Working Together: Civil Service Behaviour Examples
What Working Together assesses, how to show collaborative leadership without claiming credit for others, and worked examples at HEO level.
**TL;DR.** Working Together is one of the 9 Civil Service behaviours. Assessors look for evidence of genuine collaboration — understanding the needs of different teams, resolving conflict, and producing outcomes that benefit more than your immediate group. The risk with this behaviour is describing the group's work rather than your individual contribution.
Worked HEO example (250 words)
*As an HEO digital project manager, I was leading the launch of a new internal tool used by colleagues in three different policy teams. The teams had different priorities and had been resistant to standardising tools. I began by visiting each team in person to understand how they currently worked and what they needed. I documented their needs in a shared requirements document and ran a one-hour workshop with representatives from each team to identify common requirements and resolve conflicts. Where the teams disagreed — one wanted a strict approval workflow, another a flexible one — I proposed compromise solutions and asked each representative to test the proposal with their team before the next workshop. I held three workshops over four weeks. By the third, all three teams had agreed a shared specification. The tool launched on time, all three teams adopted it within a month, and one team later asked to add a fourth workflow that we built into the next release.*
What scores 1 at Working Together
Using "we" throughout. Describing the team's activity without naming your individual contribution. Not naming the conflict you navigated.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Working Together in the Civil Service Success Profiles?
Working Together is one of the 9 Civil Service behaviours. It assesses whether candidates understand the needs of different teams or stakeholders, resolve conflicts, and produce outcomes that benefit more than their immediate group.
How do I evidence Working Together without claiming credit for the whole team?
Describe specific actions you personally took to facilitate collaboration — visits, workshops, drafts, compromise proposals. Use "I" throughout. Attribute the collective outcome accurately ("the three teams agreed") while naming your specific contribution ("I drafted the compromise that resolved the workflow conflict").
What is the difference between Working Together and Leadership?
Working Together emphasises collaboration and relationship-building across peers or teams. Leadership emphasises setting direction and taking personal responsibility for outcomes. The same situation can evidence both, but the Action section should emphasise different elements.