Strenghtening Community Collaboration

Excercising Standards of Practice:
Strenghtening Community Collaborations

Practice: Grounding

GROUNDING is based on the principle that every person and community network has the right and responsibility to contribute to the well-being of the community.5 Mutual inclusiveness builds the bridge between perception and reality, provides greater opportunity for resource advancement and supports new and creative thinking.

Grounding serves as an investment in sustaining the collaboration well beyond delivering a specific service or product. The mix of people and organizations who call the collaboration “home” serves not only to represent the community (defined as either a community of interest, a geographic community or a combination of the two) but also to embody the culture and the diversity of the community. They ground the collaboration in the reality that exists within the community. They may bring issues affecting the community into focus and serve as a neutral forum where community conversation about the issues is encouraged.

Putting together the appropriate mix of people and organizations is critical to the ongoing success of the collaborative effort. The PARTICIPATION MATRIX (see Appendix A) is a tool to support effective “grounding.”

Two broad categories should be considered in developing a community participation matrix:

1. Networks within a community — the private, public and citizen sectors or “pockets” of people

2. Leadership within the community

The “leadership” of a community is often defined as the body of citizens who “believe in themselves, in others and in the community.” This inclusive definition brings in a wide cross-section of people who contribute in a meaningful way and have particular skills beneficial to the community. Constructing this cross-section may involve considering, among other things, the age ranges within the community, the ethnic diversity represented, and the culture represented.

With the exceptions of survival and achieving personal satisfaction, all human activity can be categorized according to one of five fundamental purposes. These broad areas of purposeful human activity are:

OPERATlON AND SUPERVISION — controlling and maintaining successful systems.

PLANNING AND DESIGN — creating new systems or restructuring ones that no longer work effectively.

RESEARCH — seeking information and generalizations to satisfy curiosity concerning natural or human phenomena.

LEARNING — gaining knowledge and skills by transmission from one mind to another and/or by experience and repetition.

EVALUATION — measuring success in achieving our purpose.

Shaping the characteristics of the Participation Matrix helps the collaborative effort to:

- develop an effective collection of people and community systems;
- define expectations, roles and responsibilities;
- chart the course of developing the collaborative effort.

Practice: Agree on the Outcomes

Focusing on OUTCOMES is based on the principle that people continue to focus on building and maintaining quality of life — in work, play and family — for themselves, their families and their community.

Futurists and researchers have pointed out that communities and states are continuing to shift from “activity-based” to “outcome- based” approaches in solving community issues. Community collaborations with an outcome-based focus work backward from the ideal condition or desired outcome. Having a targeted outcome to work toward gives direction to near-term actions and infuses them with a larger purpose.

For example, one community that began by being concerned about increasing crime now aims at the broad outcome of a “safe and secure community for its citizens, businesses and community infrastructure.” This has extended the community discussion beyond just providing Neighborhood Watch, a neighborhood safety program, to a wide range of safety awareness, education, prevention, intervention and treatment activities.

What are the general outcomes communities tend to work toward?

The shift to an outcome-based focus parallels the increasing emphasis on accountability within communities. As issues such as safety and security, quality education, economic security, supporting families, health and environmental concerns become more visible, more citizens are holding the community and its leadership accountable. Focusing on the outcome — the desired community condition — provides the opportunity to line up a range of activities for a common purpose. In turn, this supports the principle that everyone is responsible for the quality of the community, not just one person or organization.

How are outcomes commonly measured?
Four types of impacts are commonly used to measure outcomes. They include:

REAL-PEOPLE IMPACTS - Measurable ways in which individuals, groups, families and communities have changed behaviors.

ADVANCING SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT - Not only the number of people, organizations, agencies and groups involved in contributing towards a common outcome, but also the ways in which they work together for a common cause can be an important gauge of community capacity.

Often, initial collaborative successes can be measured by the degree to which services previously offered in a fragmented way are now coordinated.

RESOURCE ENHANCEMENT and DEVELOPMENT -Existing community resources such as skills, time, people and money can be assessed in relation to a common desired outcome. This assessment may then be used to leverage new resources and in turn raise the confidence and commitment of people and groups toward reaching the desired outcome.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT - Established policies, practices and procedures contribute to sustaining efforts to achieve a desired common outcome. This development occurs in three environments - within the collaboration, within the groups who are members of the collaboration, and in the community at large.

The “SPIDER WEB” (see Appendix B) is a useful tool for helping members of a community agree on where their community is at in terms of 12 important variables, where they want it to be three years in the future, and how large the gap between the present situation and the desired situation is.

