ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that particular skills and competencies are a crucial component of effective working in the area of public management. Collaborative action assembles people and organisations from different backgrounds, cultures, experiences and objectives, and the challenges of working together effectively are significant—instances of conflict, overly prolonged decision making, professional and organisational jealousies, power imbalances and clashes of culture often make this form of working tortuous and unrewarding. The content of professional training programmes in general does little to reflect the collaborative working challenge in contemporary public management, but the nature of continuous professional development opportunities might be a fertile area to explore going forward. The delivery of education, training and development opportunities and programmes centre broadly on academic, professional and experiential sources. In terms of the role of academic training, there are no programmes dedicated to the development of cross-boundary public managers—in the same way as social workers, town planners or civil engineers.
