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. It uses the same STAR structure as this example.
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