The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) publishes new Playbook to help leaders address the common pitfalls of collaboration
The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) publishes new Playbook to help leaders address the common pitfalls of collaboration
As we seek to solve the UK’s significant, interdependent challenges, there is growing urgency for effective cross-sector collaboration and the need for leaders who have the understanding, skills and mindset to lead successful collaborations.
A poll of over 250 senior leaders revealed that collaboration, while highly desirable, poses a challenge for leaders across the sectors. 90% believed that cross-sector collaboration would improve organisational outcomes but nearly 60% felt they were ill-equipped to initiate and drive collaborative efforts due to insufficient training and development*.
To support leaders with collaborative endeavours, WIG has partnered with the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, to develop the Collaboration Playbook: a leader's guide to cross-sector collaboration. The Playbook draws together academic research, thought-leadership and real-world examples, to explore five fundamental components of collaboration that are often overlooked - trust, culture, leadership, power, and learning.
Fiona Ryland, Government Chief People Officer, endorses the Playbook and highlights the need for collaborative leaders with the right skills: “Collaboration across boundaries and sectors is increasingly becoming the core of our expectations of what emerging great future leaders will excel at.
“I hope leaders will use this Playbook to guide how we and our teams can collaborate to achieve the goals that no single sector can deliver on their own. It is not easy, but the outcomes will be further reaching, longer lasting and more impactful than anything we can achieve on our own”.
Providing a practical, evidence-based guide, the Collaboration Playbook will help leaders ascertain when it’s right to collaborate, what should be considered, and how to best seize the opportunities presented by collaboration. The Playbook actively addresses the areas that the research identified as weak spots in collaborations, ensuring a comprehensive resource for leaders aiming for collaborative success. Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, CEO of WIG said: “The playbook creates an ambitious agenda with a clear focus on the importance of leadership to achieve the best collaboration across the sectors”.
To learn more about effective collaboration practices, leaders can download WIG's new Collaboration Playbook at wig.co.uk.
WIG is an independent, not-for-profit organisation with the charitable purpose of improving cross-sector collaboration for the greater good. To download the Collaboration Playbook or learn more about how WIG supports and develops collaborative leaders, please visit wig.co.uk.
* WIG member survey, June 2023, 251 leaders across the public, private, NFP and HE sectors.
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