Collaboration is overused
You hear it a lot, right? Everyone says they are collaborative. Every agency deck promises partnership. And yet a lot of our clients have talked about how they’re experiences with ‘collaboration’ have fallen short.
Too often, collaboration becomes transactional. The agency delivers work, the client signs it off, and everyone moves on to the next project.
Collaboration isn’t just process
Where collaboration breaks down most often is when it’s treated as a workflow instead of a relationship and shared ambition.
You see it happen all the time:
- Silos form between client and agency
- Challenging conversations get avoided
- Teams become protective instead of transparent
- The focus shifts to delivery over partnership
At that point, everyone might technically be ‘working together’, but nobody is truly collaborating. Real collaboration means coming to the table with a point of view but an open mind and a genuine desire to find the best solution.
It’s not just about process. It’s about genuinely caring about the outcome together. Shared ambition, ownership and accountability.
Recently, I sat down with Ciaran, Head of Fundraising at BBC Children in Need, who we’ve worked alongside for almost three years, to talk honestly about what collaboration actually looks like in practice. Not the buzzword version of it, but the messy, rewarding, challenging reality of building something together over time.
One thing he said early in the conversation gets to the heart of it for me: “No fundraiser is an island, you know, and you can’t really deliver on your own. Everybody has their unique role to play within that process.”
The best partnerships recognise that expertise exists on all sides of the table. Internal teams bring organisational knowledge, context and lived experience. Agencies bring perspective, creativity and the ability to challenge assumptions from outside the day-to-day.
The best partnerships include challenge
Having worked at an agency for the third sector for over 15 years, one thing I’ve realised over the years is that the healthiest collaborations aren’t always comfortable. But when everyone comes to the conversation with the right intention, to find the best solution, then it doesn’t have to be difficult.
Sometimes it means asking awkward questions, pushing for better, questioning ‘the way things have always been done.’
During our conversation, Ciaran and I talked about the crucial role agency partners can play: “There’s a healthy aspect of holding a mirror up and making sure that you don’t slip into complacency… trying to raise the standards all the time, challenge assumptions, challenge what’s possible.”
Collaboration works best when ambition meets reality
One of the most honest parts of our conversation was around compromise. Because collaboration isn’t about endlessly pushing for perfection.
Ciaran reflected on this brilliantly: “Ambition is rightfully all the way up here on the ceiling. But we shouldn’t let that be the enemy of being successful.”
There’s a tendency to believe collaboration means fighting every battle until you achieve the perfect solution. But in reality, strong partnerships often succeed because they find the best possible route within the real constraints they’re operating in.
Over long-term partnerships, you start to understand where pressure points exist, where flexibility is possible, and where compromise will ultimately lead to stronger outcomes.
Collaboration means solving problems together
At Different Kettle we always talk about being an extension of our client’s team. Not because it sounds good in a credentials deck, but because the work is always better when people are solving problems together rather than dipping in and out project by project.
And it’s nice to hear that reflected back from Ciaran: “This is probably the first time with a creative agency where it hasn’t felt transactional… it’s something different to that. It made me always feel like I kind of had a supportive team working with me.”
And honestly, that’s exactly what we aim for. Because ultimately, the best collaborations are built on trust, openness and respect.
So in summary…what makes a great partnership?
- Trust and openness
- Shared ownership and accountability
- Understanding of the organisation
- The confidence to challenge each other constructively
- Ambition balanced with pragmatism
- A commitment to solving problems together
When those things are in place, collaboration stops being a buzzword and becomes something much more valuable: a partnership that delivers better outcomes, stronger relationships and work everyone can be proud of.
That’s when the best work happens.
Hannah Sergeant – Account Director
If you’re looking for true collaboration, get in touch at sayhi@differentkettle.com.
