Find a common language together
Find a common language together
In order to support good interdisciplinary collaboration, it is important to work on developing a common terminology for the project in question and make an effort to understand each other's terminologies across disciplines. But the journey towards a common understanding of e.g. subjects of study, language and methods can be difficult and demanding. Therefore, it may be a good idea to make use of an external facilitator who can help the process along and be a catalyst for establishing a mutual understanding of the different disciplines. Rafael Wisniewski, Project Manager for SECURE, among others, made use of this:
We found it important to be in a neutral location outside the university. We asked an external facilitator to help us understand our different vocabularies. In our case, illustrations and drawings also played a pivotal role
Continuous work processes increase understanding
From the very beginning it was important that part of the collaboration on the Community Drive project, was having a common terminology and understanding. During the application process, there were already meetings between core participants from the different faculties. At the first kick-off meeting, all participants in the project also presented their research and perspectives on the project's statement of the problem to each other, Project Manager Rikke Magnussen explains:
It became evident that there were very great challenges in understanding each other's languages between certain disciplines. Due to the challenges, we agreed to have monthly steering committee meetings with core participants from all participating faculties, where all processes and challenges were discussed from the participants' different perspectives
The meetings were regular, and the core group participated regularly throughout the three years of the project duration. The continuous collaborative work processes during the project meant that the participants gained a more in-depth understanding of each other's disciplinarity, and everyone got a common language for the project’s statements of the problems.
However, it is possible to get back on track if you discover that you do not have the same perception of things during the project, Project Manager at EXOTIC, Lotte N. S. Andreasen Struijk explains:
At first, we were not aware of it, but after a few meetings it became evident that we had different perceptions on some things, and therefore we spent time talking about the objective several times throughout the project. Visualisation and concretisation are important – and we should not take for granted that we have the same perception of what is being said. It is important to ask questions to understand each other
FEEL FREE TO PHYSICALLY SIT TOGETHER DURING THE PROJECT
Being able to sit physically together and work interdisciplinary – possibly just during periods of the project – can be of great importance for a successful interdisciplinary research project. It can create good conditions for cooperation, including carrying out cooperative activities, across disciplinary boundaries. Co-location thus means a lot for interdisciplinarity by the fact that input from different disciplines will be included more naturally in the work than if each project participant were to sit alone or together with peers with the same disciplinary starting point.
Sitting together can be a great advantage.
Among the Project Managers from the interdisciplinary research projects at AAU, there is thus also an agreement of the fact that co-location can be a great advantage: