Ingrid Sharp shares what she has learnt from collaborative working

Learning is a two-way process – it’s not ever been a matter of feeding my research to grateful partners.  Both my current partners have been able to conduct their own highly effective research for their projects and have a strong record of surviving by attracting funding in a tough environment.

It was in fact one of my partners, Jude Wright, and not me who identified the key focus of our project and set up the contacts in Kiel. She also stretched the limited resources or our initial grant far further than I would have been able to do.  I have had to reflect quite seriously on what I can actually bring to the table and I think in the end other factors than my research expertise and subject knowledge will be most important.

Being part of the University gives me:

• Access to resources that smaller voluntary groups don’t have – administrative support, venues, IT and photocopying facilities, and paid time in which to work on shared projects.  In particular peace groups often have no paid staff and are run by volunteers in their spare time and financed by membership subscription.
• Money: however poorly funded we think we are, we have access to funding that enables projects and can lead to a successful bid for match funding for the partners.
• German language skills – this gives my partners access to archival research in German. The funding for the current project pays for a postdoctoral researcher who is able to seek out and translate elusive accounts of revolutionary women and gives the playwright the chance to use direct quotations.
• Reputation – the association with the University and Research Council funding can add credibility to a project. In my trips to Germany with Bent Architect, I discovered that the theatre connection gave me some standing with theatre directors and cultural planners, while having an academic on the team with University backing established our credentials among the research community – together we were stronger than either of us would have been on our own.

Do I have any examples of good practice to pass on? What worked and what didn't?

I have learned that the fit with the partners’ and researchers’ interests has to be very good and really fit in with current priorities on both sides, the communication has to be honest and carefully maintained by regular meetings and discussions.  This kind of collaboration is very time-consuming and cannot normally be confined to normal working hours, nor do non-academic partnerships thrive under the kind of neglect to which we often subject our fellow academics when we go off radar for weeks while we cope with a pressing deadline. It is therefore very important that the collaborative work isn’t pulling you away from a competing research agenda but is actually what you need to be doing in any case.

University structures, especially around releasing finances in a timely way, can be problematic for a small company in the creative arts unable to absorb a large outlay for any length of time, and committed to ethical dealing with other creative companies who rely on being paid promptly. This issue can damage the relationship of trust on which the success of the project depends and it is important to have a discussion with the financial team to explore ways of making financial transfers work more flexibly within their auditory parameters.

The current project on women in the German revolution places the academic team in a service role, as both the outcomes (the play and the exhibition) are dependent on  the greater expertise and skill of the non-academic partners, so we need to be flexible and open to new ways of working.  The outcome should be win-win – the academics gain knowledge of an under-researched area, with the opportunity to present work at academic conferences as well as publications and we also gain an insight into the creative process and acquire the skills of presenting complex material in a visually attractive and educationally effective way.  The theatre company and the peace museum get access to German-language material and support to create a new play and exhibition, and all of us can use the contacts and resources of the university and my existing networks to publicise and disseminate the outcomes.

By Ingrid Sharp