Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey [Paperback]

Michael Barry Winer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1994

This is your complete guide to putting together a collaboration that gets results! You'll see how to get a collaboration going, define the results you're after, determine everyone's roles, create an action plan, and evaluate the results. Includes a case study, worksheets, and special sidebars with helpful tips such as what to do at your first meeting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A very significant contribution to those of us who work in collaborations. I thank you many times over. -- Shelby Andress, Director of Consulting Services, Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN

Simple, clear, effective, up-beat. The general air of positivity and the 'can-do'attitude are inspiring. -- Julie Glover, National Youth Development Consultant, GloverKenny Associates, New York

Stimulating insights into ways that groups can work together. -- Arts Management magazine

The Collaboration Handbook is the best thing on the topic! -- Richard Silva, Senior Analyst, Washington, DC

This is brilliant and groundbreaking work. I am grateful for this publication. -- Cynthia M. Heelan, PhD, President, Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Springs, CO

“A very significant contribution to those of us who work in collaborations. I thank you many times over.” -- Shelby Andress, Director of Consulting Services, Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN

“Simple, clear, effective, up-beat. The general air of positivity and the ‘can-do’ attitude are inspiring.” -- Julie Glover, National Youth Development Consultant, GloverKenny Associates, New York

“Stimulating insights into ways that groups can work together.” -- Arts Management magazine

“The Collaboration Handbook is the best thing on the topic!” -- Richard Silva, Senior Analyst, Washington, DC

“This is brilliant and groundbreaking work. I am grateful for this publication.” -- Cynthia M. Heelan, PhD, President, Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Springs, CO

From the Publisher

Work together...and get greater results! Here's how to overcome obstacles to create a successful collaboration! Whether you're working on homelessness or building a rural farm cooperative, the Collaboration Handbook tells you what to expect and how to meet challenges in a way that strengthens your group and the results you're after. You'll learn how (and why) to:

* Find and attract the right people

* Build trust among diverse groups

* Change conflict into cooperation

* Select the best structure for your collaboration

* Keep people involved, enthusiastic, and motivated

* Energize your supporters with a powerful collaborative vision * Deepen the roots of collaboration for lasting success Practical, interactive tools keep your collaboration on track This unique handbook shows you:

* How to know if collaboration is the best way to

accomplish your goals

* How to get started and keep up the momentum

* Whether your collaboration has the necessary ingredients to succeed

* How to manage the four stages of collaboration * When it makes sense to test the waters with a pilot project Plus, you also get:

* A case study following one collaboration from start to finish

* Sixteen worksheets to help you solve problems, plan successful strategies, and document your progress

* Special sidebars with helpful tips such as what to do at your first meeting, and how mandated collaborations can succeed * And much more!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation; 1st edition (April 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940069032
• ISBN-13: 978-0940069039
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Consolidation & Merger

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid advice on how to make collaboration work between community organizations., May 26, 2007

By 

Jason Diceman "Dotmocracy guy" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey (Paperback)

This text definitely earns its Handbook title. It is a complete 178 page manual on how to initiate, grow and support a successful collaboration between not-for-profits, community groups and institutions.

It starts with detailed story of a fictional "Tri-County Collaboration for Homeless Services" that goes through every stage of development. This story is then referenced through out the second part of the book which gives detailed insight and advice on the specific tasks, stages and milestones throughout the life of a successful collaboration. The manual concludes with annotated resources and 30 pages of simple template forms and worksheets that cover everything from meeting agendas and decision-making protocols to joint agreements, promotional plans and guides to systems change.

The book has excellent formatting with lots of easily digested and referenced lists, information boxes and sub-headings. The many illustrative examples help provide real world context and the side bar quotes are a nice spice that help keep the text light. The perspective and language is from the front lines of community organizations in the USA, although generally applicable to collaboration between any type of organizations in any location.

The target audience is definitely real world organization leaders and consultants who aim to coordinate effective teamwork between multiple organizations either for funding reasons or out of their own initiative. At times the language and metaphors may cause a raised eyebrow or two from a hard nosed executive director, but such flowery bits are brief and easily overshadowed by concrete tasks and experienced insight.

Michael Winer and Karen Ray did a great service in authoring this handbook back in 1994. It would be interesting to see what revisions would be made in a second addition that could take into account the web technologies and techniques that are now part of our everyday work. Until then this handbook is still a very useful resource for the good people who want to do good work together.