Collaboration

Collaboration is when people work with each other to complete a task.^[1][2] It involves co-operation and teamwork and the sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills to reach the same objective.^[3] The objective is usually creative in nature.^[4] Most collaboration needs leadership or some kind of co-ordination, although responsibilities can be shared within an egalitarian group.^[5]

Each person plays a tightly or loosely defined role in the process of collaboration. For instance, to make a movie a writer, director, producer and actors are needed. There may also be a need for a costumer, a cameraman (if the director cannot do it all), an audio engineer, and a film editor if the project is big enough and the schedule tight enough.

Not only individuals collaborate; groups also do it. Large construction projects are usually done by collaborations between corporations, wars are often fought between alliances of countries, and political parties often collaborate in government.

1. ↑ "collaboration". Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved September 18, 2012 from CollinsDictionary.com.
2. ↑ Marinez-Moyano, I. J. Exploring the Dynamics of Collaboration in Interorganizational Settings, Ch. 4, p. 83, in Schuman (Editor). Creating a Culture of Collaboration Archived 2021-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. Jossey-Bass, 2006. ISBN 0-7879-8116-8.
3. ↑ Collaboration, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2007
4. ↑ Collaboration, Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., (1989). J. A. Simpson & E. S. C. Weiner (eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. ↑ Spence, Muneera U. "Graphic Design: Collaborative Processes = Understanding Self and Others." (lecture) Art 325: Collaborative Processes. Fairbanks Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. 13 April 2006.