Ways to Improve Collaboration in Cross-Government Projects

An interesting article titled "Rules of Engagement” by Brian Robinson appeared in Federal Computer Week recently discussing how to foster collaboration in projects involving federal, state, and local government agencies. We only have to think about the successes and failures in disaster responses over the last few years to appreciate just how challenging but critical such collaboration can be to meeting the public’s needs.

The article holds that the core requirement for collaboration is establishing trust among the project’s participants at the project’s start and then maintaining it throughout the project. That’s obviously easier to say than do, but Robinson points to three ways to create and foster that trust:

• Establish governance early by developing a governance plan that clearly lays out the responsibilities of each organization involved in the project and specifies how decisions will be made in the project
• Develop a communications plan that details what communications will be used to keep all team members informed and what documenatation will be developed within the project team
• Involve people who have the right set of skills and a desire to be involved in the project.

To be sure, there are things other than trust that can impede cross-government cooperation in a project. Differences in areas like policies, standards, priorities, IT architectures, and perspectives can be obstacles to easy collaboration across any organizations. Brian Robinson’s point is well taken, though. If trust exists, these obstacles can be overcome or worked around. Without inter-organizational trust, on the other hand, any issue can be insurmountable.