A Formula for Effective Collaboration for All Members of SETAC

Cynthia Stahl and Teresa Norberg-King, SETAC North America Board of Directors

Collaboration is the key to successful organizations and careers. Intuitively and practically, this makes sense because people, with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, bring a range of perspectives to the organization. However, implicit and explicit bias impairs full and effective collaboration. Yet, how often do we describe others in stereotyped shortcuts? We are all individuals shaped by culture, society and various affiliations based on interests. Every one of us is multi-faceted. Being a member of a stereotypical group is not protective against our own propensity for relying on stereotypes. Stereotyped shortcuts fail to capture the holistic person, tend to create an “other-ness,” and stand in the way of inclusion and effective collaboration. Taking the time to recognize your own bias could help unlock job opportunities and advance your career. Not sure what your biases might be—test yourself! Check out Project Implicit.

SETAC’s principles are multi-disciplinary approaches to solving environmental problems, balance in participation, and science-based objectivity. SETAC’s values are transparency, integrity, diversity and inclusion, equity, sustainability, cooperation and dialogue. Meeting SETAC’s mission via its stated principles and values requires effective collaboration. Effective collaboration in practice requires all participants to transcend their biases and focus on commonality to enable trusted working relationships among themselves where they feel valued for both who they are as well as their professional contributions. Building trusted relationships under the SETAC umbrella takes time and a steady focus on the SETAC principles and values. Collaboration without goals or without achievement is hollow. Therefore, collaboration embraces the whole of differently knowing and differently experienced people at SETAC and supporting collaboration is a commitment to the whole package: mission, principles and values. SETAC as an overall organization and each of SETAC’s entities (governance, committees, interest groups and affinity groups) would be well-served to reflect and, as needed for clarity and direction, periodically reexamine and refine their goals and activities to more transparently support this kind of collaboration.

As SETAC members, actively engaging different perspectives and striving to embody the SETAC principles and values and overcoming biases helps to ensure that that we foster collaboration and our work is the best it can be for the environment and for ourselves as an environmental professional community. Take the Implicit Bias tests to better understand your own biases so you can correct them and become a better collaborator.

Authors’ contact information: [email protected] and [email protected]