Enabling better management of research gifts through cross-functional collaboration: A case study

In the lead-up to its first comprehensive Campaign, Deakin University’s Advancement portfolio embarked on an ambitious programme of breaking down silos between the university’s Advancement portfolio and its research portfolio. This occurred against a backdrop of historical disconnection between teams, particularly in the wake of pandemic-related staff reductions and the move to offsite work for most support staff. It meant there was an opportunity for processes and relationships between teams to be created, almost from scratch. While both teams have a common purpose — to secure more funds to support university research — it is a major challenge to develop effective collaboration between two very different back-of-house management teams, who use different systems, answer to different benchmarking and reporting standards and have very different key performance indicators. This paper explores the strategies Deakin Advancement employed to smooth and align processes and principles with counterparts in the Research portfolio, at the opportune time created by the Streamline Programme, a research management framework restructure. The strategies employed focused on Advancement’s key strengths in relationship building and outside-the-box thinking. Leadership buy-in from both teams was an essential component, enabling staff to devote time and intellectual energy to the programme. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.