	Practice:Identify the Foundation
	Maintaining a common ground.

Identifying the FOUNDATION is based on the principle that every community is unique, and so are the issues it faces.

Whatever the apparent similarities to other communities and issues, each requires an initial approach based on its own established culture. Simply copying solutions designed elsewhere often proves ineffective. Such solutions can be successfully transferred when they are adapted to the particular community’s commonly held vision, mission, and set of values and principles.

The VISION is the portrait of the desired future condition. While the desired outcome may be defined as “to have a safe and secure community,” the vision expresses how the community will look when that outcome is realized — e.g.: “All of our citizens contribute to the safety of our community, they respect people and places, protect the investments they make, and safeguard their sense of security.”

The MISSION is the purpose of the collaborative effort. The mission states the fundamental reason for the collaboration’s existence, who benefits from it, and how.

VALUES and PRINCIPLES are the beliefs commonly held by the group Values serve as a guide for reaching outcomes and working relationships, while principles describe how the group operates on a regular basis.

Establishing the foundation of the group allows the uniqueness of the collaborative effort to become clear. It helps strip away nonessential aspects to avoid duplication of effort, turf conflicts, fragmentation of services and/or disenfranchising the community.

OPERATlON AND SUPERVISION — controlling and maintaining successful systems.

PLANNING AND DESIGN — creating new systems or restructuring ones that no longer work effectively.

RESEARCH — seeking information and generalizations to satisfy curiosity concerning natural or human phenomena.

LEARNING — gaining knowledge and skills by transmission from one mind to another and/or by experience and repetition.

EVALUATION — measuring success in achieving our purpose.

Shaping the characteristics of the Participation Matrix helps the collaborative effort to:

- develop an effective collection of people and community systems;
- define expectations, roles and responsibilities;
- chart the course of developing the collaborative effort.

Practice:Focus on the Context of the Community

Focusing on the CONTEXT OF THE COMMUNITY is based on the principles that everyone has something to contribute, and everyone who will be affected by the outcome and vision should have the opportunity to take part in its development.

Recognizing, respecting and valuing the culture within the community provides a base of resources unlike any other. Gathering 50 community members together often accumulates 600 to 1,000 years of experience in the community.

Assessing the community in terms of six broad contextual characteristics sets the stage for framing solutions while allowing flexibility for those who must apply them.

These six characteristics are:

CATALYSTS - What are the events, incidents, or actions that serve to bring an issue into focus? Who are the people/ groups involved in the issue? How can the events, incidents, or actions that brought the issue to the forefront contribute to its solution?

HISTORY OF WORKING TOGETHER - How have people/groups come together in the past? Is there a sense of cooperation or competition? Do people trust each other and work well in teams? Do members of the community continue to build working relationships?

CONNECTEDNESS - Do established partnerships already exist among groups, organizations, agencies and businesses? Do people generally know each other? Is it common to communicate openly — both formally and informally?

POLITICAL CLIMATE - How is power perceived in the community? Are decisions that affect the community made in a shared way? Is the political climate valued as a resource? Is a wide cross-section of people involved in public policy development? Does the community foster new and emerging leaders?

POLICIES, LAWS and REGULATIONS - Are existing policies, laws and regulations supportive of the issue and/or collaborative efforts? Do they serve to help or hinder the processes involved in creating a positive condition? Is the community open to establishing new policies, laws and/or regulations that will contribute to community well-being?

RESOURCES - Does the community recognize and value the way in which people in the community work together? Does the community value the skills and abilities people and groups bring? Does the community respect “in-kind” contributions — what each person/group offers? Does the community consider all financial sources when developing new solutions?

Practice: Establish Effective Processes

Focusing on PROCESSES is based on two principles: one, an emphasis on working together toward the future rather than staying fixated on the problems of the past; two, the idea that each person involved can make a difference, and the impact can be enhanced by working together and applying common sense.

Adopting a standard of practice addressing processes advances what is to be accomplished, generates a larger number of imaginative and original solution options, and helps develop the systems to implement successful solutions.

Six areas need to be considered in defining the general processes helpful in communities and assessing the community’s capacity to engage in reaching the desired outcome. These areas include:

UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNITY — What are the community habits? Who influences the quality of life in the community? How are diverse cultures woven into the community?

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT — How does the community mobilize itself to address existing and/or emerging issues? What are the short- and long-term goals within the community? Who is involved in leading and advocating for the community health and well-being? Why is community development important to the community?

LEADERSHIP — How do people bring about change in the community? Who is valued in leading positive change? Why are people investing in their community? What influences people to serve as leaders?

