How can I support the Head Start community in creating successful community partnerships?

I can act on the knowledge ...

• that collaboration requires more than merely a decision to work together.
  
• that successful collaborations require partners to share decision-making authority, instead of decisions made from above.
  
• that effective meetings enhance a collaborative's ability to succeed because they bring commitment, motivation, and energy.
  
• that in a collaborative, all partners must have a role that uses their unique talents and interests.

Key Concepts

• Elements of Successful Collaboration. Collaboration requires much more than merely a decision to work together. It requires a unique purpose, attainable goals, distinct and structured membership, continuous communication and dialogue, and shared resources.
  
  
• Decision-Making. Successful collaborations require partners to share decision-making authority; instead of decisions made from above, a collaboration involves partners who take equal responsibility for making the decisions necessary to achieve a common goal.
  
  
• Effective Meetings. Effective meetings enhance a collaborative's ability to succeed because they bring commitment, motivation, and energy to collaborative partners. While there is no universal definition of an "effective meeting," certain strategies can increase the meeting's effectiveness, including establishing ground rules, choosing a skilled facilitator, involving everyone, and deciding on the roles of partners.
  
  
• Partner Roles in Meetings. In a collaborative, all partners must have a role that uses their unique talents and interests. Meeting roles help define how partners relate and work with each other; they are a way of giving authority to act and of getting the work done efficiently. Partner roles may overlap, be shared, or rotate over the course of the collaborative process. Roles may include facilitator, notetaker, information gatherer, monitor, and celebration organizer.

Successful collaboration requires much more than merely a decision to work together. It involves applying the elements of successful collaboration, assuming active partner roles, holding effective meetings, and using shared decision-making authority.

Elements of a Successful Collaboration

While many community partnerships are successful, many others collapse. Partners can enhance a collaborative's chance to succeed by practicing certain elements. Elements contributing to success include:

• Unique purpose. The purpose of the collaborative must be different from - but connected to - the individual missions of participating organizations. To keep focused, partners should continually ask and answer the question, "What do we want to achieve?" Each time a new member joins the group, the purpose of the collaborative should be revisited and, if needed, revised.
  
  
• Attainable goals. Goals must be clearly defined, achievable, measurable, and realistic. Having no way of knowing when goals are achieved or a lack of commitment to the goals are often causes of collaborative breakdown. Once goals are reached, partners should celebrate and move on to other efforts.
  
  
• Distinct and structured membership. A carefully selected membership and defined process enhances the collaborative's ability to succeed. All community partnerships should strive to have:
  
  
  • Skilled leadership. Collaborative groups need a leader or facilitator who can provide structure, keep partners motivated, encourage compromise (when necessary), build consensus, communicate effectively, and remain neutral.
    
    
  • Diverse partners. Involving a variety of consumers and people who represent the richness of the community, is vital for creating energy, new perspectives, and a climate of community ownership.
    
    
  • A strength-based effort. All partners bring strengths to the collaborative effort, which must be acknowledged in ways that make each partner feel respected and valued.
    
    
  • Realistic and clear expectations. Roles, responsibilities, and the time required of individual partners must be defined, with the workload shared and divided into manageable portions among partners.
    
    
  • Committed and accountable members. Commitment to a collaborative effort is much more than attending meetings; it is doing everything possible to make the effort work. Community partners are responsible for achieving specific results; evaluation of the outcomes is central to accountability.
    
    
• Continuous communication and dialogue. Honest talk about individual concerns, self-interests, experiences of working together in the past, current conflicts, and the risks of sharing power and resources is essential for building a sense of mutual trust and respect among partners. Partners also need to feel they can make recommendations for change. If partners do not feel it is safe to speak openly, they are more likely to make recommendations that aim at cooperation and coordination, but fall short of true collaboration.
  
  
• Shared resources. Planning and carrying out a collaborative effort requires sufficient resources. Partners must share responsibility for obtaining needed funds, which may require revising individual program budgets, grant writing, and fund-raising campaigns. Agencies must provide incentives for staff participating in the effort, such as relief from other duties or compensatory pay.

[See also a quick reference for the Elements of Successful Collaboration.]

Decision-Making

How decisions are made is often a major cause of confusion and frustration among collaborative partners. Decisions are typically made in one of the following ways:

• Individual decision. One person, normally the team leader or program manager, actually makes decisions for the team.
  
  
• Minority decision. A few team members meet to consider the matter and then make a decision; that decision is binding for everyone.
  
  
• Majority decision. More than half of the members of the team make the decision and it is binding for all concerned. (Many political and democratic organizations use this decision-making process.)
  
  
• Consensus decision. The entire team considers the matter, with each member expressing a view and offering ideas. The team reaches a decision through compromise accepted by all members, regardless of how satisfied they are with it. (No majority rule voting is allowed.)
  
