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Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration

Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration

This article is adapted from Jane Fountain, Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers, (Washington, DC: IBM Center for The Business of Forum: Fast GovernmentManagement Government, 2013).

Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers

By Jane Fountain

Federal agencies and academics have long discussed the hierarchical channels. Teams function well when productive importance of cross-agency collaboration. But recent changes communities based on trust and professional experience form in law and advances in technology have led to a new envi- around a problem, project, or practice. ronment that makes cross-agency far more achievable. The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 requires Collaboration through processes: In addition to effective the development of government-wide priority goals and managers and effective teams, cross-agency collaborative greater coordination among agencies. This article provides initiatives need effective organizational processes which useful insights into how the government can proceed in include a focus on strategy, operations, systems, and their creating effective cross-agency collaborations that can management. Effective organizational processes demand improve outcomes significantly. an organizational skill set that emphasizes rigor and clarity in setting goals, designing systems, building in milestones, The passage of the Modernization Act recognizes contempo- attracting resources, and framing an that lies rary political realities. First, complex policy problems, such across agency boundaries. as export promotion, disaster preparedness, and food safety, cannot be addressed by a single agency. Second, economic Public managers effective at cross-agency collaboration constraints make it increasingly problematic to continue need to use both their relationship skills and organizational spending on redundant and overlapping programs, services, structures strategically, working within their institutional and systems. Third, collaboration across agencies allows the constraints. The lessons reported here bring together a wide federal government to streamline, simplify, and improve pol- range of practical research and more than two decades of icy making and implementation. Collaboration has the studying cross-boundary relationships and working with potential to: government managers in the U.S. and other countries. This • Save money guide provides a comprehensive approach to cross-agency collaboration. It is not enough for a manager to develop • Simplify government for citizens and business interpersonal skills of persuasion or . Nor is it • Make public managers more productive enough for a manager to focus exclusively on organizational processes such as performance and measurement. The basic message of the guide is this: Interagency collabora- tion is sustainable if, and only if, managers operate strategi- Managers who concentrate exclusively on passing new cally within their institutional environments and develop two laws and budgets will miss other key dimensions of cross- types of cross-agency collaboration: agency collaboration. Management advice and research on collaborative , networked governance, joined- Collaboration through people: Relationship skills must be up governance, and more abound. Some advice empha- developed for effective managers and teams. Team-building sizes individual skills in developing collaboration. skills are those used by managers willing and able to work Other studies emphasize building networks for innovation. across jurisdictional boundaries to develop effective profes- Still others focus on and technologies that sional relationships and cohesive working groups. Skills should somehow make self-organization possible. And others needed by effective managers include active listening, fair- stress with an emphasis on clear ness, and respect—qualities that produce trust in a cross- goals, measures, and accountability. Cross-agency collabora- agency collaborative initiative. In cross-boundary teams, tion demands all of these skills and more. managers build informal relationships outside regular

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Jane E. Fountain is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Adjunct Professor of Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Previously, she served for 16 years on the faculty of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at . She is the founder and Director of the National Center for Digital Government and the Science, Technology and Initiative, based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Collaboration through People— manage across rather than within jurisdictional boundaries Relationship Skills for Effective Managers and operate without the formal authority present in hier- archical relationships. Managers who are effective across Key attributes, skills, and practices can be used by managers boundaries use the big picture, framing, persuasion, nego- to promote successful collaboration across agencies. The tiation, and other dimensions of influence to set direction, critical message is this: effective managers working across gain commitments, build trust, and motivate and coordinate agencies must use interpersonal and team-level skills, while others outside their direct chain of command. simultaneously working with others to develop rigorous management processes and systems robust enough to be sustained across formal bureaucratic boundaries. Characteristics of an Effective Strong interpersonal skills are important, but they are not Collaborative Manager sufficient in themselves. Rigorous performance management and other processes are critical, but they fail when relation- • Good interpersonal skills • Empowerment ship skills are neglected. Building trust does not mean that • Builds strong • Brokering rigorous systems are not needed. But rigorous systems under- professional perform when managers don’t trust one another’s authority, • Persuasion relationships expertise, and reliability. So we first discuss the skill set of • Negotiation the collaborative manager, the key dimensions of effective • Builds trust teams, and the underlying elements of collaboration across • Active listening • Fairness boundaries: trust, norms, and networks. • Motivation • Flexibility • Facilitation The Collaborative Manager • Impartiality • Sharing Collaboration depends critically on the interpersonal skills of • Sees the big picture individual managers. Successful cross-agency collaborations • Open • Creates shared meaning always involve policy entrepreneurs with skill at facilitation • Empathy and brokering among individuals and agencies with different • Sets direction perspectives and interests. Some researchers suggest that • Conflict resolution • Propensity to envision the selection of public managers with such skills is critical new ways of operating • Networking to the success of networked organizational projects. Other studies recommend that foster the formation of • Framing problems for • joint problem-solving “collaborative pairs” by linking key individual brokers across • Innovation agencies. In building interagency capacity, individual incom- patibilities among managers translate to structural weakness Source: Jane Fountain as processes are distorted.

