The Collaboration Agreement helps initiate strong business partnerships. It helps minimise the risks of working with new people to an unclear outcome. It also helps to build trusting relationships and to develop and test the proposition itself. More flexible and less restrictive than a final supplier or R&D contract, the Collaboration Agreement is a project-based and time-limited agreement that sets out the rewards and responsibilities and the development milestones for both parties.
"Collaborative production is simple: no one person can take credit for what gets created, and the project could not come into being without the participation of many.”
Clay Shirky
Use the format of the Collaboration Agreement to negotiate and finalise a mutually agreed programme of activity. Decide what the outcomes will look like, who is going to do what, who is going to pay for what, what to do about intellectual property in the short term, what the final go/no-go decision is based on and what you intend to happen after that.
This tool is the precursor to signing the 100%Open Collaboration Legal Agreement.
HOW THIS TOOL FITS IN WITH OTHERS
Use Give|Get to rehearse and prepare the exchange of resources during the project.
Open Innovation Models will help determine the desired end state after this initial collaboration.
A Collaborative Business Canvas will also help map out the eventual partnership in more detail.