COMMUNICATION — Is communication among groups open and clear? Are formal and informal networks of communication a regular part of the community? Are existing systems of communication used to the greatest advantage before developing new ones?

	“Are the community systems in place that support the collaborative effort and the RESEARCH AND EVALUATION — Has information been collected that will contribute to the community’s solution? What are the measures of success? How and what is evaluated? What are the previous experiences in this community and others that contribute favorably to the community?
	SUSTAINABILITY — Are community systems in place that support the collaborative effort and the desired outcomes? Who is committed to sustaining efforts in the short and long term? Why should this community effort be sustained? How will the effort be sustained? How will the community know when the effort is being sustained? What trends and changes in the community?

	MERGING THE ESSENTIALS AND PRACTICES Throughout this guide, essentials and practices have been offered that address the process of collaboration and the content of youth and family development. Simple graphics have been provided as tools to help people and groups apply this information. Additional support and education is available through the National Network for Collaboration. These resources may be accessed through the web site: http://www.cyfernet.org/
	Appendix A: Participation Matrix

	Using the Participation Matrix Defining who participates in any collaborative effort is a process that is inclusive, strategic and ongoing. Each adjective supports the core principle of community-based collaborations: The community is responsible for the issues it faces. When communities recognize the issues they face are complex and no one agency or organization can solve them alone, a door is opened to engage a wide cross-section of people in addressing community issues. Being inclusive of a broad array of people and organizations helps align existing resources and create new and dynamic ways to address issues. Determining who should be involved and how is a basic strategic element of the collaboration process. If people are allowed to do what they do best and if their tasks are clear, then effective participation and collaboration is ensured. Assembling an array of people who are personally and/or professionally committed to an issue is a challenging but worthwhile investment. The Participation Matrix serves as a worksheet to “map” the community. Mapping the community begins by asking: “What ‘pockets’ or networks of people make up our community?” How do people earn their money? Where do people gather for leisure activities? Who leads the community? Who are the people/groups who get things done? Who are the “hidden” groups of people within our community? Asking questions like these will fill in the blanks on the horizontal axis of the Participation Matrix. The second broad question to ask is: “What kinds of skills and backgrounds do we need?” What are the neighborhoods/towns that should be represented? What ethnic groups, age brackets, etc. groups are in our community? What type of leadership skills do we need? Asking questions like these helps fill in the blanks on the vertical axis. As names of people are filled in on the grid, more than one person often will come to mind for a particular category. Record as many people on the grid as possible. Use the matrix as a guide to include the wide range of people in the community in a strategic way. This matrix not only will help identify people who should be part of the collaboration process, but it will also will clarify the role of each person and how you view his or her connections to the community. Filling in the Participation Matrix is not a “one-shot” undertaking; rather, it becomes the basis for an ongoing planning effort. As more people become involved, more resources will be identified.
	Appendix B: The 'Spider Web'
	Using the "Spider Web" The Spider Web is a tool specifically designed to develop an understanding of where the community is today and where it would like to be in three years. Specifically, the Spider Web helps the group: Review each of the 12 factors important to any level of collaboration; Discuss which factors are most important to the group, without losing sight of all factors; Target future desired outcomes; and Measure progress STEP 1: IDENTIFYING WHERE THE COMMUNITY IS TODAY Following a brief definition of each factor, group members give their assessment of the strength of influence each factor currently has in the community. This is accomplished by individuals placing a red dot on each spoke of the spider web. The center of the spoke indicates little strength and the outer rim of the spoke indicates great strength. STEP 2: IDENTIFYING WHERE THE COMMUNITY IDEALLY COULD BE IN THREE YEARS While it is important to recognize and appreciate perspectives of the current community, it is equally valuable to reach a common agreement on where the community ideally could be in three years. Individuals place a green dot indicating their realistic hopes for where they would like the community to be in the future. STEP 3: CREATING THE WEB Two strands of the spider web can now be filled in — one (in red) indicating the current perspective and the second (in green) indicating where the group believes the community can be in three years. The gap on each spoke should be discussed. Some gaps will be narrow, while others may be very wide. Obviously, wider gaps indicate that more effort may be required to bridge them. STEP 4: DEFINING AND MEASURING ACTIONS Seeing where a community is now and where it would like to be in terms of the 12 factors can help the community chart positive courses of action for collaboration. But, like the Participation Matrix, the Spider Web is not a “one-shot” exercise; it is most effective when used as a continuing working tool for the group. The Spider Web helps identify success and chart new courses of action based on changes within the community.
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