Jason Palitsch, executive director at the 495/MetroWest Partnership, offers some knowledge from his experience on creating collaborations between private entities and government.
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7) Focus on shared goals. Different sectors have different goals and agendas. A successful collaboration will focus on an identifiable shared goal, around which your participants can unite.
6) What private sector leaders should understand about public sector leaders. Public employees are subject to many laws and restrictions, which can limit their flexibility. Many of the services they provide are prescribed by law. Their emails are public record. What the public expects of them can far exceed the resources they have at their disposal.
5) What public sector leaders should understand about private sector leaders. Private sector leaders are often operating well beyond a fixed schedule, and taking a meeting means extending their day. They are under pressure to demonstrate the financial value of their time use. And many, many organizations are asking their business for money.
4) Set an agenda, and respect everyone's time. Collaborations involve people who are empowered to make choices and communicate on behalf of their organizations. Put another way: collaborations occur between busy people. When gathering your participants, have a purpose and a goal in mind.
3) Meetings can be more efficient when virtual, but relationships are built in person. While respecting everyone's time, remember that relationship building is best done in person. Virtual is great for a quick conversation about a specific task or need, but to build trust, get folks around the same table every so often.
2) Respect different collaborations and working styles. You're bringing together people who do different jobs, in different worlds, for different stakeholders. Provide background information to get everyone on the same page. Explain jargon or acronyms. Don't assume everyone is coming to the table with the same understanding.
1) Collaborations should add value, not drain resources. Sometimes people and organizations pursue a project together simply because someone thought it would be nice to see them work together. This can descend into efforts that are a time sink rather than a true value-add. Meaningful collaborations produce positive outcomes; they shouldn't be mere obligations on your calendar.
