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Hello I've got this from a friend working in a completely different sector, but thought it may be of interest to us sci-commers what with the ongoing trend for funders wanting collaborative/partnership working. Cautionary word: it is an advert for a book which I haven't read - but I trust the source! With best wishes Helen "Working Relationships for the 21st Century: A Guide to Authentic Collaboration" shows how collaboration can transform your organisation and ways of working. This is a guide to working collaboratively for CEOs, managers and leaders. "Working Relationships for the 21st Century: A Guide to Authentic Collaboration" provides frameworks outlining the key stages of the process, from deciding to collaborate through to monitoring, reviewing and evaluating. It includes case studies, advice on how to introduce and implement a collaborative process and discusses when a collaborative approach can help and when not to collaborate. It discusses a philosophy of approach, the development of a skills base and how to work effectively in multi-agency projects, community development and team working. Susan Ralphs, finance director of the Ethical Property Company, is a member of the authoring group. She said: “It probably appears obvious that collaboration is a good thing, but actually it is not put into practice very much. People find it hard to give the time to it and are stopped by the ‘tyranny of the urgent.’ Collaborative working creates better long-term, sustainable solutions to really important issues than the typical hierarchical structure of decision making.” The authoring group recognised that we are in a time of transition and the “old order” does not provide a sufficient response to rapid economic and technological change, demands for joined-up working, global interdependence and challenges, a growing lack of trust in government and business and a sense of changing priorities. The report says: “Collaboration in this new form is seen as an emergent activity that will be required increasingly in workplaces around the world; not simply an optional approach in the organisational toolkit but an essential one for shared decision making, collective leadership, community engagement and active citizenship when faced with complex situations calling for shared responsibility and sustainable development. It is as important as knowledge capital, technological progress and financial viability in organisational settings.” Benefits of collaboration include increased commitment and positive effects on decision-making, accountability, self-esteem and empowerment. It creates potential for innovation and deep change. But it is a more arduous process than often described, and those attempting to implement it will meet unexpected barriers and challenges. The guide comes from Collabor8, a four-year collaborative inquiry that grew out of a one-year programme, the UK Leadership Inquiry. The group meets four times each year to explore what collaboration means in practice and Working Relationships for the 21st Century is a result of gathering their learning and the realisation that others might be interested in what they discovered. For more information please call Cathy Neligan, Communications Officer for the Oasis School of Human Relations, on 01937 541900 or 07758 480301 or email: [log in to unmask] Website: www.oasishumanrelations.org.uk ********************************************************************** 1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example, send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message: set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens] 2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message: set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens] 3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message: leave psci-com -- [include hyphens] 4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive, can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html 5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and science and society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk 6. To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] **********************************************************************