Announcement for 04/29/10

Newsletter Feature: Collaboration—We Can’t Do it Alone!

Improving the long-term success rates of people leaving prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities cannot be done by any agency alone. The critical intersection between incarceration and community is an opportunity for government and community stakeholders to come together and tackle one of toughest challenges we face this decade: improving reentry outcomes. As reentry efforts are designed and implemented, understanding how to use partnerships and collaborate effectively can dramatically enhance these outcomes.

Acknowledge that we can’t do it alone. Collaboration is defined as "joining together to make possible that which cannot be accomplished alone" (Center for Effective Public Policy, 2007). Many teams and organizations often talk about collaborating with others or valuing collaboration, but true collaboration can only be realized when we acknowledge that our goal cannot be accomplished without getting others involved.

Create an effective structure. Once we acknowledge that achieving our stated goals requires others, we have to create an effective structure that brings them inside our thinking, planning, and implementation efforts. Setting up a structure for bringing people together allows the team to make the best use of limited time. Often a committee, workgroup, taskforce, or team is created. For these teams to be productive, the following strategies must be in place:

1. Establish a clear charge. The team must be given a clear charge that defines the expectations for what the team should accomplish.
2. Define the scope of work. To continue progressing, the scope of work for the team must be created and communicated to members. The scope of work essentially outlines what is within the authority of the team. A timeline for recommendations or decisions should also be included in the scope of work.
3. Recruit competent members. Members of the team must have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to contribute to the team’s charge. To make decisions, team members must have the positional authority to speak on behalf of their organization, agency, or operating unit; however, teams also need members who have the substantive knowledge and time to dig deeper into issues between meetings. Finding the right balance of "doers" and "decision-makers" is essential to a productive, collaborative effort.
4. Designate a team leader. Assign a person to be the team leader or committee chair who has the authority and dedication to prepare the agenda, advance the agenda during the meeting, and document decisions made or tabled, which are all critical to making progress. The most important function for a team leader is to keep the group focused on the end goal and keep the group on track. For complex teams or issues, it may be helpful to designate a team leader as well as a neutral facilitator and a recorder/reporter for each meeting.

Establish a transparent decision-making process. To work together productively, the process for making decisions must be transparent. Team members will only set aside their vested interests if they believe the process for making decisions is fair and balanced. The team leader should describe the process for making decisions during the meeting. Time limits should be set for discussing agenda items and decisions should be documented during the meeting so that everyone is clear about what has been decided. In addition to internal team decisions, typically, teams must report to a higher authority. Establishing a clear process for moving team recommendations to the next level for final resolution is critical to ensuring the hard work of the team is not wasted.

The success of a collaborative team relies upon the desire and willingness of each participant to dedicate themselves and their time to the collaborative process; to set aside individual agency agendas in pursuit of a shared and larger goal; and to recognize that collaborative justice is a long term process, requiring the establishment and maintenance of solid collaborative partnerships with other agencies and community stakeholders.—Madeline M. Carter, 2005, Center for Effective Public Policy www.collaborativejustice.org/what.htm.

Teams charged with planning and implementing reentry initiatives, work best when attention is given to collaboration. The Center for Effective Public Policy developed a web-based resource to support collaborative teams. For more resources on collaboration—including a team assessment tool and tips for making collaboration work—go to the center's website at www.collaborativejustice.org.

All announcements and events for April 2010