How do you manage research collaborations during times of crisis or change?

At the organisational level and at your individual research team develop a crisis plan with different scenarios. So when a crisis hits, plan where you are going to work, how you will communicate, share information, what reagents, space, IT resources you need, where your back ups and vendors are, alternate sites, who else can provide you the resources you need to carry out your research, what arrangements (reciproal or paid) need to be in place, other stakeholders who need to be informed in case risks increase, eg delays, inability to meet goals, increased costs, reduced manpower, security and safety risks, contractual and reputational risks

Research collaboration tends to gather professionals with different backgrounds to achieve one common goal. Sometimes, it requires immense problem-solving actions on many levels. My scientific journey shaped a strong prioritizing algorithm in me, which is as follows: 1. Stay calm and rationalize activities between members; 2. Define and focus; 3. Observe and gather; 4. Identify; 5. Analyze; 6. Consider; 7. Assess risks; 8. Generate; 9. Implement your decisions; 10. Monitor progress; 11. Learn; 12. Repeat process.

While assuming that research partners will be impacted by a crisis is natural, poorly informed assumptions may be damaging to your research relationships. From my own experience, the first thing I would do when facing an overwhelming crisis is check in with each of my partners to learn how each is coping, and to gain insight into whether partners need immediate support that I or my team can offer. Once partners are stable, then jointly, we can identify crisis drivers and the most urgent issues to address.

COVID was a great example of a crisis that was extremely hard on research teams with valuable data at stake. In such situations huddling together to first assess the impact on the research, data, teams and the long term goals is very helpful. Each one is important and linked to the other. Also masking sure everyone understands the common goal also helps align everyone toward working together.

The first strategy is to assess the situation. When faced with a crisis or change, it is essential to evaluate the impact it may have on the research collaboration. By understanding the specific challenges and constraints that may arise, researchers can better plan and strategize for the future. Assessing the situation also involves evaluating the potential risks and opportunities that may present themselves during this time. The second strategy is to communicate clearly and frequently. Open and transparent communication is vital in maintaining successful research collaborations, especially during times of crisis or change. Researchers must ensure that all collaborators are kept informed of any changes in plans, timelines, or expectations.

Multy-channel communication is the key to any social activity. That includes especially massive collaborations on scientific topics.

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Specific support or support strategies and tactics that your team can provide will be instrumental to maintaining the research relationship. Do not make offers of support unless you are certain they can be fulfilled, and even sustained during the crisis.

Effective communication facilitated a shared understanding among collaborators, enabling us to promptly respond to crisis or change by making informed decisions, reallocating resources, and maintaining a cohesive research effort. This adaptability ensured the continued progress of our projects.

Maintaining healthy research partnerships involves regularly checking-in with your collaborators, whether planned or not. But these check-ins should not just about discussing your research. It's also about building a friendly connection with your partners and talking about things you all find interesting, even if they're not directly related to your research field. This helps strengthen your teamwork and relationships beyond your work together. I've found that strengthening teamwork like this not only fosters better relationships but also enhances the quality of your collaborative work. For me a cohesive and connected team tends to produce more effective and innovative research outcomes, especially during times of crisis and change.

When it comes to managing research collaborations during tough times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning between academic phases, or even academic calendars, it's all about adaptability and innovation. Let me share a real-life example that hit close to home. Just when my research project was gaining momentum, covid-19 hit, throwing everything off track. I had planned to conduct in-person interviews for a study, and suddenly, that option was off the table. I had to quickly innovate and convert an in-person interview study to an online survey based study with open ended questions that still allowed for qualitative insights.

Crises are points of upheaval, times when research partners may drift away or disappear entirely, owing to vulnerabilities unleashed by the crisis. To prevent situations like this, I would go beyond mere feedback to enabling your partners to make decisions about project adaptations and innovations. One-sided decision-making is not a true partnership. Co-design and co-produce adaptations and innovations to crisis.

Being flexible and coming up with new ideas are super important when you're working with others on research, especially when things get tough or change suddenly. For example, when COVID-19 hit, we couldn't work together in person anymore. So, we had to adapt by using tools like Zoom for meetings and finding new ways to collect data online. These changes helped us keep going and still get good results. So, being open to change and thinking of new ways to do things can be a big help when you're doing research with a team.

