Collaborative initiatives between organizations develop for any number of reasons, but are often limited to a single project or purpose. The benefits of collaboration, however, can be considerably greater, and need not be unnecessarily limited. There are potentially six “secret” benefits of collaboration:
1+1=3: When people from different organizations — who would not otherwise find themselves in the same room at the same time — are directed to work together on a project, the whole can be significantly greater than the sum of its parts. By trading ideas, exchanging concepts, talking proposals out, and revising on the fly, there can be a spark of a new idea, a new direction or new concept revealed, or an innovative approach hammered out. It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.”
Gut Replaces Rut: Collaboration can be breath of fresh air, for an organization and employees. Often, organizations fall into predictable patterns, where employees are not challenged to be innovative or creative — the internal system is satisfied with predictability. Collaboration on a specific project — when individuals from two organizations are integrated to develop approaches or solutions outside their usual sphere of work — can get synapses firing in a new way. Feeling empowered, employees may emerge from the rut of “same old, same old,” and trust their gut in suggesting new ways to achieve objectives. The benefits may accrue well beyond the collaborative project — back to each of the organizations and the work employees do for other clients and customers.
Discovery Channel: While two organizations may come together to advance a specific project, their work together may lead either or both of them down an entirely unexpected path. By working together, they may discover common interests that they had been unaware of, which can present additional opportunities to collaborate, or completely new and distinct business possibilities for the organizations individually. They may discover organizational abilities in specific aspects of their field they had been unaware of or underestimated previously, which can suggest additional business opportunities. And they may discover previously hidden talents in employees that can be put to good use on other projects or programs in the organization’s portfolio.
New Math: From grade school to business school, we are always admonished to “do the math.” But as individuals and organizations, we tend to fall into patterns that may not be the most efficient and cost-effective way of proceeded. As we all know, however, longstanding habits are hard to break. When two organizations collaborate, they often come to the project with different approaches or grounded in different systems. Having to forge a compromise, of necessity, can lead to the revelation that there is a different — and perhaps better — way of handling financial matters that can provide far-reaching benefits to an organization.
Different Eyes: Providing another organization the opportunity to get “up close and personal” with your organization as a collaborative initiative runs its course can provide an opportunity to see your organization through their eyes. If you ask, your collaborating organization will likely be happy to share their opinion. They may see you differently than you had hoped or anticipated, but in a world where perception often becomes reality, understanding what is in the eye of the beholder is absolutely critical. Having heard their perspective, changes to your organization — or its operations — may be appropriate and beneficial, which might not have happened if not for the collaboration.
Hidden in Plain Sight: The process of collaboration itself — figuring out a way to productively work closely with another organization to meet a specific objective — can reveal to an organization an expertise or ability it did not know it possessed. You may also discover that your organization thrives when collaborating, and may suggest you pursue additional opportunities to collaborate with other firms. The old adage “one good turn deserves another” may apply — which may mean new chances for your organization to grow in reputation, in stature, in the delivery of services, in employee morale, and on the bottom line.
Collaborative initiatives, when well-thought out and skillfully managed, can bring much more to an organization than was anticipated. “Organizations that embrace collaboration,” someone once observed, “are poised to accomplish great things.”
Bernard L. Kavaler is founding principal of Express Strategies, a West Hartford-based strategic communications and public policy consulting business at www.express-strategies.com
