Hold Each Other Accountable Posted on February 28, 2006 Oscar A. Barbarin (bio) emphasizes that communication is important in any type of collaboration.

In many ways, it's very much akin to collaborating with people in another city or another state. That is, frequent communication is important, sharing information and not leaving anyone out, particularly if they have multiple collaborators, making sure that everyone gets all the information, that there's a decision making structure in place. Having periodic telephone conference calls, and I've done that with South Africa, Europe, Australia. It's fairly easy, although finding the right time is probably he most difficult thing. Usually it means doing something in the evening here [in the U.S.], so it's the time when other people are awake. Frequent communication, using telephones, using the Internet would be a first step.

Involving everyone in the decision-making, I think a more egalitarian, democratic structure, not a hierarchical structure, really facilitates these relationships working.

Then holding each other accountable, setting timelines. The hardest thing is being realistic. Some people may want to be pleasing and suggest that they can do stuff that may be unrealistic. We have to recognize the different demands (family, work), and the fact that things often just take time, so we have to be realistic. Once set, everyone should be held accountable. The work should be spread out and not fall on one person's shoulder. And to have a mutual sense of accountability, maybe perhaps with a bit of flexibility if something comes up to be able to call it and say they can't meet this deadline, to have some system for reporting and holding each other accountable for producing things.

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