Conflict often involves power dynamics and individuals taking firm positions, which can result in fixed mindsets. A transformative approach becomes crucial in enhancing understanding and facilitating change. By employing participatory research tools and action research methodologies, we empower individuals to grasp the research objectives and actively contribute based on their lived experiences and practices. This approach significantly elevates research quality. The aim should be to bolster the ownership of the research community by enabling their agencies to take leadership in the research process.

As stated above, conflicts are almost guaranteed to arise from research collaborations. However, as I have stated on multiple occasions to colleagues and partners in the past, it is not productive to fear conflict. Conflict does not equal hostility.

Conflict: If you and your research team disagree, talk it out nicely and find a compromise. For example, when deciding how to analyze data, discuss it calmly. Expectations: Make sure everyone knows what they should do and when. For instance, if you're working with people in different time zones, agree on deadlines and how you'll talk to each other. This helps avoid problems later on.

Ownership not only enhances research quality and access to the right participants but also serves as a protective shield for the research team. Local stakeholders are more inclined to safeguard and guide the research, providing invaluable insights into the local context.

Prior to being able to manage or manoeuvre conflict and expectations, and to setting any rules, one has to aim for understanding the challenges. Why do they arise, how do they look like, what does the context entail? The so-called "softer skills" are highly relevant here, such as emotional intelligence, listening, observing, asking the right questions, cultural sensitivity and more. Is the team lead, or several collaborators involved, equipped to guide the process and identify solutions? A lot of conflict can stem from emotions. For example, feeling heard, pressured and more. Expectations can stem from 'personal' frames of reference for own behaviour, even in a professional setting.

Science is not about self-goals or personal achievements. Behind every scientist, there is a wall of people with their contributions beforehand. Every scientific paper is a result of an avalanche of well-structured information from multiple authors. No matter who you work with and their psychological traits, your work matters equally. Your partners may not appreciate you, but the rest of the world does.

In the situation of crisis, we will be dealing with many types of pressure which can be mental or financial. For example , during COVID people lost a significant amount of savings to avail medical facilities and there was fear and mental pressure all round. After these situations, if we are able to adapt the situation and be able to proceed in our research objectives. Then , we need to have mutual respect and applause for our research collaboration, acknowledging the situation and work we were able to do. It will boost our morale and reenergize ourselves to proceed to achieve our end result.

Celebrating and showing appreciation is important in research collaboration. It boosts team morale and fosters a positive atmosphere. For example, when a colleague accomplishes a significant milestone or makes a valuable contribution, acknowledging their efforts with a simple "thank you" or a small celebration can go a long way in building a supportive and motivated team.

It is all about critical thinking. If you are not able to criticize your own work in a constructive manner or take feedback from others you won't be able to learn and progress in the future.

During and after a crisis, it is important to share learning and experience so good practices are adopted widely and risks and things that did not work can be reduced or improved. This is a continual process. Crisis plans and organisational and work processes must be updated and communicated and regularly reviewed. While improvising is important as not all crises can be anticipated it is no subsititute for planning.

Our research partnerships are mostly with overseas institutions as we operate in a developing island state. When COVID hit, the travel bans and restrictions put all these partnerships on hold indefinitely. We realised we didn't have a strategy or plan to deal with such a situation. We learnt many things which have now gone into a plan to cope with such possible scenarios. A key lesson learnt is to keep communicating despite the ongoing crisis. One positive outcome is that with funding from our main research partner we took advantage of the hiatus to build new infrastructure for researchers at our site.

Allow research partners to make decisions whenever, wherever and as much as possible especially in times of crisis and change. This is an effective strategy to keep research partners interested and, most importantly, motivated to act on our research, its processes and outcomes.

Give freedom to people and ask them to give negative feedback on your work. That's how you will grow. Focusing on all the positive things will mask your perception.

Cut the fluff! Times of crisis are the best moments to focus on one absolutely essential goal and let go of the secondary tasks. By focusing all of the teams' efforts on one task, your odds of success are higher. Once the crisis is passed, do not go straight to "old habits" but try to learn how you were able to deliver that project with minimal resources. Use those insights by integrating them in your next project and make your department leaner, faster and more efficient.

Be sensitive in the time of crisis, we do not know exactly how someone is doing or dealing with the impact of the crisis. We have to also understand the personal hurdles of our members. We have to prioritise our collaboration members before any deliverables. This will create more ownership and connectedness with the research and it will directly impact our pace in a significant manner. If we care about collaboration, our collaboration will also care about our results, even in the crisis time.