Collaboration

Effective collaboration among advisors, family members, or other groups of individuals involves facilitating flow of information, sharing of ideas and proposals, and development of solutions or plans. UHNW clients commonly require collaboration among advisors, consultants, and other professionals to adequately address the Ten Domains of Family Wealth.  Multigenerational families who share assets and/or goals also typically need to be able to collaborate well within the family itself.  Collaborative behaviors and skills can be enhanced and developed through training, coaching, and experience.

Acting collaboratively is considered the intermediate of three levels of group functioning on behalf of a client.  The most basic level – cooperation – involves the willingness and skills to agree to information exchange or to perform an action upon request from another professional or the client. Cooperation is largely transactional and limited to a specific situation. Collaboration is a more extensive set of processes that work toward a goal, though not necessarily a common goal. It is a fundamental building block of integration but is not synonymous with integration. The highest level of group functioning – integration – typically requires additional elements of shared goals, accountability, effective leadership, and facilitation of group activity on behalf of the client.