1. Coalitions & Collaborations
Intermediate Injury Prevention Course
August 23-26, 2011
Billings, MT

2. Purpose of Collaboration Collaboration types and approaches
Steps of starting an IP coalition
Level 1:
Objectives...
Coalition pitfalls and solutions
Attributes of a good facilitator
Keeping coalitions motivated
Coalition evaluation
Level 2:
Objectives...
In Level 1 we talked about STARTING coalitions.
In Level 2 we will talk about MAINTAINING coalitions.
Go through Level 1 & Level 2 Objectives.
Level 1 objectives:
* Describe the purpose of collaborative approaches
* Describe the strengths and weaknesses of different types of collaborations
* Identify benefits and challenges of working in groups
* Initiate steps to start an IP coalition
Level 2 objectives:
* Describe and discuss coalition pitfalls and their solutions
* Provide insight on keeping coalitions motivated
* Identify attributes of a good facilitator
* Describe the coalition evaluation process

3. Eight-Step Guide Level I: RECAP www.preventioninstitute.org
Determine whether to form a coalition
Recruit the right people
Devise objectives and activities
Convene the coalition
Anticipate resources
Define elements of structure
Maintain vitality
Improve through evaluation
In Level I the focus was on starting a coalition using the 8-step guide developed by the Prevention Institute. (review briefly the first 6 steps). In this course we will focus on step 7 of the 8-step guide- maintaining the vitality of the coalition. The topic of improving the effectiveness of the coalition through evaluation will be introduced.

4. Eight-Step Guide Step 7: Maintain Coalition Vitality
Address difficulties and challenges
Coalition Killers – tombstones
Good facilitators
Recruiting and involving new members
Promoting renewal
Celebrating and sharing success
After a coalition gets started how do you keep it going? How do you address common problems that plague coalitions?
Today we’ll answer these questions by looking at addressing difficulties and challenges or “coalition pitfalls”. Coalition pitfalls are barriers that keep a coalition from being productive.
Tips and tools for recruiting and involving new members will be discussed.
Promoting renewal for members and celebrating and sharing success will also be discussed.

5. Buzz Group Exercise Form small groups (6-8 members)
Read and discuss coalition scenarios in small group
Reconvene
Discuss what each group learned
Let’s start with a buzz group exercise.
NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR:
Divide large group into smaller groups of 6-8 members.
Distribute Coalition A/Coalition B scenarios with questions.
Have small groups read and discuss scenarios and answer the questions.
Allow minutes for small group work.
Reconvene large group and discuss what each group learned (5-10 minutes).

6. Buzz Group Exercise Questions
What are some of the barriers (pitfalls) of Coalition A?
What are some of the strengths of Coalition B?
Which coalition appears more effective? Why?
What are strengths or barriers (pitfalls) you have experienced in working with coalitions?
What are some ways to work with a coalition with these strengths? Barriers (pitfalls)?
Note to Instructor: Debrief this exercise by having groups report their answers to the questions and record responses on flip chart. Draw a line down the center of the flipchart paper and label one side, “Barriers” and the other side “Strengths”. Hang flipchart paper(s) on the wall. Discuss their responses prior to reading list of tombstones provided on the following slide.
Read the questions on the Slide
Possible Answers…
1. too many professionals, turf war, no ground rules, hidden agenda, no accomplishments, no plan of action, no goals/focus, lack of good facilitator, lack of buy-in, lack of communication between meetings, compliance vs consensus, stubborn, mostly professional
2. goals, diversity, communication, consistent meetings, strong stakeholders as facilitators, incentives, success, grant writer, commitment, recognition, meeting with consistency, had disagreements but worked through them
4. What are strengths (proactive people, top down support, outside agency support & resources, positive personality, success) or barriers (accountability, no top down support, historical differences, proactive people, people with too many things on their plate, negative personalities) you have experienced in working with coalitions?

