Looking to collaborate with other businesses or individuals on a project? Well, you probably don’t need to be told how valuable the move can be for the growth of your organization.

Aside from the direct benefit of combined resources and shared financial responsibility, collaboration presents businesses with an opportunity to unlock fresh perspectives, challenge existing ideas and build upon new ones. At the very least, it will allow you to focus on your core competencies. Also, specialization can fuel productivity and efficiency. In short, there’s a lot that could go right.

But let’s not ignore the flip side to the situation. There’s a lot that could go wrong as well. For example, it’s all too easy to get derailed by internal conflict and culture clashes, especially when there is a third party involved. In my experience, it comes down to the way that the alliance is handled, and most corporate collaborations fail because they fail to recognize the importance of that relationship. So how can you ensure your business is not on that list?

This one might seem painfully obvious, but it’s where most businesses fail even before they begin. The truth is, it is simply not enough in this day and age to find somebody who is willing or financially able to work with you. Equally important is that they share the same values, passions and corporate aspirations as you, and chances are, you will have to look beyond your limited contacts to find that ideal collaboration. Look into business networking events and programs in your area, which are some of the best platforms to find enterprises that may be looking for collaborative opportunities. And when you’ve found a prospect, be sure to research it thoroughly.

The simple act of forming vision and mission statements can unify the two parties and make clear their intentions from the get-go. This is essential for two reasons: first, it will ensure that you and your business partner are on the same page regarding the goals of your project, and if not, it will give you an opportunity to clear up any differences in opinion. This is the only way to avoid any future disappointment and polarization that may occur because you and your partner had different visions for the venture. Of course, a secondary advantage is that visualizing success gives the team direction, bolstering collaborative spirit and motivation.

Explicitly decide on the roles, responsibilities and contributions of each individual/business in the collaboration. While trust is not only important but imperative for the long term success of any collaborative project, this does not mean that you shouldn’t hold each other liable. Unless clear expectations and roles are established for each party, there will be no sense of accountability for actions and tasks, and this may hinder your proactiveness, however subconsciously this may happen. Not to mention, there is a high probability for confusion when responsibilities haven’t been delegated appropriately to begin with. Why haven’t those e-mails been sent? Whose job was it? Guess we’ll never know now.

This is especially crucial when the collaboration is among two or more businesses where day-to-day correspondence is not feasible. Having a shared platform allows both sides to keep track of progress in real time and synchronize workflows rather than dealing with constant back and forth. The benefits transcend far beyond efficiency; collaboration softwares such as Slack, Trello, Flock and Google Drive keep the entire team informed on new developments while eliminating the chances of miscommunication or duplication of labor. What’s more, these platforms can either be used singularly or coupled with each other to set up a custom virtual office built for your collaboration.

The after action review (AAR) was originally developed by the U.S. Army, but today is widely applied to business and knowledge management. The term refers to a debriefing session in which every participant of a project thoroughly analyses the work done by the team and evaluates possible areas for improvement, even if that means pointing out flaws in the strategy. In other words, it is an opportunity to be critical without actually criticizing. That said, how can it come in handy specifically for collaborations? Well, here’s how. After every major action, you schedule a structured team review to deal with disappointment or disagreement before it escalates, addressing issues at their crux. Arguably the root cause for most failures is conflict, which often leads to resentment, tension and strain on working relationships—this simple method can save all that.

All these tips can aid in making collaboration an effective method to grow your business, but it’s important that amid all this, the true essence is not lost. The beauty of collaboration is that it is by nature a win-win situation: In the process of propelling yourself forward, you simultaneously do so for another individual or enterprise. Do not resist this, but embrace it.