Governance in a complex world: true collaboration in delivery

The current economic climate has demanded new ways of working, and we are seeing more and more collaborative working. There is a real focus on top to bottom collaboration between companies, rather than a tacit acknowledgement of working better together.

The APM Governance SIG recognised the early signs of this approach when, in 2007, it published Co-directing Change a guide to the governance of multi-owned projects

There are an increasing number of multi-owned projects as businesses and other organisations seek to capitalise on their complementary skills and resources whilst diluting risk exposure. This guide allows company directors and leaders to question how well its shared projects are governed, and therefore how well their risk exposure is being controlled and benefits maximised.

Since then collaborative working has seen an emergence of a number of client / contractor organisations coming together to deliver change. The Institutefor Collaborative Working (ICW) has been created to promote good practice in this area.

They have recognised that delivery of projects through collaborative working is more than just agreeing a set of objectives, and BS11000 on Collaborative Working provides guidance on the mechanics, but not necessarily on the specifics of a governance structure, ethos and behaviour.

Is collaborative working something your organisation is involved in or is contemplating and you want to improve your performance?

The APM Governance SIG, supported by the ICW, is running a one day interactive Masterclass on 21 May 2013 to explore the issue.Register for the event here.