7. Common Coalition Pitfalls
Ineffective/weak leadership
No plan of action
Dominance by professionals
Failure to engage community members
Confusion about goals/objectives
Inefficient/unproductive meetings
Lack of enthusiasm and commitment
Poor communication
In addition to the items bulleted on the slide, the following are ‘other’ pitfalls you might consider giving as examples:
Miscommunication / non-communication
Turf Battles
No Ground Rules
Letting the Flame Die
Ineffective Leadership
No plan of action / Failure to Act
Dominance by Professionals / Lack of Community Support
Confusion about goals, objectives, priorities, methods
Inefficient, Unproductive Meetings
Giving Up on Outreach after One Attempt
Using the Same Method for All Outreach (e.g., mailings)
Distrusting Citizen Participation
Inflexibility
Protecting too much Territory
Insufficient Outreach to Key Players
Lack of Follow-up, Follow through
Necessary Resources Not Secured
All Work, No Play
Losing One’s Balance

8. Coalition Pitfalls Poor Communication Turf Issues Ground Rules
Motivation
Failure To Act
Although there are many coalition Pitfalls we will focus on the following five:
Miscommunication / non-communication
Turf Battles
Failure to Act
No Ground Rules
Motivation

9. Communication Underlying reasons for poor communication
Personal attributes
Cultural differences
Turf Issues
Absence of or non-enforced ground rules
Importance of a good facilitator
The first coalition killer is poor communication. Good communication is critical for a successful coalition. So when there is poor communication within the coalition it is very difficult to be productive. There are many underlying reasons for poor communication that may influence how we interact with the people in our group. They may include unique personal attributes like appearance and education. For example, we tend to listen more closely to someone whose appearance is clean and neat. Also, a person who is calm is better able to receive a message than someone who is angry.
Cultural differences may be another underlying reason. People of different cultures and background may interpret the same information differently.
These factors can’t be changed within the coalition setting, however, it’s good to be aware of them.
However, there are specific situations that are barriers to good communication, and can be dealt with to keep the coalition from getting bogged down and stalled. Two common ones are turf issues and the absence of or non-enforced ground rules.
We will also discuss the importance of having a good facilitator. A good facilitator can make a big difference in alleviating communication problems.

10. Conflict between organizations with common goals & interests
What Causes a...
Conflict between organizations with common goals & interests
Mistrust
One of the Coalition Killers that we talked about was Turf Battles
Understanding why Turf Battles happen is a step towards solving problems.
Ask group for root causes. Why do Turf Battles happen?
Turf battles can take place for four fundamental reasons, all related to the perceived effect on power:
If one organization perceives the other as a direct and regular competitor for resources that are not likely to be shared.
If one organization perceives a “marginal cost” to the proposed cooperation in money, time or energy greater than perceived benefits of collaboration.
The degree of which the organization feels it is flexible to change its current goals, tasks and philosophy to adopt the course of action being proposed.
4. Another reason for turf battles is the lack of knowledge or mistrust of the other organizations.
Non-cooperation
Competition

11. Solving Turf Battles Make fair decisions
Remind participants of the big picture
Encourage flexibility
The Prevention Institute published Effective Turf Management: Tools and Tips (12/03) to assist in resolving turf issues in a coalition setting. For this presentation we will focus on a few of these tools and tips, however, additional tools and tips are discussed in some detail in the publication included in your binders.
There is no one shot formula for a coalition to avoid turf struggle. Working collectively takes hard work, and requires a combination of strong relationships, planning for sustainability and focusing on the big picture. Today we’ll discuss some practical ways to deter and solve turf battles.(Prevention Institute-The Tension Turf: Making it work for the Coalition)
Making fair decisions. It is critical that the decision –making process is consistently applied and is based upon majority support. The group should be able to discuss the impact of a proposed action on the mission and finances of each organization. This assures that the adopted decision has genuine support from the membership.
Remind participants of the big picture. When turf issues arise, certain members, based on their role or professional identity can be effective in re-unifying the group and reminding it of its common goals. These can be people like survivors, youth, faith leaders, a respected elder or a good facilitator. Remind members of why the group came together and of the issue at hand.
Encourage flexibility. The more rigid people are, the harder coalition cooperation will be. Create an open environment where members feel comfortable with diverse perspectives and with conflict. Some ways to do this include using humor, giving everyone a voice, and developing ground rules that provide structure yet enable flexibility.

