How it works

Through a series of 107 cards (96 for the Design/Health version), a project team is guided through structured activities according to three focus areas critical to successful collaboration.
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• Context - understanding the collaboration space and different perspectives
• Connectivity - building the relationships that ensure effective working models
• Capability - developing different kinds of expertise and ways of thinking to ensure everyone contributes and is supported to go in new and interesting directions when required

Teams using the toolkit follow step-by-step instructions, assume different roles and take part in a number of interactive activities. Themes of risk and riskiness are explored within a series of fauxjects (fake projects) where participants are challenged by different perspectives.

• Designed for up to 18 participants
• Takes 2 hours to complete
• Does not require a facilitator
• Each time you play you will need a fresh copy of the project manifesto poster, initiate.collaborate cards, one large table, blu-tack, marker pens, A4 paper, and most importantly snacks!

The initiate.collaborate toolkit is suitable for use (and re-use) by any individuals or teams wanting to build a successful collaboration, and get their project off to a good start.

By the end of the game project teams will:

• Better understand their individual and collective assumptions
• Set their project and collaboration goals
• Identify skills and strengths they need to be successful
• Develop a plan to deal with challenging situations and maintain a healthy collaboration
• Identify who will benefit the most from their project, and
• Learn the value of celebrating success

The final outcome of the game is a ‘project manifesto’ — a shared agreement for how the project team will work together.

Play initiate.collaborate at the start each new project to establish a shared understanding around collaborations—right at the start of a project to save time, money and avoid unnecessary tension.

There are two initiate.collaborate toolkits available.

initiate.collaborate

initiate.collaborate brings people together to think more critically about what makes for effective collaborations—at the start of a project, not the middle or the end when it’s often too late. With this toolkit teams will gain new insights into how personal value systems interact with the dominant perspectives within collaborations.

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initiate.collaborate: Design/Health

The last decade has witnessed an exponential growth in the number of designers working in healthcare contexts. Whilst design and health have much to offer each other, the potential of design in this area has yet to be fully realised. If you are embarking on a design/health collaboration the initiate.collaborate: design/health toolkit has been tailored especially for this purpose.

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