The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory: Assessing Your Collaboration's Strengths and Weaknesses

This inventory is a practical tool for discovering how your collaboration is doing on the twenty factors that research has shown influence success (see Collaboration: What Makes It Work). The inventory takes about fifteen minutes to complete. It can be distributed to a small group of leaders in the collaborative, during a general meeting, or via mail to all members for the most complete picture. You can tally your score manually or online. The tool includes complete instructions for administering, scoring, and interpreting the results, plus a definition of collaboration and descriptions of the twenty success factors. Groups that are considering collaboration can use it to see if they have what they need to succeed. They can then act quickly to shore up weaknesses and capitalize on strengthsóbefore formalizing the collaboration, or in its early stages. Established collaborations can use the inventory to troubleshoot problems, demonstrate successes to funders, and uncover differences in how participating organizations perceive the collaboration. Consultants to collaborations can use the tool to help the collaboration assess itself and to intervene for the most effective results.