12. Ground Rules Pay attention when someone is talking
Stay on task/ agenda
Don’t interrupt
Let’s take a closer look at ground rules. Ground Rules are rules decided on by the team that they will follow when meeting or working together.
Ask the group: Have they ever been in a situation where they set ground rules, and if so, can they give some examples?
(Prompts if needed: Stay on task/ agenda; Don’t interrupt; Pay attention when someone is talking; respect others opinions; start and end on time.)
The meeting facilitator should go around to each team member & ask for a ground rule. The ground rules should be written on a flipchart & hung up so that the team will be reminded what they had agreed on.
Ground Rules are designed to make meeting & working together as a team more productive & pleasant.
start & end on time
respect others opinions

13. Being A Good Facilitator
Challenge people
Lead brainstorming sessions
Keep communication flowing
Be process and goal oriented
Discuss controversial issues thoroughly
We’ve talked about ways to address turf battles and setting ground rules. How do we get this done in a coalition? Who will help get it done? Having a person on the coalition with good facilitation skills is key to keeping the coalition moving forward, keeping barriers to a minimum and ensuring success of the coalition. Being a good facilitator is about LEADERSHIP. Coalitions need leadership to run smoothly.
Ask the Group: “Raise your Hands - How many of you want to do all the work in a coalition all alone?”
Ask the Group: “How many of you have planned meetings or events & have ended being the only one there?”
Ask the Group: “Why do you think this happened?”
One skill that might help is…
Being a “GOOD” Facilitator - the Role of a Facilitator
The most important role of the facilitator is to lay groundwork for trust to grow. The facilitator builds a foundation of trust and commitment by:
Challenging people to think in new ways about sharing info & resources
Leading brainstorming sessions so that participant ideas can flow without them worrying about methodology.
Keeping communication flowing within the group
Being process & goal oriented. Keeping meetings & discussions focused on group objectives.
Discussing controversial issues thoroughly. Rather than “pushing things through”, trying to reach a consensus.

14. Being A Good Facilitator
1. What do you see as some qualities of successful facilitators?
Pose the following questions to participants:
What do you see as some qualities of successful facilitators?-Write groups answers on flip chart

15. Being A Good Facilitator
1. What do you see as some qualities of successful facilitators?
Positive mental attitude
Strong commitment to goals
Ability to listen & reflect
Neutrality
Awareness of what is NOT being said
How to get it stated
Good communication skills
(A positive mental attitude, strong commitment to goals, ability to listen and reflect on what was said, neutrality, awareness of what is NOT being said and how to get it stated, good communication skills).

16. Being A Good Facilitator
2. When facilitating, if bad behavior by a coalition member(s) hinders your group process, what could you do?
Pose the following questions to participants:
2. When facilitating, if bad behavior by a coalition member(s) hinders your group process, what could you do?

17. Being A Good Facilitator
2. When facilitating, if bad behavior by a coalition member(s) hinders your group process, what could you do?
Make eye contact
Walk by them and make eye contact,
Ask them specifically, “What do you think?”
Use silence
Give feedback during a break
(Make eye contact, walk by them and make eye contact, Ask them specifically, “What do you think?”, Use silence, give feedback during a break)

18. Facilitation Exercise
You are a facilitator for a group that has a participant that speaks out consistently without being prompted. She has ignored your suggestion that she use her energy and enthusiasm to encourage the more shy participants to speak-up more often. She is not following the guidelines and the group is getting frustrated with her.
What do you do?
Divide the group into small groups of 4-6 members (to save time, the small groups established for the first exercise could reconvene). Present the following scenario/question to the group:
“You are a facilitator for a group that has a participant that speaks out consistently without being prompted. She has ignored your suggestion that she use her energy and enthusiasm to encourage the more shy participants to speak-up more often. She is not following the guidelines and the group is getting frustrated with her. What do you do?”
Allow the group 15 minutes to brainstorm ideas. Then in a 5 minute debriefing have participants give you their ideas. Write their ideas on flip chart paper.
Note to Instructor: Consider using the following responses or ideas to facilitate the discussion (if participants are slow to talk)
Put up with it
Reconsider her involvement in the group (maybe ask her to leave the group)
Encourage others to speak by asking them questions directly
Give more feedback to the problem participant(s) alone or away from the group

19. Resources for Facilitator Training
2-day IHS Course- Group Facilitation Methods – Focused conversations, consensus method, action planning.
Kaner, S. Lind, L., Toldi, C., Fisk, S., & Berger, D. (1996). Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada
Kaye, G. (1997). The Six “R’s” of Participation. In Minkler M. (Ed.), Community Organizing & Community Building for Health. (pp. 372 – 373). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Here are some resources for training in facilitation. (The first reference has specific dates on the slide and will need to changed or deleted.)

