Page 48 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

Fundamentals of Collaboration 17

and organizations), and goals. It is essential to be clear and direct in com-
munications without expressing excessive anxiety, anger, or other power-
ful emotions, which are contagious and lead to interpersonal conflict and
systemic dysfunction. In order for collaboration to happen, there has to
be an ongoing process of mutual negotiation and expression of needs and
concerns without excessive rancor. It is essential to have opportunities to
talk through divisive issues before they reach the point of being disruptive
and traumatic and find alternatives to acting vindictively or withdrawing
from discourse, either of which will set back the process. It is advisable, as
tolerated, to routinize discussion about and awareness of commonalities of
purpose and values and to seek shared metaphors, which remedy areas of
difference while acknowledging the value of difference. It is important to
identify modes of engagement that are effective and intentionally employ
these approaches over ones that have been proved not to work well, while
always seeking to learn and incorporate new experience into the status
quo. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, maintaining an attitude of
mutual respect goes far toward allowing basic trust and communication
to develop. Mutual respect constitutes the foundation of enduringly stable
synergistic relationships. It is necessary to be watchful for early warning
signs, such as resentment, withdrawl, refusal to communicate, contempt,
paranoia, neglect, aggression, and complacency. Recognition allows us to
respond to small problems before they spiral out of control, rather than
ignoring them until they have become significant problems in and of
themselves.

References

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& M. T. Pavlova (Eds.), Effective risk communication: The role and respon-
sibility of government and non-government organizations. New York:
Plenum.
FEMA. (1997). IS-700 national incident management system (NIMS), an introduc-
tion. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from Emergency Management Institute,
FEMA Web site: http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700.asp
Gillespie, D. F. & Murty, S. A. (1994). Cracks in a postdisaster service delivery net-
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