Collaboration- including collegiality, mentoring, influence and leadership in research
Collaborating with others is vital to success as a researcher.
- What is collaboration?
- Why is collaboration important?
- How can you improve your collegiality?
- How can you improve your mentoring?
- How can you improve your influence and leadership?
- How can you improve your collaboration?
Do you have opportunities to collaborate?
Take the opportunities you can to work with others to strengthen your interpersonal and team working skills.
These skills will pay off in the long-term and will help you to build a network of support, crucial for your research career.
What is collaboration?
The attitudes and behaviours to work effectively with other people through different relationships. In this section it also includes collegiality, mentoring, influence and leadership.
Why is collaboration important?
- Working well with others is an essential skill for life
- Researchers need to be able to collaborate well with others as research brings many different people together
- The strength of a team is the diversity of knowledge, skills and abilities that different individuals bring
- Working in collaborations can bring numerous rewards, including new resources and funding opportunities
How can you improve your collegiality?
Collegiality refers to the relationships between peers working for a common cause. Between them, they respect each other’s independence of thought, intellectual property and abilities.
- Understand your role within the wider context of your institution – this could involve becoming a departmental representative or a member of a local research staff association
- Utilise appropriate communication channels to interact with colleagues and gage their feedback
- Show consideration to others and seek advice at appropriate times while allowing time for responses, listen carefully to feedback and respond perceptively
- Be approachable and find out about local norms and cultural niceties
- Find opportunities to engage in constructive peer review
How can you improve your mentoring?
Mentoring is the process of supporting, advising and training your colleagues who have less experience in a particular area. Mentoring and coaching can be an invaluable source of support for individuals looking to develop their careers.
- Undertake training in mentoring/coaching to develop your skills
- Seek new opportunities and challenges for your mentee –aim to empower them with new responsibilities
- Try to ask someone to be your mentor, preferably someone whose work you admire
- Encourage and support peers – this could involve encouraging them to present at conferences, to write and to be published. Review presentations and papers, listen to practice presentations and provide constructive feedback. You may even advise on potential journals to submit to.
How can you improve your influence and leadership?
- Understand your core values and lead from them – when you lead from your values you lead with authenticity, which will have more impact
- Understand the strategy in place in your organisation and then find ways to contribute to it
- Take opportunities to lead in meetings and propose actions
How can you improve your collaboration?
- Learn from each other, and be open-minded about different ways of doing things
- Build up a network of partnerships for collaboration through various activities such as contributing for bids for funding
Final takeaways
- Working well with others is an essential skill for life
- Collegiality refers to the relationships between peers working for a common cause. Between them, they respect each other’s independence of thought, intellectual property and abilities.
- Mentoring is the process of supporting, advising and training your colleagues who have less experience in a particular area.
- Understand your core values and lead from them – when you lead from your values you lead with authenticity, which will have more impact
- Build up a network of partnerships for collaboration through various activities such as contributing for bids for funding