On Friday 29th May we held the first ICW Thought Leadership online interactive forum. It was a great success with over 25 participants, all of whom made valuable contributions on how collaboration will develop in the future.

The session was led by Frank Lee from BSI - a Fellow of the Institute - and by our COO David Hawkins.

Key points that came out included a view that collaboration will become more and more valuable and relevant in the future and will continue to deliver value when applied effectively, but the nature of the value derived may well change as we understand how a collaborative environment brings business benefits, not just in traditional cost and efficiency measures but through increased welling, staff retention, sustainable business models and improved environmental and performance and profile.

The forum also focused on developments in collaborative competence and particularly the competencies to be a collaborative leader in the new post COVID world where relationships will have to be developed with less face-to-face interaction; the need for greater upfront effort in partner selection; the importance of culture, of understanding through rigorous internal assessment the profile of your organisation to collaborate and the cultural fit you will need with a potential partner.

Frank also led a short discussion on the importance of ethical partnering ensuring that your partner shares your commitment to human rights, sustainability, equality, habitat protection and diversity.

Given the success of this event we plan to hold more similar events in the future. The next is focused on Collaborative Leadership, on 4th June, 10:00-12:00.