Forum: Thinking Together as NGOs

Differences between Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration COORDINATION

Purpose of using this approach Avoid gaps & overlap in individuals' assigned work

COOPERATION
Obtain mutual benefit by sharing or partitioning work

COLLABORATION
Achieve collective results that the participants would be incapable of accomplishing working alone Same as for Cooperation, plus innovative, extraordinary, breakthrough results, and collective 'we did that!' accomplishment Substantial

Desired Outcome

Efficiently-achieved results meeting objectives Minimal

Same as for Coordination, plus savings in time and cost Considerable

Degree of Interdependence

We believe that a bigger social outcome can be achieved only by collaboration among NGOs! Many experts agree that collaboration ensures greater gains across sectors, on all levels. These are some of the benefits: Access to knowledge: Transfer of valuable knowledge and skills gives the organizations the option to have a greater understanding of the environment and therefore reducing potential errors. Efficiency: Reducing costs and avoiding duplicate work. Effectiveness: Developing high quality solutions by joining expertise from different fields. Access to people: Collaboration extends the organizations networks and enables partners to gain access to a wider range of technical expertise, skills, experience and labour. Innovation: The cross-fertilization of ideas from different actors give rise to new insights and perspectives that individual actors working on their own may not have realized. Therefore, new ways of addressing an issue are developed. Long-term/Greater impact: The result of collaboration, by being efficient and effective, is a greater positive impact in society and the organization. Human resource development: Enhancing professional skills and competencies in the work force.

 Collective Leadership Institute 2010

According to Trebor Scholz, from the Institute for Distributed Creativity, the Attributes of a Collaborator are: Develop trust and mutual respect Stick to initially made commitments Outline clear and attainable short and long-term goals Define needs/self-interest well Give reasons behind your thinking Be concise, patient, and persistent Get everybody involved in the process Develop good listening skills Put a stop to domineering interruptions and put-downs Communicate frequently, clearly and openly Acknowledge upcoming problems Use facilitators for larger groups Take a dose of humility Learn when to let go Willingness to share