Understanding Collaboration and Networks

The term collaboration means to work together with others to work towards a common goal. People collaborate in many different situations in the workplace.

Some collaborations are large-scale, long-term arrangements while others are much smaller. In your role within a community services setting, you might need to collaborate with clients, families, work teams and other organisations and agencies. You will need to develop the skills and knowledge to help you collaborate effectively.

Effective collaborations happen when there is a benefit for everyone involved in the situation rather than a benefit for only one party.

Networking

Networking is about sharing ideas, information and experience between individuals working in the same or similar industries. It is different than collaboration, where organisations or individuals come together to cooperate with each other on a specific project towards shared outcomes. Networking is about sharing knowledge to further individual careers or to take back into the organisation for improving practices.

Some people believe networking is about making lots of connections, but they rarely act upon keeping those connections active and energised.

Working collaboratively with other organisations provides greater opportunities for service provision to your clients. But there are costs as well as benefits to be aware of.

Collaborations may occur with other service providers and organisations, as well as within a single organisation or work team. Collaborations can occur for a short time period or may be extensive. Other terms for collaborative approaches include service delivery coordination and inter-agency service delivery.

Auspicing

Auspicing is a partnership between two organisations in which one accepts legal responsibility for the partnership regarding funding, administrative tasks and reporting. The lead organisation is usually an incorporated body that is able to apply for government funding, while the other organisation is usually unincorporated but has the skills, knowledge and resources to undertake the project being proposed. The incorporated organisation is able to receive and disperse funding and is responsible for ensuring that the project meets the targets and goals defined in the funding agreement and that the funding is properly acquitted.

Colocation

When organisations require expensive infrastructure to operate, a colocation model may be appropriate.

Through colocation, multiple organisations can make use of infrastructure, spreading the cost and risk of operating across the cooperating organisations.

Colocation can take a number of forms, including:

• Co-governance

In which a sub-committee of representatives from each partner organisation provides management and governance under the oversight of one organisation, which acts as the auspicing body.

• Amalgamation

In which the partner organisations merge to form an entirely new entity that contains an agreed number of representatives from each partner organisation.

• Co-operative

The co-operative model has at its centre a legally registered non-trading co-operative that is managed by a board made up of members from each organisation involved in the collaboration.

• Lead agency model

In this model, the lead organisation takes on a building lease and manages the premises with help from a management committee of the smaller organisations that take up the leases.

Co-operatives

Co-operatives are legal entities but are structured in a diferent way to incorporate organisations, corporations or trusts. Co-operatives are democratically managed, with a flat governance structure. The principles of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity define the co-operative, and this appeals to many organisations as it gives each organisation in the collaboration an equal say in the running of the organisation. Co-operatives are particularly suited to the way in which Indigenous communities wish to operate their services.

Community services workers can network in many different ways, through formal and informal arrangements.

Formal arrangements include unions, industry bodies, communities of practice and inter-agency meetings and events. Informal arrangements can include networking events, get togethers, trade shows, conference meet-ups, and professional learning virtual groups.

Unions

Unions provide opportunities for members to access training and networking to enhance their understanding of legal matters including awards, wages and conditions, WHS, and bullying and harassment. Unions provide networking opportunities through meetings and conferences, and online seminars and professional development opportunities.

Industry Bodies

Industry bodies are organisations that represent the interests of employers and provide them with opportunities to network with other organisations in their field and representatives from government and overseas organisations. They can provide information about industry best practice, new and emerging technologies, professional development, new legislation affecting the industry and potential threats and opportunities for long-term growth. They provide networking through meetings and conference events, online seminars and professional development.

Communities of Practice

Communities of practice are groups of people who come together around a shared goal or concern. This is a kind of targeted networking through which participants learn to improve their practice through regular interactions.

Communities of practice are based on the understanding that learning is social and comes from the things that we do every day, that knowledge and activity are strongly connected, and that growth should be nurtured and promoted through sharing.