The skills and processes that make agencies successful are similar to those that make cross-agency collaborations successful. The key difference is the need to design and

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The director of a successful, large cross-agency initiative describes his as the conductor model. Far Key Organizational Processes for from the stereotype of the charismatic leader, this executive Enhancing Cross-Agency Capability has a background in electrical engineering and transportation with a preference for giving the limelight to others. • Setting significant goals Like musicians in a symphony, his staff and partners must all • Specifying roles and responsibilities be reading from the same sheet of music, while their artistic expression is encouraged. • Formalizing agreements • Developing shared operations Collaboration through Processes— • Obtaining adequate resources Enhancing Cross-Agency Capability • Creating effective channels The design of cross-agency collaboration should flow from a clear, compelling statement of mission and goals; and a • Adapting through shared learning strategy that engages key stakeholders. There are seven orga- nizational processes that foster cross-agency collaboration. external stakeholder groups, and cross-departmental work Process 1: Setting Significant Goals teams. Clear, important goals energize and focus public managers. Managers are more likely to identify with and commit to Process 3: Formalizing Agreements a collaboration that has clear and significant goals. In fact, Cross-agency partners should articulate and formalize many cross-agency initiatives have stalled or failed because roles, tasks, and responsibilities, including decision-making managers could not (or would not) reach fundamental agree- authority. In some cases, they should develop formalized ment on goals even though a policy issue of importance—for agreements that specify the objectives, roles, and reporting example, interoperability among first responders or authentica- relationships at the outset of the project. Interagency tion processes in the federal government—formed the original networks in government often use more formal instruments impetus for the cross-agency group. The goal or mission of than those in business, not because there is less trust among the cross-agency collaboration must be important enough to the individuals, but because the culture and, in fact, institu- justify the effort required to develop and manage cross-agency tionalized requirements for oversight and accountability are processes. more formalized. Process 2: Specifying Roles and Responsibilities Observations drawn from business alliances show that Organizations exist to accomplish tasks that individuals formalization in successful network tends to alone cannot accomplish. To do so, organizations use divi- decrease over time, but this is not the case for govern- sion of labor to exploit gains from specialization of func- ment alliances—yet another example of the need to trans- tions and tasks. Interagency arrangements, by extension, late private business best practices carefully to mesh with exist to accomplish tasks that single agencies alone cannot the institutional environment of government. Emphasis on accomplish. They, too, use division of labor and functional goals and objectives, milestones, and deliverables is required specialization. This means dividing agencies by roles and so that partners understand their role, deliverables, and the responsibilities and assigning tasks associated with those timeline and pace of the initiative. roles. Role clarity and formalization make clear to those in the interagency arrangement what needs to get done and Process 4: Developing Shared Operations who will do it. Strong project and is critical to keep the moving parts of multiple agency groups aligned. Among the key structures public managers must build are Managers of successful interagency projects report that their those for governance, task performance, and communica- work groups are well organized and meet frequently. tion. Successful cross-agency collaboration is built through Whether they use a stat meeting model based on CompStat effective development and management of a variety of and CitiStat, or other models, the challenges are similar: governance and coordinating groups, typically including a steering committee—an advisory group composed of tech- • What are the problems we have to solve? nical or specialized staff such as legal or financial experts, • What is our plan?

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• How do we build a plan of action that will accommodate routines and coordination. In addition, establishing a culture all relevant agencies and programs? of open communication helps to ensure that promising ideas, emergent problems, and varying perspectives receive • What do our customers need from us? open, frank discussion in an environment where differences • What are the milestones and deadlines? are respected and conflicting views can be reconciled to produce workable solutions. • How will shared resources and budgets work? Process 7: Adapting through Shared Learning Public managers must often find the minimal common areas Interagency collaboration implies that partners across agen- on which to begin to build shared operations. This shared cies can engage in shared learning. Initial alliance conditions space, even if small at the outset, provides a basis for further and interorganizational design either “facilitate or hamper development. the partners’ learning about the environment of their alli- ance, how to work together to accomplish the alliance task, Process 5: Obtaining Adequate Resources their respective skills, and each other’s goals.” During the Adequate budget and staff are critical to interagency collabo- Bush administration, public managers involved in the Grants ration. During the initial stages of a collaboration, staff and Center of Excellence (COE) developed a consultative part- budget constraints may present considerable challenges to nership strategy meant to leverage differences across partner agencies and managers as they try to regularize resource flows agencies in terms of grants management practices into inno- and develop equitable shared arrangements. For example, vations for the entire network. ¥ when Congress passed the E-Government Act of 2002, they authorized substantial funding for e-government initiatives to build cross-agency capacity, but much of the funding was never appropriated, and managers of cross-agency projects TO LEARN MORE required considerable resourcefulness and perseverance to Implementing Cross- find and share funding across agency budgets. Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers with experience working across agencies stress Managers the importance of developing a shared budget with norms by Jane Fountain of equity to ensure sustainability. Ensure sufficient resources to carry out goals. If budgetary resources are constrained, develop an equitable formula for a shared budget or an equi- table fee-for-service structure that reflects actual use.

Process 6: Creating Effective Communication The report can be obtained: Channels • In .pdf (Acrobat) format at the Center website, Effective communication channels are critical for prospec- www.businessofgovernment.org tive interagency partners. Communication is not simply a • By e-mailing the Center at means to build group coherence and identity; it is a vital [email protected] tool of coordination, particularly when network actors • By calling the Center at (202) 551-9342 are building new capacity and lack established operating

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