  
• Unanimous decision. The entire team considers the matter. All team members fully agree with the action to be taken and all fully subscribe to the decision that is made.

When people are involved in making a decision, they are much more likely to be committed to that decision than when one person or a small group makes a decision on their behalf. Therefore, moving from individual decision-making to unanimous decisions increases commitment. However, this also increases the difficulty people have in arriving at agreement. Collaborations require shared decision-making authority; instead of decisions coming from above, a collaboration involves partners who take responsibility for decisions to achieve a common goal.

[See also the Decision-Making Scale.]

Holding Effective Meetings

Effective meetings enhance a collaborative's ability to succeed because they bring commitment, motivation, and energy to collaborative partners. While there is no universal definition of an "effective meeting," certain strategies can increase the meeting's effectiveness. In this module, participants examine ways for collaborative partners to:

• Establish Ground Rules
  
  An effective meeting requires all partners to contribute to and have a stake in the process. Ground rules help to ensure that 1) meeting time is spent wisely; 2) leadership for the collaborative is shared; 3) partners head in the same direction; and 4) conflicts are resolved. By establishing ground rules, partners also develop a stronger stake in the collaboration.
  
  When participants know what to expect, it encourages participation and increases motivation. Some ground rules may include:
  
  
  • Starting and ending meetings on time;
  • Providing background materials;
  • Having a set agenda distributed prior to the meeting;
  • No one talks twice before everyone talks once;
  • There are no wrong answers;
  • Time limits on discussion of agenda items; and
  • Keeping notes and documenting actions.
  
  Ground rules are unique to each collaborative and are open to change as the collaborative changes. New or different ground rules may be necessary to divide tasks more efficiently, take advantage of partner expertise, improve the flow of communication, establish committees, form a governance structure, and so on. There a re tips that serves as a resource for helping collaboratives establish ground rules.
  
  
• Choose a Skilled Facilitator
  
  A skilled meeting facilitator performs a number of important functions, including preparing for meetings, making sure the agenda goes according to plan, staying on top of group dynamics, and getting information to partners.
  
  While there is a tendency for initiators of a collaborative effort to move automatically into the role of facilitator, this may not be the best option. Initiators are likely to have some strong views about the direction they want the collaborative to take. Facilitators, on the other hand, must be able to take a neutral or impartial stance on issues and decisions facing the collaborative. Not taking sides encourages open dialogue and everyone's involvement during meetings.
  
  
• Involve Everyone
  
  Meetings work when everyone is involved. While it is the facilitator's primary job to see that everyone is involved through the way he/she handles meeting preparations and information-sharing, the job is not limited to the facilitator. It is the responsibility of each partner to become involved in the process and to encourage others to participate. [There are tips that can serve as a resource to help facilitators increase partner involvement.]
  
  
• Decide on Roles of Partners
  
  Effective meetings require that partners take on one or more roles. Roles help to clarify and reinforce the contributions of each partner, particularly when there is a good match between the role and the partner's interests and strengths. Some roles include:
  
  
  • Information gatherer. The person who obtains the information needed to make informed decisions, such as data on the community's population, community assessment findings, baseline data, descriptions of exemplary programs, and governmental regulations.
    
    
  • Monitor. The person who tracks the collaborative's progress by monitoring the partners' planning activities, plan of action, and results.
    
    
  • Celebration organizer. The person who brings the partners' attention to collaborative victories and accomplishments by encouraging time for reflection, celebration, and special recognition of individual partners.
    
    
  • Note-taker. The person who prepares meeting summaries that briefly state who attended, the key issues discussed, the actions taken, partner assignments, and the main agenda items for the next meeting.
    
    
  • Conflict resolver. The person who brings conflicts among partners or organizations to the surface during meetings so they can be resolved according to the collaborative's ground rules.
  
  

  Meeting roles often overlap or are shared by partners; they can also be rotated to re-energize the collaborative. If partners feel stuck in a role that is too burdensome or not of interest to them, they are likely to drop out. Thus, it is important for partners to take a look at their role periodically and to be open to exchanging roles.

Elements of Successful Collaborations

Overview
What does it take to make a collaborative partnership work? Studies of collaborative partnerships show that the following elements or factors contribute to success.

UNIQUE PURPOSE

• A distinct purpose that is different from, but clearly connected to, the individual missions of the participating organizations; and
• A clearly defined mission.

ATTAINABLE GOALS

• Specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic goal statements;
• Commitment to achieving the goals;
• Moving on to another goal when one goal is achieved; and
• Celebrating goal achievement.

DISTINCT AND STRUCTURED MEMBERSHIP

• Skilled leadership;
• Diversity in skills, areas of expertise, and views of partners;
• A strengths-based effort;
• Realistic and clear expectations of roles, responsibilities, and time required of partners; and
• Committed and accountable members.

CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION AND DIALOGUE

• Open and frequent communication;
• Honest talk about self-interests, conflicts, and risks; and
• Informal and formal systems for keeping partners and other stakeholders informed.

SHARED RESOURCES

• Sufficient funds; and
• Time to do the work.

The Decision-Making Scale

Overview
One of the most important questions regarding team decision-making is "Who actually decides?" Decisions are typically made in one of five ways, as illustrated below. When people are involved in making a decision, they are much more likely to be committed to that decision than when one person or a small group makes a decision on their behalf. Therefore, going up the decision-making scale (from individual decisions to unanimous decisions) increases commitment. However, going up the scale may also increase the difficulty people have in arriving at agreement.

Choosing a Skilled Facilitator

Overview
A skilled meeting facilitator is key to effective meetings and ultimately to the collaborative's success. Sometimes, the initiator of the collaborative takes on the job of facilitator, sometimes the job is shared by partners, and sometimes partners bring in an outside source to do the job. When deciding who will take on the job for your collaborative, look for a person, or persons, who can:

• Maintain a neutral or impartial position on decisions or actions;
• Identify and assess resources that may be of value to partners (e.g., information, organizations, consultants, funding sources);
• Accept and delegate responsibilities or tasks;
• Help partners problem-solve, resolve conflicts or differences, compromise, and reach consensus;
• Communicate verbally and in writing the collaborative's mission, goals, strategies, and action plans;
• Organize, arrange, and structure meetings so everyone feels prepared, respected, part of the process, and involved;
• Relate easily to different audiences (e.g., community leaders, elected officials, service providers, volunteers, and consumers);
• Keep partners focused on their shared vision, mission statement, and what needs to be done;
• Bring out and utilize the strengths of individual partners;
• Summarize and pull together different ideas or issues raised during a meeting;
• Give a personal reading on behaviors displayed in the group (e.g., "I'm starting to feel frustrated about not knowing where a lot of you stand on this issue."); and
• Focus attention on the agenda item at hand (e.g., "We seem to be getting side-tracked. Are you ready to get back to this item on our agenda, or do you want to talk about it again at our next meeting?").

Choosing a Skilled Facilitator

Overview
A skilled facilitator must involve everyone in the collaborative's work of building relationships, sharing information and ideas, and taking action. Successful collaborations require everyone's involvement. Below are some of the ways facilitators (and other partners) can get everyone involved

Meeting Preparation

• Take care of meeting logistics (e.g., meeting date, time, place, refreshments);
• Send out advance notices to clarify the meeting's purpose;
• Prepare a meeting agenda that shows what each agenda item requires (e.g., discussion, decision) and who is responsible; and
• Identify, collect, and send out materials to help partners get ready for a meeting.

Meeting Process

• Follow ground rules as set and agreed upon by partners;
• Follow the agenda, including start and end times;
• Guide actions to get the work done; and
• Review the meeting outcomes (i.e., what was accomplished, what happened, what was not resolved, and what will happen next).

Group Process

• Make sure all partners have a role;
• Confirm the value of each partner's role and contributions;
• Closely monitor group and partner behaviors, that surface during meetings and intervene at critical moments;
• Recognize membership organizations and others for helping the collaborative move forward; and
• Contact any partners who do not attend a meeting and encourage their participation.

Information-Sharing

• Keep an updated partner roster;
• Set up systems for keeping partners and key stakeholders informed about the collaborative;
• Have necessary documents available to partners, such as laws, interagency agreements, demographic data, and assessment findings;
• Write up meeting summaries, showing who attended, items covered, decisions reached, actions taken, accomplishments, partner assignments, and the agenda items for the next meeting; and
• Collect and provide data to help partners monitor and evaluate progress.

Setting Ground Rules²

Overview
A successful collaboration requires that all partners contribute to and have a stake in the process. Ground rules can help partners use time wisely, share leadership, and head in the same direction. Ground rules cover planning and conducting meetings, resolving conflicts, making decisions, and maintaining ongoing communication among partners. Ground rules are set by partners as they address the following questions:

• Where, when, and how often will we meet?

• What will be our time frame for working together?

• How will we share responsibility for organizing and conducting the meetings?

• Who will prepare and contribute to the meeting agenda?

• What rules will guide discussion during meetings? Guard confidentiality?

• How will we handle information needs, data gathering, and record keeping?

• How will we make decisions? By majority rule or consensus?

• What steps will we take to make sure decisions are not made behind the scenes?

• What will happen when there is a conflict?

• Under what circumstances will we seek a third-party facilitator?

• How will we evaluate the progress of our work?

There are no right or wrong answers to the above questions. The answers come from the partners of each collaborative effort.

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²Adapted from Atelia Melaville and Martin Blank with Gelareh Asayesh, Together We Can: A Guide for Crafting a Profamily System of Education and Human Services (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Education and U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1993).