Collaboration Archives

NDAs as Collaboration Tools

At the Ethical Collaboration Association, we believe that non-disclosure agreements are a way to build collaborative relationships. In fact, NDAs are the most basic agreement used in business. Whenever two companies begin to get serious about doing business together, they typically do an NDA as they develop trust and as they see a path forward. …

NDAs, Coworking Spaces, and Access Control

Access control to a coworking space dictates how you can implement Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with visitors. In some cases, it may be impossible to do, which is OK, depending on the type of members you wish to attract and the culture you want to build. Do I Need To Control Access To The Coworking…

Collaboration IP Transfer Provisions

So you have a conventional NDA with someone. Each of you own your own IP. That IP is also well defined: it is anything that you brought into this relationship. But what happens with NEW IDEAS that you create under this NDA? What happens when you collaborate? Conventional NDAs are silent about what happens when…

Getting Harmed in Collaboration

The notion of someone being harmed by collaborating is something that few of us consider. If we are collaborating, there should be an air of trust, confidence, and openness that everyone shares. Even when people are working together towards a common goal, such at a Startup Weekend, Hackerfest, or some other event, we can actually…

Ethical Collaboration for Open Meetings

Ethical Collaboration sets the ground rules for open meetings. An open meeting is any meeting where we welcome anyone, including newcomers. In some cases, the new people may be experiencing your group or organization for the first time. You want to make a good impression, welcome them to the community, and set the ground rules…

Why Ethical Collaboration Is Better Than An NDA

There is a big step between having a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and Ethical Collaboration. (The Ethical Collaboration Agreement is FREE and available here.) An NDA is used any time someone wants to protect their ideas or technology. For example, I will have an NDA in place with a contract manufacturer, especially when the contract manufacturer…