Home > Resources > Standards of Good Practice – 6th Edition > 4.2. Collaboration and Transparency

4. Guiding Principles

4.2. Collaboration and Transparency

Collaborations shall be equitable and transparent; they shall communicate goals and distribution of responsibilities to each responsible party.

4.2.1. Collaboration shall be based on mutual respect and be mutually beneficial.

4.2.2. Collaborators shall discuss and clarify:

    • Compatibility of missions and alignment of goals, objectives, and outcomes
    • Determining the objectives of the partnership
    • Establishing respective financial responsibilities
    • Assigning functional roles or tasks to responsible parties
    • Establishing policies and procedures
    • Managing health, safety, and security risks

4.2.3. Collaborators shall formalize all of the above in writing.

4.2.4. Collaborators should evaluate all of the above for continuous improvement and clarification of responsibilities.

Shall = minimum requirement | Should = recommendation | Can = possibility

Prompts for Self Assessment
  1. How do you communicate the goals and distribution of responsibilities within a partnership to each responsible party?
  2. What steps do you have in place to respect and promote each partner’s values?
  3. How does each partner benefit from the partnership?
  4. Who determines the benefits to each partner?
  5. After finalizing the details of a partnership arrangement, where do the written terms and signed documents reside?
  6. How often do you revisit the terms of an agreement with each of your partners?
  7. How do collaborators evaluate all aspects of the partnership for continuous improvement and clarification of responsibilities?