Effective Communication in Collaboration and Consultation

Collaboration is a way of doing business as well as a style of working with others. It is not uncommon for individuals to work together without being collaborative about that work. However, when professionals truly collaborate they engage in the shared task willingly, demonstrating with their positive demeanors that they value interpersonal interactions and believing that their combined efforts toward a mutual goal will result in more successful outcomes than would any individual effort. The mantra of a good collaborator is "two heads are better than one" as opposed to "I'd rather do it myself!" In a true collaboration, participants also have parity, described as equal responsibility to make shared decisions with shared accountability for outcomes (Friend & Cook, 2007). Each team member should have a relevant and meaningful role to fulfill.