Working Together HEO Example — 250-Word Statement
At HEO, assessors expect you to have actively organised collaboration, not just taken part in it. Strong examples show you bringing people together, structuring how they work, handling a disagreement and valuing views different from your own. Show your leadership of the group effort plus a concrete shared outcome.
Example statement
SMy running club and the local rowing club share a leaking clubhouse. Both committees wanted a fundraiser for a new roof but disagreed on the format, and a previous joint event had ended in an argument over money.
TI volunteered to lead a joint committee and get one event planned that both clubs would own.
AI began by meeting each committee separately to hear what went wrong last time, and I found the rowers felt the runners had controlled the finances. I proposed a joint budget from day one, with one signer from each club, and got both committees to approve it before anything else. I asked each club to nominate three members to a planning group, which I chaired. When the group split over ticket pricing, I gathered the costings, worked through two pricing options and let the group vote rather than pushing my own preference. I divided tasks by each club's strengths: the rowers ran catering because they knew the venue's kitchen, the runners handled publicity because one member designed posters. I set up a shared online folder so both clubs could see every decision and receipt, and I chaired short fortnightly check-ins to keep momentum. A week before the event I walked the venue with both club captains to agree the running order.
RThe event drew 240 people and raised £3,100, enough for half the roof. Both committees voted to make it an annual fixture, and the shared folder is now used for all joint spending.
Use this as a model, not a script. This is an original example written for this site. Adapt the structure to your own experience — copying it word for word risks plagiarism and will not reflect your evidence.
Why this scores well
- HEO-level ownership: leading a group spanning two clubs, setting up fair governance and letting the group decide rather than imposing.
- Balances both clubs' interests throughout — joint budget, tasks split by strengths, full transparency — which is working across boundaries in practice.
- The outcome is concrete (£3,100, 240 people) and the collaboration endured beyond one event.
What HEO level requires
| Grade | What assessors expect |
|---|---|
| EO | At EO level, Working Together means building constructive relationships beyond your immediate desk: coordinating with other teams, sharing information proactively and sorting out friction before it escalates. |
| HEO ← this page | At HEO level, Working Together means taking the lead in making collaboration happen: organising people across teams, valuing different perspectives and resolving disagreements so shared goals are met. |
| SEO | At SEO level, Working Together means building collaborative relationships across teams and partner organisations: creating the structures, trust and shared purpose that let groups with different interests deliver together. |
Common mistakes at this level
- Presenting yourself as the hero who did everything while the team watched
- Claiming to value different perspectives without a moment where one changed your approach
- Describing a meeting you chaired without explaining how you got people to contribute
Frequently asked questions
Show a moment where a view different from yours changed something. Perhaps a quieter colleague's idea altered the plan, or you tested your approach with sceptics before finalising it. Assessors want evidence you sought out difference and used it, not just a sentence claiming you value diversity.
No. HEO Working Together is about organising collaboration, which project members, coordinators and volunteers do all the time without line management. Chairing a joint committee, coordinating volunteers or running a cross-team project all count, provided you structured the work and handled the human problems.
Not all of it, but include friction if it was real. A collaboration with no tension can read as if nobody disagreed about anything, which is rare. A few sentences on one disagreement — how you surfaced it, heard both sides and found a way through — strengthens the whole statement.
Next step
Get the free HEO statement template pack — the same STAR structure used in this example.
Download the template pack