Happy Spring, Reader!
(I know it’s not officially Spring yet, but to me, the clocks springing forward always marks the entry into longer days and warmer weather, so I’m celebrating this week!).
Here at PoP Health, as we spring forward, we are also springing into part two of the first phase of our C.A.P.E. process: Community Collaboration - focused specifically on collaborating across your collaborative.
(For new subscribers, welcome! If you want to get caught up, here are part 1 and part 2 of our discussion on collaborating with community members, and our introductory posts about our 2024 newsletter series are here and here.)
What do you mean by collaborating across our collaborative?
As I read in a recent post from Collaborate CIC, a UK-based social consultancy, “Calling something collaborative doesn’t necessarily make it so.”
Having multi-sector partners around the same table doesn’t necessarily equal collaboration.
Convening partners on a regular basis doesn’t necessarily equal collaboration.
Having a shared vision and mission doesn’t necessarily equal collaboration.
True collaboration requires moving beyond sharing information and learning from one another - to taking intentional, strategic, collective ACTION.
We’ll get more into specific strategies for collaboration and action planning in future newsletters, but for now, let’s get oriented to the idea of collaborating across a collaborative.
What are some ways to think about how we collaborate across our collaborative?
There are so many frameworks for collaboration and collective action, and I don’t think any one of them are “THE” answer. I do, however, think that some of them are particularly useful in thinking through how your collaborative currently collaborates and whether you’d like to move further along the collaborative spectrum and how. These include:
- The collaboration spectrum by Tamarack Institute (see p8 of their report for a table that outlines not only the definitions below, but also the collaborative types, convening leadership, authority, shared ownership, key governance documents, and outcomes for each level of collaboration).
- Forms and features of collaboration, by Collaborate CIC and Dartington Service Design Lab and commissioned by The Health Foundation (check out their report for definitions and examples of each of these forms of collaboration as well as key features, including make-up of the collaboration, governance, communications, evaluation and learning, and resources).
- The community system solutions framework, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (the article includes key features of each of the types outlined in the diagram below, along with examples).
- The six foundations for effective collaboration, as outlined in Collaborate CIC’s Guide to Collaboration (the guide covers what collaboration is, why and when it matters, a description for these six foundations for effective collaboration, and additional resources).
What questions should I be asking myself about how we collaborate with community members?
- Who do we have at the table? Who do we not have at the table? What level of engagement/involvement in the coalition should various actors have, and how can we foster strong engagement/involvement?
- What are the various power dynamics at play in our coalition (in terms of financial, political, social and other types of power)? Can we assess individual, team, and organizational power; make underlying power structures more explicit; and consciously identify ways to shift or share power in ways that make our work more community-driven and effective?
- How are we working together, and is our approach efficient and effective? Is our strategic approach designed to add unique value to the community? What infrastructure have we built for information sharing and aligning work across organizations? Are we using our meeting time to accomplish what cannot be done via email or other communication?
- How are we financing the work of our coalition and what implications does that have for what we can and cannot do, how resources are distributed, and how sustainable or not our work will be?
Are you feeling energized or overwhelmed by all this, Reader? Collaboration sounds (and is!) vital and valuable but it is also messy and difficult. It's more than worth the trouble though, so stay tuned for more strategies and ideas on how to do this well (or at least better!).
Until next time,
Vinu
PS Learn something in this newsletter? Spread the word! Forward this email to a friend or colleague who might want to weave their own community threads.
PPS Want to learn more about PoP Health and how we partner with community coalitions and collaboratives to transform health in communities through policy and systems change? Check out our website!
