Ground rules should cover maintaining communication among partners, resolving organizational and personal conflict issues, and planning and conducting meetings. In the most effective collaboratives, partners take time to understand each other's system and explore their differences. Partners with limited knowledge of each other's organization often rely on stereotypes and misconceptions to fill in the blanks. To avoid misunderstanding, partners must develop a base of common knowledge. This requires learning about each other's services and resources, goals, objectives, organizational cultures, and working constraints.
Conflict Developing common knowledge also means understanding personal differences.
Partners need to understand how individual personalities, beliefs, and behavior will affect the partnership. Personal attitudes and social philosophies can be divisive, especially when they involve race, ethnicity, and poverty. These conflicts should not be avoided, but worked through constructively. Talking candidly about these issue builds trust and allows partners to plan realistically. Throughout the entire collaborative process and relationship, partners should reflect on their work and celebrate their achievements.