Effective interdisciplinary collaboration between statisticians and other subject matter experts

Abstract

Progress and innovative solutions to challenging problems often come at the intersection of multiple disciplines. Statisticians frequently are presented with opportunities to participate on or lead interdisciplinary teams, where how well their contributions are received is a function of their effectiveness as collaborators. In this article, we outline six fundamentals for effective collaboration: respect, shared common goals, trust, commitment, intercommunication, and execution. We focus on how these core aspects of a successful collaboration can be encouraged by statisticians. Through an example, we illustrate how problems can arise when some of the key components are missing and what strategies can be used to mitigate problems. Finally, we describe how early career statisticians can work to improve their collaboration skills to improve their impact on teams with diverse backgrounds.

Keywords:

• Statistical engineering
• interdisciplinary collaboration
• team
• decision-making
• problem-solving

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of Dr Michael Litano by inspiring the concepts and applications that lead to this article during his collaborative internship at NASA Langley Research Center while completing his PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Old Dominion University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.