In preparation for a potential National Education Seminar presentation, NPMA member Brandon Kriner asked the following question in our NPMA Asset Management Facebook Group:
“What steps could be taken to improve collaboration and increase trust between government and contractor representatives with regards to managing government property?”
What happened next was an eye opening and insightful array of over 30 responses from our NPMA peers. Below are some of the responses:
“our government people always manage to make me feel like I don’t know what I am doing… I know should be being done that are not but when I bring it up they make me feel almost dumb… take the time to listen instead of cutting me off and then I can hear your thoughts and let’s work together.”
“The government giving straight answers when asked. I get it everything is vague for a reason but how am I supposed to refine my processes specific to my situation with little insight.”
“Government and Contractors need to look at each other as partner’s and not adversaries…”
“honest open communication and friendly relationship between the two teams were key to building trust.
“Open communication on both sides is always the best. Don’t hide things cause they will be worse later if you do, work together and all will work out.”
“Keep open and honest communication to build trust!”
“… ‘open, honest communication’. In my 43 years in property that was the most important aspect of maintaining trust.”
The question received examples of not only challenges, but opportunities to build collaboration and trust for all parties involved. Some industry members feel Government representatives (presumably auditors, program offices, contracting professionals, etc.) made the contractor feel dumb, cut them off and fail to listen. Government representatives may have been too vague and fail to provide process specific guidance to the inquisitive contractor. Respondents report their Government counterparts adopt an adversarial relationship vs. a partnership.
Thankfully, numerous examples of positive observations and tips for continuing to build trust between all parties was also shared. Our members shared that mutually honest, open, communication is a key to building trust. I’m sure many of us reading this article would agree.
“open, honest communication. A willingness to listen and learn, and to respectfully question if you have a legitimate reason to do so. Respect and communication build a strong foundation for good working relationships”
“Building trust based on proven dependability over time.”
“Trust and open communication… Trust and Respect. Always remember ‘auditors’ get audited too…”
Did you notice any common trends, comments, or thoughts?
During my review of the thread I found many of the comments deal with lack of interpersonal skills, lack of emotional intelligence, or lack of mutual respect. The words and phrases that most often stood out to me most were open, honest, communication, respect.
Open
To me, it means two-way street, back and forth, open dialog where things can be discussed freely, without judgement
Honest
To me, it means no ulterior motives. We aren’t trying to set each other up or trickour counterparts.
Communication
Communication is a two way street. I interpret we have to listen, show empathy, and then communicate our point of view.
Respect
As it relates to the topic of collaboration, I take that to mean professional courtesy. Don’t be demeaning, demanding of your partners.
After analyzing the Facebook group comments, recommendations and lessons learned, I presented my Government peers with a similar question, along with a few others.
The first question asked What steps could be taken to improve collaboration and increase trust between government and contractor representatives with regards to managing government property?
- To build trust between the Government and Industry it starts with building a team approach.
- include contractors when drafting new guidance within the Government… [meet] with the company reps and explaining to them how we can help them.
- … never ceases to amaze me how “ Uninformed” contractors are about all the [Government] staff assigned to their [company] and the help and advice the contractor can obtain from [our office] … It’s also never ceases to amaze me how scared contractors are to reach out to the [Government Contracting] staff … for fear of “rocking the boat” or not getting any future awards because the contractors feel they ask to many questions and perhaps annoy the Government reps.
I’ve emphasized parts of the responses. As you can see, several of my peers feel building a team approach, explaining how we can assist our partners as it relates to surveillance and oversight, and provide advice to help them help themselves are steps to help build collaboration and trust.
A respondent even shared they felt contractors are SCARED to reach out for help.
Remember a few paragraphs back, how an industry partner shared that Government partners make them feel dumb?
That’s likely an example of why folks feel uneasy about communicating with each other – and definitely not conducive to building collaboration and trust.
A follow-up question asked What challenges have you experienced or perceive that prevents collaboration and trust between both parties?
While another question asked What potential opportunities exist to improve collaboration and trust between both parties?
Below are a few of the responses:
- [Our office] sometimes causes more confusion than it does with answering questions (when read by contractors)
- Not adequate communication between Government and Industry when it comes to policy updates/changes
- Audit per the contractual requirements, while reviewing the important data.
- Open the communications lines and be transparent. Do not make unilateral decisions and allow time for industry to respond to changes/updates… More meetings are needed to make the contractors feel comfortable that they can trust [our office] and that contractors know they can come to us with questions.
As you may have noticed, many of the responses to this supplemental questionnaire between my peers touched on policy change engagement and lack of communication between our parties.
Steps that can be taken to improve collaboration and build better relationships:
Collaborate. Participate in mutually beneficial projects, training, discussions to help get a better understanding of each other’s vantage point. Examples include participating in industry training/webinars; become part of a professional community and participate in Chapter Meetings; contribute to communities of interest (NPMA, NCMA, DAU, etc.)
Build Trust. Earn the trust of your partners by having open and honest dialog. Trust your partners. Begin with a trust first, then verify. Follow through on commitments met. Hold each other accountable. Practice collaborative mindset.
Build Emotional Intelligence. Practice building emotional intelligence by becoming self-aware of our emotions, drives, values – and their impact on others. Show empathy “reading the room,” note our peer’s posture, expressions, and reflect back our own sympathy for the current state.
How do YOU build collaboration and trust with your industry partners?
Share your thoughts, comments and suggestions in our NPMA Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/NPMAAssetManagement) or in our NPMA Community (https://www.npma.org/).
Hard copy of this article published at The Property Professional magazine, vol 32 issue 2.