Disadvantags and Strategies of Collaboration

Disadvantages and Strategies of Collaboration

2006

Collaboration is an effective tool , which promotes and advantages successful outcomes in any sort of activity . It means interaction of two or more objects or people in to achieve some goal . According to Bruner (1991 "Collaboration is a process to reach goals that cannot be achieved acting singly (or , at a minimum , cannot be reached efficiently . As a process , collaboration is a means to an end , not an end in itself (p . 6

Such activities , like simple exchange of information , operating in a network

, or making a project in a group , can be called collaboration Bruner (1991 ) defines "Collaboration includes all of the following elements : jointly developing and agreeing to a set of common goals and directions sharing responsibility for obtaining those goals and working together to achieve those goals , using the expertise of each collaborator (p . 6

Undoubtedly , joining efforts in working on some specific projects or activities has a lot of advantages . But , at the same time , there are some risks and possible difficulties , which can affect the process and probably , worsen expected outcomes . That is why it is extremely important to evaluate such dangers before starting collaboration and to find effective solutions for possible problems or misunderstandings

First of all , collaboration requires more resources for organization management and control over the process . Unspecified work loads can cause loss of motivation and failures , as well as absence of proper administration can result in chaos and dis . Bruner (1991 ) says Poorly implemented initiatives may take time away from other tasks (p . 15 . The other problem is mutual dependence of the collaborating parts on each other 's performance . If a part falls into a crisis , the collaboration can fail , partially or Other risks are connected with possible conflicts and disagreements between the parts . As a result , some time has to be taken for reaching accordance or finding consensus . Therefore , the situation will result in postponing of receiving expected outcomes . Finally , in case of some failures , one of the collaborating parts can accuse another part in being ineffective , unproductive , and /or withdraw itself from the collaboration union

Jim Meek , a research coordinator from Iowa University , adds more possible drawbacks of collaboration . He says that sometimes the parts have problems in gaining each other 's trust and confidence . Meek (1992 resumes : If collaborative partners mistrust each other , they won 't be receptive to new ideas (p . 2 . Another problem can be lack of resources . Meek (1992 ) says : Limited resources may cause otherwise valuable partners to decide not to collaborate (p . 2

Strategies of collaboration are quite specific and can be defined individually for every particular type of activity . Nevertheless , there are some common policies , which are applicable for the majority of collaboration projects . Those are , first of all , active communication and regular exchange of information . The other important elements of effective collaboration are planning and scheduling . In addition , such strategic approaches , like flexibility , adaptation , accountability evaluation of environmental changes , etc . can also become a framework of collaborative strategies

There are some examples of particular strategies . Industrial collaboration can employ such strategies like partnership , integration or corporation . Collaborative learning can include strategies of discussing problems or exchanging experiences between the students . In organizational collaboration strategies can vary immensely , starting with cooperation of employees to complete an assignment , and ending with joining efforts on improving corporate culture

Every collaboration project usually has some stages or intermediate accomplishments , which frequently open new horizons and new challenges That 's why important elements of collaboration strategy are constant control and evaluation of current results of collaboration , searching for opportunities to stimulate or to refocus collaborating parties for achieving better results , estimation of collaboration maturity encouraging collaborative thinking and ideas , etc

Carefully chosen collaborative strategies and supportive tools are direct way to making collaboration work effectively . A good successful collaboration results with some positive outcomes , which become a part of definite performance and cause initiation of other collaboration projects , in turn . Bruner (1991 ) underlines "Collaboration at one level of organization will facilitate collaboration at other levels , as well (p . 9

Works cited

Bruner , C (1991 . Thinking collaboratively : Ten questions and answers to help policy makers improve children 's services . Washington , DC Education and Human Services Consortium

Meek , J (1992 , July . How to Built Coalitions : Collaboration . Iowa State University Extension . Retrieved October 7 , 2006 from the World Wide Web

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