Advantages of Collaboration: Make the CHOICE to Collaborate

Credit Union industry expert and strategic planning consultant Michael Hudson talks about one of the key strategies every credit union should be looking at for the future: Collaboration.

http://www.CreditUnionStrategy.com

We've always had collaboration in this industry. It's the nature of the cooperative industry and the cooperative organizations that we operate. But the opportunities are expanding for collaboration and there are so many ways that we can use collaboration to improve our efficiencies and operations, connect with new members, and expand our entire reach and impact.

You must make the C.H.O.I.C.E. for collaboration:

C -- Commitment
H -- Honesty
O -- Options
I -- Integrate
C- Communication
E -- Efficiency

Collaboration starts by making a COMMITMENT. Commit your organization to look at the opportunities that are out there and to get serious about collaboration. Give up ownership when necessary -- let egos get out of the way and don't let anything get in the way of your commitment to find ways to collaborate so you can save your credit union money and serve your members better.

Be very HONEST about what your credit union does well and what it doesn't do so well. By taking a look at those two things, you can identify the areas where you have opportunities to go out and collaborate to improve your effectiveness.

Explore your OPTIONS. Don't just jump into the first collaborative opportunity that looks exciting because there are a number of things out there right now. Look at all the options available to you before you focus in on one that you're going to pursue.

Once you make the choice to collaborate, you have to INTEGRATE your collaborative activities into your day to day operations. It can't be a back burner project. It has to be something you really focus on and make a part of the day to day activity so it becomes part of what your organization does and not just an outside project.

Any collaboration will succeed or fail based upon the COMMUNICATION between the parties involved and the communication with the parties that the collaboration was put in place to serve. So, if you're going after a business services collaboration you want to make sure you have a high level of communication with the people who are in the collaboration with you, the clients you intend to serve, and with your current members who want to know more about what you're doing.

The whole objective of collaboration right now in the credit union industry should be for increasing EFFICIENCY. Finding ways to do things better than you can do them internally, looking for ways to save costs, and looking for ways to bring in new members and new customer bases.

In short, make the C.H.O.I.C.E. to collaborate. Pick the one that fits your credit union, put a commitment in place, be honest about it, look at your options, integrate it into your operations, communicate on an ongoing basis, and find the efficiencies. Then your credit union will win through collaboration

For more about improving your credit union visit http://www.CreditUnionStrategy.com

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• Strategic Planning
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