Abstract: As offerings and enrollment grow in online learning, the need for quality and accessibility in the online environment is crucial for student engagement, retention, satisfaction, and success. Higher education is increasingly recognizing the necessity for instructional designers to aid faculty in creating courses in this new format. However, the combination of a relatively new teaching format and the need for collaboration in designing their courses is at times a difficult adjustment for faculty. The purpose of this article/presentation is to explore strategies for improving the instructional designer-faculty relationship and collaboration in order to successfully design and develop online and blended courses. Through the review of websites, reports, and articles, it will provide strategies successfully utilized by other collaborative professions to build trust, improve communication, clarify roles, and manage the course development process.