Collaborative Relationships

 

How to measure and develop collaborative relationships

 

Best Practice Model | Step 1 - Familarisation | Step 2 - Vision | Step 3 - Measurement | Step 4 - Action Plan | Case Studies

 

Step Two: Vision

 

Understand the critical issues on the project and go on to develop a vision for how the project will be run in all of the areas identified within the Collaborative Relationship Model.

 

Once project goals are clear the project team can use the Collaborative Relationship Model to identify what is critical to making relationships work effectively to achieve project goals. Questions include:

1. What are the goals of the project?
   This may well may be clear but it is worth checking that everyone shares the same view on what outcomes define success.
2. What is important to each organisation in delivering projects?
   e.g. the need for innovation to reduce cost; the need to manage complex stakeholders; the need to manage diverse cultures and so on? This means identifying the real factors that impact delivery not just the surface issues that people find "comfortable" to discuss.

3. What ways of working are needed to address these issues?
   Some of these will be common to most projects such as the need for well integrated teams, the need to clarify expectations and ensure role clarity including the critical roles of leadership - which may be specific to particular project phases.

Leading to a shared vision of how the project will run, again using the Collaborative Relationship model as an organising framework.

 

Step 2 Example: Goals, Challenges and Ways of Working

 

Goals

• Deliver a working platform to handover quality standard in 10 months
• Beat cost budget by a minimum of 10% to deliver gain share benefits
• Establish 'high performance' integrated project team

 

Challenges

• Cost reduction of more than 5% cannot be achieved without engineering breakthroughs
• Technically focussed culture of Company A conflicts with customer-focussed culture of Company B - how can the best of both be harnessed?
• Individual and organisational status concerns

 

Ways of Working

• Establish engineering breakthrough teams to at the very start of the design process.
  Train in common breakthrough approach
• Establish 'best of' culture groups to develop a balance customer-focussed  and technically strong approach
• Clarify, Goals, Roles, Interpersonal and Procedual expectations (GRIP) at initiation