Sharing insights and approaches through communities of practice can enhance practice for all participants and their organisations. It allows people to share information and knowledge and to broaden their outlook and connect with diverse resources they may not otherwise have access to. And, in an industry where burn-out can be high, communities of practice can provide encouragement and support.

Inter-Agency Meetings

Inter-agency networking is usually undertaken through informal meetings that enable agencies working in similar areas to share information and reach out for problem solving. Inter-agency meetings work best when they are supported by management.

Online Communities and Networking

According to the World Bank, 87% of Australians are connected to and use the internet. This means that the majority of your client base, peers and other stakeholders will have access to the internet.

The advance of communication technologies has helped organisations and individuals to bridge geographical and disability barriers to networking. Using online or virtual communities and networks to enhance practice, collaborate and share knowledge has become standard practice for most organisations. It allows individual workers to attend networking events without having to travel, reducing costs and time burdens that can be related to traditional forms of networking.

When you are working in community services, it is important you consider both the legal and the ethical requirements of your role. You must be aware of and follow your legal duties, but you must also ensure you act in a way that is ethical.

You should maintain high professional standards that are in line with community and sector best practices.

Online Networking Etiquette and Policies

It is absolutely vital that when using online networking spaces you maintain professional standards. Because of the perceived anonymity of online platforms, they are often misused by people to bully, harass, threaten and humiliate others.

Online professional networks can make or break your career. Use them properly and your networks will grow and your reputation will be solid. Use them incorrectly and everyone in your community will know about it.

Remember that when using these networks, you are representing your organisation just as you would be at a face-to-face meeting, so you must follow the communication protocols and policies in place in your organisation.

Maintaining Privacy and Confidentiality

Your organisation will also have in place policies and procedures relating to the privacy and confidentiality of clients’ information, and procedures for disclosing information. All community service providers must protect clients’ private and confidential information according to the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Providers must have a statement in place that provides information to clients about how the information they gather will be used, and what can and cannot be disclosed. You must not contravene the rights of clients to privacy and confidentiality by disclosing information outside of the prescribed manner.

Information which may be collected could include:

• Name
• Address or contact details
• Parent, guardian or next of kin
• Age or date of birth
• Gender

Information must be relevant and applicable to the services being requested or provided and should only be shared with others who have permission to access the information.

You should avoid sharing information with people who are not entitled to have access to it. Remember to respect privacy and confidentiality during face-to-face and online interactions, both when you are working and during your non-working hours.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

Legislation surrounding copyright and intellectual property is important in community services work, particularly if your role involves producing, publishing, sharing or contributing to print or digital content such as flyers, service guidelines, fact sheets, web pages, blog posts or promotional material.

Copyright

Copyright is a set of rights that are protected by the Copyright Act 1968. Basically, it means that the authors of texts, artistic works, music, computer programs, fi lms and sound recording have the sole permission to reproduce, perform, share or show their work in public, unless otherwise stated in an agreement or copyright statement. Authorship of the copyright material must also be correctly attributed.

For example, sharing a document authored by an organisation in a networking forum without acknowledging the source (the author) is a violation of their rights. Using a copyright photograph or image without attributing the maker is also violation of copyright. In fact, many memes you see on Facebook or Twitter actually contravene the copyright of the author.

If you are sharing any documents, such as research papers, policies or procedures, you must make sure that they are for public consumption, not commercial consumption, in confidence or private by checking with your supervisor first.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) is defined by IP Australia as:

This also applies to concepts that are collectively thought up by an organisation, or through collaborative efforts. You must be careful not to impinge on the rights holders when sharing ideas or concepts.

If you are ever unsure of the copyright or intellectual property status of anything from your organisation that you wish to share in a networking or collaborative environment, you should always check with your supervisor before acting. And although it may go against the principles of collaboration, there are times when ideas or products that are created by more than one individual or organisation are claimed by a sole author.

Be aware that not everyone you deal with will always be clear in their understanding of copyright and intellectual property.

Therefore, it is vital that when collaborating on projects to create something new, or something innovative, organisations and individuals must have a clear understanding of what belongs to whom, and it is always best practice to document everything.