Collaboration Agreement Template

The Collaboration Agreement Template is designed to help crossdisciplinary research teams be explicit about the details of their collaboration. It is important for research teams to devote effort early to designing their collaboration so that they are set up for success and can focus on the technical details of the project. This template contains questions in several topic areas that guide team reflection on what is working and not working, discussion of strategies for working together successfully, and development of approaches for preemptively addressing potential conflicts. It is intended to facilitate dialogue about shared rules and norms of collaboration and open pathways for anticipating, identifying, and addressing obstacles as they arise. Crossdisciplinary research teams include a diversity of disciplines and professions, personalities, and work and communication styles and this template can surface and elucidate these differences. Teams that are willing to acknowledge, examine, and develop a shared understanding of how to address these differences can move more quickly and efficiently toward successful project outcomes.