The Importance of Disagreement
Effective collaboration can be a powerful thing. To be really effective though, you need to get the groundwork right.
So often, collaboration begins with identifying areas of agreement. However, areas of disagreement are every bit as important.
The wider the coalition, the more likely it is to have fundamental areas of disagreement and the more important it is to discuss these and agree how to manage them. Sweeping it under the carpet so that we can get on with collaboration can seem like the easy option. But that disagreement will keep causing distraction until it is addressed.
This all means that chairs/facilitators need to be good at spotting the differences in the room. I have lost count of the number of meetings I’ve been in where there was, to me, obvious disagreement, but the chair ploughed on with the next item as though agreement had been reached
The same is true of teams working together across large charities. The needs of the fundraising team may conflict with policy messaging. Services may not be comfortable with the language used to maximise press coverage. Until teams can surface these different perspectives and understand each other, effective joint working will be a challenge.
So, if you are trying to collaborate with others, here are some things to remember.
Disagreements are inevitable. Create a space to surface them early on.
Listen to those with other perspectives. Even if you don’t agree, understanding them will help you work together with less friction.
Agree how to manage areas of disagreement. This can be as simple as “we will avoid taking a position on this area because we are too divided”.
Never fudge a decision by pretending there is agreement when there is not.
Once a collective position is reached, be really clear what that position is. Remind people if they start to try to unpick a decision that’s already been made because they didn’t agree.
Collaboration is a skill, but worth the effort when you can achieve more working together than apart.
If you aren’t sure how to do this, get in touch. With over 30 years’ experience of leading coalitions and alliance I can help you get it right.