text: Considerations to Achieve Unity of Effort
  3-68. Because coordinating with others is often a choice, military leaders should evaluate when and how
  collaboration makes sense. Before engaging with other agencies, Soldiers should reflect on their readiness
  to collaborate. This includes reflection on—
  * How well one understands the issues at hand.
  * What one believes can be achieved by working with others.
  * What assumptions and expectations one has for interagency interactions.
  * How open one is to alternative paths to mission accomplishment.
  3-69. Identifying and fostering relationships with potential stakeholders is a critical first step in
  collaborative work. Stakeholders include individuals who participate in planning and implementing
  collaborative solutions, those who may be affected by them, and those who could block implementation.
  Military partners must be careful to establish relationships with stakeholders who are credible to the other
  collaborators, as well as to the group or organization that sent them. Representatives without credibility will
  lack the authority to commit their group or organization to a collaborative solution.
  3-70. Soldiers must understand civilian partners’ operational strengths and limitations so they can ensure
  interagency relationships support mission objectives. By understanding and then building on identified core
  competencies and successful experiences of interagency partners, Soldiers can better use available
  resources, create lasting partnerships, and ensure mission success. When possible, Army leaders defer to
  the agency most competent by training, experience, and mandate to be the designated lead for interagency
  partnerships.
  3-71. Key strategies for identifying and benefitting from key relationships are to—
  * Approach assignments with an open mind and without assuming one knows all the answers.
  * Show appreciation for different paths to success.
  * Identify number, type (such as local, United States only, or international), and purpose of each
  group working in the theater of operations.
  * Identify the key decisionmakers.
  * Recognize that several entities within the same organization could be important for coordination.
  * Identify agencies not yet represented and invite them to participate in collaboration.
  * Build relationships with civilian partners to employ their capabilities when military forces are
  not allowed to work in an area.
  Managing Conflict
  3-72. Soldiers should understand the potential for conflicts among individuals with differing cultural
  backgrounds. For example, interagency conflict may arise because of perceived differences in
  organizational goals or attitudes about the appropriateness of military involvement. Anticipating
  counterproductive confrontations and taking steps to resolve individual and organizational conflicts
  constructively is paramount to successful collaboration.
  3-73. To preserve working relationships, Soldiers should understand and apply compromise and mediation
  techniques where possible. Soldiers practice mediation by meeting one person to work out a solution or by
  grouping individuals who are in disagreement and allowing them to work out solutions separately.
  Mediation should occur quickly before positions become polarized and opinions are intractable. Mediation
  need not be a formal process; informal approaches conducted early are preferable.
  3-74. Soldiers recognize the value of interagency coordination and demonstrate a commitment to
  preserving relationships with interagency partners. To prevent and manage conflict, Soldiers engage in
  regular interaction and ongoing, open communication with partners. These practices can prevent
  misunderstandings or rebuild lost confidence when disagreements result in bad feelings. Additional
  preemptive strategies for managing conflict include ensuring all stakeholders are identified and included in
  making decisions. Army leaders ensure that ground rules for interagency interaction are collaboratively set
  and that key players support the partnerships and proposed strategies for interagency mission
  accomplishment.
  3-75. Key strategies for managing conflict are—