Manage Expectations of Process and Results

The capacity to communicate progress, celebrate success, encourage patience when needed, and allow for flexibility as the collaboration progresses

 

WHY IT MATTERS: Communicating progress toward goals, as well as recognizing when to adapt to changing circumstances, new information, and shifting priorities, allows the collaboration to maintain engagement and momentum.

Encouraging patience among collaboration partners.

Collaborations often take longer than expected, in part because partners must work in ways that take into account the practices and priorities of other sectors. The collaboration can encourage patience among partners by communicating progress and celebrating success, which instills confidence and commitment. Partners can do this by beginning meetings with progress updates, by sending reports of progress to partners on a regular basis, by organizing an event to celebrate the achievement of a milestone, or by seeking external opportunities (e.g. via media outlets, external stakeholder meetings, etc.) to share interim achievements.

Adapting to change.

Maintaining a willingness to shift strategy is crucial in cross-sector collaboration, as collaborations must grapple with changing priorities of partners, funders, and other key stakeholders; wrestle with changing political environments; and more. The most effective collaborations are also open to new, unexpected information that gives them a more accurate picture of the issue they aim to address; and are periodically evaluating interim indicators to assess whether they are on track to accomplish their goals—both activities that may suggest the need for a strategy shift. If the collaboration is overly rigid in pursuing a previously agreed upon strategy, it may risk losing key partners, resources, or influence, or may ultimately pursue a project, program, or policy that new information suggests will not be effective. To create an environment in which partners and their stakeholders are flexible to changes in strategy, the collaboration should focus on clearly communicating how the change influences the collaboration’s ability to achieve its goals. If the collaboration has effectively communicated past progress and worked to inspire confidence in its practices, structure, and past choices, partners will be more likely to trust the need to shift course, rather than seeing such a shift as a failure of planning.

Manage Expectations of Process and Results

The capacity to communicate progress, celebrate success, encourage patience when needed, and allow for flexibility as the collaboration progresses

 

WHY IT MATTERS: Communicating progress toward goals, as well as recognizing when to adapt to changing circumstances, new information, and shifting priorities, allows the collaboration to maintain engagement and momentum.

Encouraging patience among collaboration partners.

Collaborations often take longer than expected, in part because partners must work in ways that take into account the practices and priorities of other sectors. The collaboration can encourage patience among partners by communicating progress and celebrating success, which instills confidence and commitment. Partners can do this by beginning meetings with progress updates, by sending reports of progress to partners on a regular basis, by organizing an event to celebrate the achievement of a milestone, or by seeking external opportunities (e.g. via media outlets, external stakeholder meetings, etc.) to share interim achievements.

Adapting to change.

Maintaining a willingness to shift strategy is crucial in cross-sector collaboration, as collaborations must grapple with changing priorities of partners, funders, and other key stakeholders; wrestle with changing political environments; and more. The most effective collaborations are also open to new, unexpected information that gives them a more accurate picture of the issue they aim to address; and are periodically evaluating interim indicators to assess whether they are on track to accomplish their goals—both activities that may suggest the need for a strategy shift. If the collaboration is overly rigid in pursuing a previously agreed upon strategy, it may risk losing key partners, resources, or influence, or may ultimately pursue a project, program, or policy that new information suggests will not be effective. To create an environment in which partners and their stakeholders are flexible to changes in strategy, the collaboration should focus on clearly communicating how the change influences the collaboration’s ability to achieve its goals. If the collaboration has effectively communicated past progress and worked to inspire confidence in its practices, structure, and past choices, partners will be more likely to trust the need to shift course, rather than seeing such a shift as a failure of planning.