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
What’s included in the book:
Understanding Collaboration
– What Collaboration Isn’t
– What Collaboration Is
– Why Collaboration Often Falls Short
– When Collaboration Succeeds
– Collaboration Design
– The Three Principles of Collaboration
The 36 Tools included in The Collabforge Method:
Decide
Tool 1: Your Value Proposition for Collaboration
Tool 2: The Collaboration Premium
Tool 3: Support for Collaboration
Tool 4: The Shared Capability Baseline
Tool 5: Space for Collaboration
Convene
Tool 6: A Draft Collaboration Design
Tool 7: The Why–How–What Pitch
Tool 8: Participant Mapping for the Core, Community and Crowd
Tool 9: The Double-Sided Value Proposition
Tool 10: The Ask
Tool 11: Inputs to Your First Group Discussion
Cocreate
Tool 12: The Facilitation Runsheet
Tool 13: Individual Perspectives
Tool 14: The Why–How–What Discussion
Tool 15: Ideas on Display
Tool 16: Aligned Understandings
Tool 17: The LEGO Challenge
Tool 18: A Shared Definition of Collaboration
Tool 19: The Collaboration Plan
Tool 20: Detailed Participation Map and Core Formation
Resolve
Tool 21: Question-Storming
Tool 22: Hearts and Elephants
Tool 23: Check-in
Tool 24: Soliciting Constructive Feedback
Tool 25: Brainstorm, Bundle and Bind – the 3Bs
Tool 26: A Collaboration Self-Assessment
Tool 27: The Perspective Modeller
Maintain
Tool 28: A Single Source of Truth
Tool 29: Refocusing and Realising Outcomes
Tool 30: The 3Cs Engagement Plan
Tool 31: An Activity Catalyst
Grow
Tool 32: The Golden Staircase
Tool 33: A Growth Assessment
Tool 34: Onboarding Participants
Tool 35: A 3Cs Analysis of Technologies for Growth
Tool 36: When to Stop Collaborating