Is your collaboration SAFE: a simple model for collaborative viability

November 7, 2011 | article by Ken Thompson in Virtual Collaboration Networks (41)

Most collaborative ventures don't turn out quite the way we envisage. It would be great if we could determine in advance if a particular collaborative project or joint venture will be worth the required investment. Here is a simple way you can assess the merits of any collaborative endeavour BEFORE you invest time, effort and money in failing to make it work.

SAFE: CERTIFIED
IMAGE: adjie-babywalkers.blogspot.com

The SAFE model of collaborative viability - a summary

S is for SYNERGY
Is there genuine synergy between the parties? If you all do the same thing or do things which are too diverse to join up then you don't have SYNERGY.

A is for APPETITE
Assuming that there is SYNERGY do the parties actually want to collaborate? If SYNERGY is the mind of collaboration then APPETITE is the heart. You can't have collaboration without APPETITE.

F is for FEASIBLE
OK so there is SYNERGY and APPETITE but if it now requires monumental effort to collaborate or there are huge practical obstacles to collaboration then it won't happen. Is it Feasible?

E is for ECONOMIC
Finally your proposed collaboration could have the other three things but unless there are some really good concrete timely benefits to the parties, preferably economic, then any collaboration is probably not going to be sustainable.

Checkout some of my other collaboration models:

The Sustainable Network model

The Fair Collaboration model

The 3 rings of commitment in any group

Many Thanks to Kathryn Burns of Birmingham City University who collaborated with me to develop this model.

About Ken Thompson

Ken Thompson delivers keynote conference speeches, workshop facilitation and in-house consultancy in four key business areas:

Creating High Performing Teams in enterprises including Virtual and Mobile Teams (based on the Bioteams Book)
Establishing effective Collaborative Business Networks enabling companies to co-operate effectively in areas such as sales and product development (based on the book - The Networked Enterprise)
How to use the latest social media technologies including blogging and online communities to promote enterprises, brand, organisation or event
Development of graphical on-line interactive Business Dashboards and What-if Simulators for organisations to support Performance Improvement, Strategy Development and Executive Team Development.

Tags: Bioteams, collaboration

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Bioteams Books Reviews

Social Propagation is the secret to organizational and team learning

August 21, 2005 | article by Ken Thompson in Book Reviews (37), Online Collaboration Techniques (47)

and the most evolved non-human species on the planet is not who you think it is! Arie de Geus is credited by many as the inventor of the concept of "the learning organisation". In his book "The Living Company" Arie describes an interview with Professor Alan Wilson, distinguished zoologist and botanist.

Buy it now from:
Amazon.Com
Amazon.Co.UK

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Click here to check all Bioteams book reviews

Related Virtual Collaboration Networks Articles

Have you discovered the power of Serendipitous Collaboration yet?

July 9, 2010 | article by Ken Thompson in Virtual Collaboration Networks (41)

The most common approach to business collaboration (Planned Collaboration) involves prior analysis of the participants to try to identify shared interests in collaboration (e.g. as complementary players in a collaborative supply network). Another more radical approach (Serendipitous Collaboration) involves putting a random mix of companies in a room and seeing what develops. Guess what - Serendipitous Collaboration works really well provided you have a good process for uncovering synergies!

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The Networked Enterprise and Connecting Innovation

March 31, 2009 | article by Ken Thompson in Virtual Collaboration Networks (41)

I (Ken Thompson) spoke on the theme of The Networked Enterprise at an event "Connecting Innovation" organized by the University of Brighton and Use8 in Hove (UK) on 26 March. My full slide set is available here for download.

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Instant collaborative business networks

September 30, 2005 | article by Ken Thompson in Virtual Collaboration Networks (41)

As a facilitator I do a lot of work with groups of small businesses who say they are interested in "collaborating as a network" (whatever that means). The conventional approach to working with such a group is to first build some trust, exchange company information and then start exploring collaboration possibilities. The problem is that this approach does not really work!

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