism framework
- Clear understanding of the expectations, norms, culture and traditions of the various partners
- Power differentials are identified, acknowledged and negotiated
- Meetings are safe and opportunity for all to have a voice
- Conversations and deliberations amongst partners are reflective, honest, and never rushed
- Trust has been built on commitments and agreements
- Partners share successes and failures to create improvement and spread innovation