Design Thinking + Inclusion: Capacity Building Invoice

In the previous articles on inclusive collaboration, we covered the difference between collaboration and its almost, but not quite, twin: validation. We also walked through a couple of great tools to incorporate into your collaboration efforts. If you haven’t yet, check out the first two articles in this series about the tools you need to help you and your team move from validation to real, inclusive collaboration here.

Here’s the third tool to help you and your team move from validation to real, inclusive collaboration:

When you bring a group of people and organizations together with varied resources, you will run into a problem. Executing what has been discussed during the process of collaboration has a monetary cost and skills cost that often isn’t addressed. 

Full disclosure: The Capacity Building Invoice is not a figurative or hypothetical invoice. 

Feel free to use this template as a starting point for a very real invoice that breaks down any activities discussed and their cost to teams and individuals. This is not meant to deter any plans for moving forward, but to address the needs of those with limited resources. It is also an opportunity for those with a bigger budget or team to think through what they can offer to smaller teams in the way of labour, skill building, editing support, travel costs etc. So fear not, this invoice will not have any one person or organization responsible, but will open a conversation about who needs what, to successfully complete the agreed upon plan without crippling their resources. 

This very real, very customizable, and very straight forward tool eliminates the idea that collaboration is inherently a flat or inclusive process. It openly and clearly addresses that to get stuff done, everyone will need a certain set of resources, and this will mean redistribution when necessary.

Check back next week for more tips on how to be inclusive and collaborative, and be sure to check out my workshop for more information on how you can take your vision for inclusivity from ideas to action.

Thanks to the folks who attended the Ottawa Impact Hub session on collaborating towards tackling the Sustainable Development Goals for sparking this series!