When establishing core teams at community early childhood programs, it is important to remember that an effective team must be developed. It does not just happen. Working within a consultative model requires a framework of trust. All participants are valued members of the team and in order to function as such their views, opinions, skills, and information must be acknowledged and respected. However, when there are several different opinions and viewpoints, it is difficult to accommodate everybody (Read about how to deal with disagreements among team members). Therefore one of the functions of a core team is to collaborate with one another. Swan and Morgan (1992) define collaboration as "efforts to unite people and/or organizations for the purpose of achieving common goals that could not be accomplished by any single individual or organization." If responsibilities are shared, individual team members are more likely to have a vested interest in the outcome of the decisions being made. An especially effective means of collaboration is for the community early childhood staff and special services staff to jointly plan activities, programs, strategies, and adaptations on a regularly scheduled basis. It is much more motivating to implement a program that one has helped to plan and develop for a child. It is more likely to be a positive experience if one plans an activity jointly to address a child's individual needs rather than being told what to do. Team members are more likely to accept new suggestions and strategies if their own suggestions and strategies are acknowledged. The great thing about collaboration is that everyone learns from each other because each has something to offer, regardless of their particular role (Read about strategies to foster collaborative relationships in our Guidelines).