Collaboration Design
A step-by-step guide to successful collaboration
When great results depend on working with others, you can’t afford to leave things to chance.
In this book, Mark Elliott shares the collaboration design method that has seen his firm deliver high-impact results in hundreds of initiatives with government agencies over the last decade.
Grounded in Mark’s doctoral research, the Collabforge Method is a proven, step-by-step process for bringing people together, keeping them together, and delivering great results.
What you’ll learn
The 36 included tools will help you to:
- Determine the value of collaboration for a given situation
- Communicate its vision and value to others
- Bring people together to gain their commitment and participation
- Work through and resolve challenging tensions
- Sustain or grow your group to any size needed
What’s been said about Collaboration Design:
‘Collaboration Design translates the vague promise of collaboration into concrete, specific and practical steps. Whether you are designing a product, policy or service, Mark Elliott’s engaging analysis of successful collaboration makes a powerful case for why collaboration matters, and clearly lays out how to do it.’
— BETH SIMONE NOVECK, Professor, New York University, and Director, The Governance Lab
‘Mark Elliott’s research is meticulous and his prose is direct and free of jargon. I recommend Collaboration Design to anyone involved in or interested in online and offline collaboration.’
— HOWARD RHEINGOLD, bestselling author of The Virtual Community
‘Over 30 years of work, I’ve learned that collaboration determines success. I’ve also been lucky enough to experience first-hand the down-to-earth mentorship of Mark Elliott and Collabforge. This book effectively captures many years of practice and presents an easy-to-understand set of methods and tools anyone can use.’
— CHRIS VEIN, former Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Where can I buy Collaboration Design?
Collaboration Design Table of Contents
Part I – Understanding Collaboration 1
1 What Collaboration Isn’t 3
2 What Collaboration Is 9
3 Why Collaboration Often Falls Short 17
4 When Collaboration Succeeds 25
5 Collaboration Design 38
6 The Three Principles of Collaboration 46
Part II – The Collabforge Method 59
7 Decide 64
Tool 1: Your Value Proposition for Collaboration 67
Tool 2: The Collaboration Premium 71
Tool 3: Support for Collaboration 76
Tool 4: The Shared Capability Baseline 82
Tool 5: Space for Collaboration 85
8 Convene 92
Tool 6: A Draft Collaboration Design 94
Tool 7: The Why–How–What Pitch 96
Tool 8: Participant Mapping for the Core, Community and Crowd 99
Tool 9: The Double-Sided Value Proposition 103
Tool 10: The Ask 105
Tool 11: Inputs to Your First Group Discussion 107
9 Cocreate 113
Tool 12: The Facilitation Runsheet 114
Tool 13: Individual Perspectives 117
Tool 14: The Why–How–What Discussion 120
Tool 15: Ideas on Display 123
Tool 16: Aligned Understandings 127
Tool 17: The LEGO Challenge 129
Tool 18: A Shared Definition of Collaboration 133
Tool 19: The Collaboration Plan 136
Tool 20: Detailed Participation Map and Core Formation 140
10 Resolve 145
Tool 21: Question-Storming 148
Tool 22: Hearts and Elephants 151
Tool 23: Check-in 154
Tool 24: Soliciting Constructive Feedback 157
Tool 25: Brainstorm, Bundle and Bind – the 3Bs 160
Tool 26: A Collaboration Self-Assessment 163
Tool 27: The Perspective Modeller 170
11 Maintain 175
Tool 28: A Single Source of Truth 176
Tool 29: Refocusing and Realising Outcomes 180
Tool 30: The 3Cs Engagement Plan 185
Tool 31: An Activity Catalyst 190
12 Grow 195
Tool 32: The Golden Staircase 196
Tool 33: A Growth Assessment 202
Tool 34: Onboarding Participants 206
Tool 35: A 3Cs Analysis of Technologies for Growth 211
Tool 36: When to Stop Collaborating 217
Conclusion 220