Sharing the Secrets to Successful R2X Collaborations: Perspectives on Collaboration Challenges, Opportunities, and Successes from R2X Teams

Gray (1989) defined collaboration as “a process through which parties who see different aspects of a problem can constructively explore their differences and search for solutions that go beyond their own limited vision of what is possible.” This definition provides an idealized description of a collaborative environment. However, it does not highlight that collaboration is a nonlinear process involving back and forth dialogue, with challenges that often arise as individuals from different backgrounds develop and work toward a common goal. This is especially prevalent in the Research to Operations, Applications, Commercialization, and other uses (R2X) context as many researchers work alongside operational entities and practitioners during research and development. These groups share differences in the amount of time and resources they can dedicate to the effort, governance processes, organizational culture, perspectives, and communication practices, which make collaboration challenging yet necessary for the benefit of society.

This panel session will feature stories from transition teams highlighting their R2X collaboration experiences with the goal of making future collaborations more successful. Each transition team (including a research and NOAA operational partner) will differ in terms of the number of years collaborating together, scientific discipline, and experience with the various type(s) of transitions in order to offer a well-rounded and diverse learning experience, especially for people less familiar with NOAA’s R2X policies and processes. The panelists will discuss collaboration success, challenges and/or obstacles they faced, and best practices learned along the way.

Panelists in this session will be asked to think about answers to the following questions as they prepare for this interactive discussion:

• Think about an R2X collaboration experience that you found particularly successful. What do you think contributed to its success?
• What have been the biggest challenges or frustrations about your R2X collaborations? How could those challenges or frustrations have been prevented or circumvented by addressing them either before the collaboration began or earlier in the collaboration process?
• If you were advising others on best practices for collaborating with researchers and/or operational practitioners, what would you recommend and why?
• If you could wave a magic wand, what is one thing you would want to change to make R2X collaborations more efficient between researchers and operational practitioners?

References:

Gray, B. 1989. Collaborating: Finding common ground for multiparty problems. Jossey-Bass.