Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/dancing-with-an-octopus-the-graceful-art-of-collaboration/5018212/
Have you just had a great idea that would make your community a better place to live for children and families, and you know you can’t accomplish your goal alone? Or, perhaps, after talking with other child care professionals, you’ve identified a common need or interest and a small group of colleagues actually wants to do something about your shared concern.Collaboration �" working with like-minded others to achieve a common purpose �" is an action-oriented strategy (Carter, 2003) that you might want to consider as a way of reaching your goals. Because collaboration, as in dancing with an octopus (Dunkle & Nash, 1989), requires keeping track of many different points (or tentacles), planners who know when collaborations are more likely to work and what potential missteps could occur, are more likely to move with grace and style toward their goal(s). After reading this article, you will be able to list at least three:
• Characteristics of successful collaborative projects;
• Potential missteps and strategies for avoiding, lessening, or resolving barriers to successful collaborative activities; and,
• Examples of collaborative activities for parents or providers.
Why dance?
Generally, individuals, agencies, or organizations collaborate because they believe that together they can accomplish what could not be done ...