Jonathan Tame writes from Cambridgeshire, UK. He spent 10 years as Director of the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge UK, and now works to promote housing reform.
One story from early on in the pandemic illustrates what a profound difference a strong, shared purpose and open, trusting communication can make to collaborative relationships.
As the world watched people dying in makeshift hospitals in Italy — the first country outside China where the Covid-19 epidemic took hold — it became clear that what could make the difference between life and death was the availability of mechanical ventilators. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) estimated they would need up to 30,000 ventilators in a matter of weeks, but they only had 9,000 at the time. So the Prime Minister launched the ‘Ventilator Challenge’ — inviting the private sector to scale up production of existing models as well as design and deliver new ones to meet the urgent demand.
An engineering firm HVM Catapult used their extensive contacts to set up the Ventilator Challenge UK (VCUK) Consortium. It included top designers and engineers from companies like Ford, Airbus, McLaren and Siemens, working closely with medical experts and the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Within just a few weeks they took a modified ventilator design from idea stage to full production, delivering over 13,400 ventilators to the NHS.
Reflecting back on their extraordinary achievements, Rosa Wilkinson of HVM Catapult shared some of the keys to their success, all of which touch on relationships. First was absolute clarity of purpose — to save lives! Every delay could cost lives, so participants were driven by a universally shared, compelling, humanitarian purpose.
The second factor was complete openness; the confidentiality and secrecy which usually accompany competitive business operations gave way to full access to data and transparency. In daily meetings the team shared challenges and triumphs in equal measure, creating a new culture around honesty and openness, which ensured problems could be solved fast.
Thirdly, people were recruited according to their skills and expertise, regardless of rank, and flat structures were set up that were fit for purpose. Teams self-organised around key tasks and processes, and daily checkpoint meetings encouraged a strong sense of openness and trust.
Lastly, communications between all the diverse stakeholders, internally and externally, were managed collaboratively to keep the focus and motivation strong.
Someone else writing on the Ventilator Challenge noted that even the legal teams drew up contracts and got them signed within hours — when previously they would have required weeks to do the same thing!
Wilkinson’s conclusion was that for all those involved in the VCUK Consortium, the project felt like a tipping point. ‘Why can’t we work like this all the time? The truth is that if we really want to, we can.’
Such is the power of collaborative relationships around a powerful shared purpose — it really can change the world.
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