20. Failure to Act Long planning process without action
Long unproductive meetings
Involvement from potential contributors discouraged
One of the most “lethal” behaviors of coalitions is the endless, long-term planning meetings that bogs down coalitions. Bureaucrats are often used to sitting in long-term planning meetings, however; community members committed to change are often quickly turned off by long, unproductive meetings. When coalitions fail to display a commitment to action, then they discourage the involvement of the kind of people that will make the coalition successful.

21. Accomplishing Meaningful Action
Revisiting and clarifying goals
Long term and short term
Creating a coalition plan
Action plan with clear objectives and actions
timelines
Agreeing upon small, feasible actions
Advanced planning
Follow-up
Taking meaningful action can be accomplished by:
Discussing and clarifying over all goals of the coalition
Developing or revisiting and following long term and short term goals is helpful in keeping the coalition moving.
Creating a coalition plan based on these goals
An action plan with timelines help to do several things – it provides the mechanism for easy follow-up, helps members to see what work is involved and can keep overload to a minimum, keeps everyone on the same page so there is no question as to the direction of the group.
Agreeing upon small, feasible, easily realized actions
Giving members advanced notice of decisions that need to be made (e.g. on coalition agendas)
Following up on decisions made and actions needing to be taken. This can be done through meeting notes or minutes.

22. Motivation Ideas to Keep Groups Motivated
Recruiting and involving new members
Promoting renewal
Training
New, exciting issues
Celebrating and sharing success
Reward members

23. Coalition Pitfalls Poor Communication Turf Issues Ground Rules
Motivation
Failure To Act
Although there are many coalition Pitfalls we will focus on the following five:
Miscommunication / non-communication
Turf Battles
Failure to Act
No Ground Rules
Motivation

24. Eight-Step Guide Step 8: Improvements through Evaluation
The 8th step in the 8-step guide is improving coalitions through evaluation.The topic of evaluating the effectiveness of coalitions will be introduced here and expounded upon in the Level III course.

25. Why Evaluate your Coalition?
Coalition members and community members may ask:
Is the coalition doing anything ?
How much has been accomplished ?
Is the coalition making a difference ?
Evaluating your Coalition.Evaluation is important because you, coalition members and community members may have a number of questions about your coalition that you cannot answer. These questions might include: Is the coalition doing anything?
Is the coalition making a difference?
What has the coalition accomplished?
Is the coalition focused on internal or external issues?
Which members are most active?
Ask the group if they can think of other questions others may have that could be answered by evaluating the coalition.

26. Coalition Evaluation Quality (training, continuity,involvement)
Comprehensiveness
Access and Equity
Cost-effectiveness
Remember in the section on evaluation, you learned that process evaluation asks “Did we do what we set out to do?” To be a successful coalition, evaluating and monitoring collaborative efforts are essential.
Potential areas for evaluation are:
Quality: What has the group done for training? How long has the group been together? How active are the groups members?
Comprehensiveness: What types of individuals and organizations are represented? Are these the right people? What type of data bases or directories have been created to facilitate the sharing of information?
Access and Equity: Do all intended people have equal access to collaboration efforts? How do non-collaborators get information?
Cost Effectiveness: Have existing funds been used effectively? Has duplication of services been reduced or eliminated.
As a reminder, to explore the above questions, many data collection techniques can be used. Some most common include:
-Surveys/Questionnaires -Interviews -Structured Observation
-Record/report reviews -Focus Group Interviews

27. Coalitions and Collaborations Summary
Pitfalls
Good facilitation
Evaluation
We’ve covered common coalition killers (or pitfalls) and some ways to address them.
We talked about the importance of a good facilitator to a coalition and some attributes of a good facilitator.
We touched on evaluating your coalition’s efforts and organization.
It is hoped that the items discussed today gave you new ideas to maintain or regain the vitality of your coalition.

28. Questions?
Are there any questions?