Working in partnership to support families

Working in partnership to support families Flexible materials Acknowledgements These materials were written by Dave Burley, Project Manager, Partnership Work, at ContinYou. They were edited by Carolyn Sugden and Louise Pile, designed by Sean Diamond and Paul Mepham, and desk-top published by Christine Knight. Illustrations are by Geraldine Reidy. We would like to thank members of the Technical Working Group for their support and advice: l Debbie Cowley, Parenting Education and Support Forum l John Bowman, Supporting Change l Carolyn Sugden, Publications Manager at ContinYou l John Grainger, Executive Director, Learning Communities at ContinYou l Rachel Evans, RE&A Consultancy. Published by ContinYou Unit C1, Grovelands Court, Grovelands Estate, Longford Road, Exhall, Coventry CV7 9NE Copyright © ContinYou 2005 First published in 2005; edition 1.1 These materials may be freely reproduced. However, we request that ContinYou is clearly acknowledged as the copyright holder. These flexible materials, together with the guidelines for facilitators and managers, are available as pdfs for you to download and photocopy as necessary at www.continyou.org.uk/partnerships. To purchase a CD containing the pdfs, call 024 7658 8440. Contents Introduction 5 Section A: Working in partnership 11 Section B: Supporting partnership work 51 Section C: Understanding of strategic development 85 of partnership work © ContinYou Working in partnership 5 These materials will help you to work more effectively with, and on behalf of, parents and families, as well as developing your own understanding and skills for working in partnership. The materials aim to enable paid and voluntary workers in a variety of settings to do any or all of the following: l understand the reasons for partnership work to support families l recognise their own and other people’s support needs in relation to partnership work l recognise different types of partnership and roles within them l recognise the factors involved in effective partnership work Introduction l know how to measure the effectiveness of partnership work. Different parts of the materials look at different aspects of partnership work (see below), but they all focus on supporting you to learn through your experience of working in partnership. The materials have mainly been written as individual sheets to help you in your day-to-day work. They are designed to help you think about working in partnerships, and to be a more effective partner. They can be used within individual partner agencies in relation to their partnership work, as well as within partnerships. (In practice the materials are likely to be used in both ways.) Section A: Working in partnership Looks at practical skills involved in working in partnership with parents and provides an overview of partnership work and why it happens Topics covered: l Why partnerships? l Partnerships between people first l Groups and leadership Likely to be useful to: l Parents, volunteers, sessional workers – people involved in offering regular support, friendship and practical help to families who are under stress by visiting them in their own homes, helping to prevent a family crisis or breakdown. They work in partnership with the families and other agencies that may be involved. Section B: Supporting partnership work Looks at the skills involved in supporting partnership activities, for example, planning meetings, working with groups, leadership, and power within partnership structures Topics covered: l Why partnerships? l Partnerships between people first l Groups and leadership Likely to be useful to: l People with a supporting and/or co-ordinating role – involved in receiving referrals, assessing needs, introducing appropriate support to families, recruiting, training and supporting volunteers who, in turn, support families. They work in partnership with families and other agencies that may be involved. Section C: Understanding strategic development of partnerships Looks at how to assess the performance of a partnership, including planning processes and monitoring and evaluation Topic covered: l Monitoring, evaluation and performance Likely to be useful to: l People involved in the day to day management of a project, maintaining standards of practice in supporting families. They provide leadership and management to the staff team and work in partnership with other agencies. 6 Working in partnership © ContinYou The materials contain tips and activities to use in: l one-to-one sessions with your line manager l supervision sessions l team/partnership meetings l staff training events l meetings of your steering group, forum or advisory group l contact with partners l individual reflection l planning. They also contain three audits – of planning, monitoring and evaluation, and performance. The materials are divided into three sections, as shown on page 5. Using the materials The way you use the materials is something that you and your line manager, or the person supporting you, can discuss. They have been designed to be used in either a guided or a non-guided way. You may choose to look at a range of activities that are relevant to your role; if so, focus on the appropriate section, as suggested above. You could ‘dip in’ to the materials, in which case the ’what do I need to learn’ activities (there is one at the beginning of each section) should give you some idea of what would be most useful. You could look at a specific topic, for example, you may like to look at ‘groups and leadership’ at a basic level in Section A and then at a more in depth level in Section B. However you choose to use the materials, if at any point you find you are completing a fair amount of work in any one section, it may be worth your while exploring the accreditation option. You do not have to, but if you do you will gain a nationally recognised award of credit for your work. You may plan this from the start or decide upon it as you work through the materials. Each section contains everything you need to do to complete one accredited ‘unit’. Open College Network accreditation The Open College Network (OCN) accredits learning in many different settings across the country. OCN Awards of Credit are recognised by employers, colleges and other learning providers, so they are a good way of providing evidence of the work you have done. When a programme has OCN accreditation, this means that a ‘unit’ has been written explaining what you will know by the end of it (the learning outcomes), and how we will know you know it (the assessment criteria). Within this programme there are three units, one for each section, and it has been agreed that each unit will take roughly ten hours to work through, using the materials and activity sheets. Copies of the units are included in the Guidelines for facilitators and managers. If you want to do the OCN, you will need to keep everything you do in a ‘portfolio’ or folder, which will be assessed; the person supervising/ supporting you will be able to explain more about the process to you. OCN units are offered at different levels, in the same way as NVQs or other qualifications: l Entry Level provides a basis for progression to other learning programmes. l Level 1 is comparable to NVQ 1, Foundation GNVQ and GCSE grades D–G. l Level 2 is comparable to NVQ 2, Intermediate GNVQ and GCSE grades A*–C. l Level 3 is comparable to NVQ 3, A Level, AS Level and AVCE. Obviously, doing a ten-hour unit is not the same as doing a full NVQ or GCSE – but if you were doing a Level 2 unit, for example, you would be expected to be working at about the same level as someone doing an NVQ 2. The units in this programme are offered as follows: l Section A: Working in partnership – offered at Levels 1 and 2 l Section B: Supporting partnership work – offered at Levels 2 and 3 l Section C: Understanding strategic development of partnership work – offered at Level 3 The level you get will depend on the work you do; if you look at the unit descriptions in the facilitator’s guide, you will see the differences between the levels in the assessment criteria. For example, at Level 1 you may be asked to ‘list’ something; at Level 2 you may be asked to ‘describe’ it – so we would be looking for a bit more detail. © ContinYou Working in partnership 7 If you decide to go for an OCN, you don’t have to decide straight away which level to go for – you can work your way through the materials and see how you get on. You don’t even have to decide at the start whether you want to do the OCN at all. It doesn’t matter what order you do things in or how long you spend; you can decide at any time to put together a portfolio for assessment, providing your workplace has put the OCN programme in place as an option. At the beginning of each section there is a checklist of the things you should have in your portfolio, if you do decide to do the OCN. Whether or not you do the OCN, you may find the two record sheets at the end of this section a useful way of recording what you are doing and reflecting on what you have learnt. You can use either or both of the sheets at any time, with any section of the materials and, if you do the OCN, remember to include them in your portfolio. National Occupational Standards: Work With Parents In recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of work with families and the range of sectors in which it takes place. This has resulted in the development of National Occupational Standards (NOS) related specifically to work with parents. The aim of the standards is ‘to provide a means of measuring and demonstrating the effectiveness of the sectors and also identifying the extent to which the sectors are contributing towards national strategic targets.’ (Final report, National Occupational Standards: work with parents/family learning, New Directions Consulting Limited, 2005) While there may be activities within these materials that relate to several of the standards, they are particularly relevant to the following: l WWP 305: Build and maintain relationships with the wider community l WWP 401: Develop and undertake inter-agency, cross-sector working. The materials have, therefore, been mapped in a very simple way to these two standards. You will find the symbol, where appropriate, at the top of the first page of each activity. More information about the National Occupational Standards is included in the Guidelines for facilitators and managers. The person supporting you in this programme should discuss with you the best way for you to use the materials, and give you more information about the OCN process and the National Occupational Standards. 305 401 ! 8 Working in partnership © ContinYou Record sheet Working in partnership to support families Activity (eg A1, B3): Date: Was the activity: guided? q non-guided? q Your comments Use this space to write down your comments or reflections, and anything that you intend to do, or that you have learnt, which you have not included on the activity sheet. Attach this to the main activity sheet. © ContinYou Working in partnership 9 What I have learnt You can use this sheet at any time to review what progress you are making. Think about your experience of partnership working, and what you feel you have learnt through using these materials and trying to put the ideas in them into practice. Write down your experiences below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. You could compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you recorded earlier, on the sheet ‘At the start’. 10 Working in partnership © ContinYou A: Working in partnership 12 Working in partnership © ContinYou This checklist tells you what you need to put in your portfolio to provide evidence of learning for this unit if you are doing the OCN. You can use it as a ‘contents page’ for the final portfolio if you wish, by adding page numbers in the right-hand column. Working in partnership: portfolio checklist Activity/worksheet Learning outcome ref Portfolio page no At the start A1 Working in partnership: what do I need to learn? A2 What do I need to know in order to get started? A3 Practical skills I need to develop A4 Who’s going to support me? A5 Using support – keeping a partnership diary or log A6 Preparing for visits Why partnerships? A7 Why partnerships are thought to be a good thing A8 Every Child Matters A9 The Common Assessment Framework A10 Working with parents A11 Involving parents A12 Involving children and young people Partnerships between people first A13 Partnerships between people first A14 Partnership as ‘courtship’ A15 Being understood Groups and leadership A16 Non-verbal communication A17 About power A18 Dealing with differences of opinion At the finish All 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 4 3 3 3 3/4 3/4 3/4 3 All Description Portfolio page no You may include anything else in your portfolio that you feel provides evidence of your learning, for example, notes from meetings or activities from other sections of the materials. Use this table to list them. © ContinYou Working in partnership 13 At the start Think about your experience of partnership working, and the thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, you have about it. You could reflect on an amusing incident, or think back to a real success or disaster. Write down your experiences below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. Keep what you have written or drawn for future reference. It might also be useful to refer to your notes when you decide which parts of the materials to use. You could compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you record later on, when you complete the sheet ‘At the finish’. 14 Working in partnership © ContinYou Working in partnership: what do I need to learn? This short questionnaire should help you to identify which worksheets are most appropriate for you. When you have completed the questionnaire, prepare the learning action plan on the next page. If you are planning to do the OCN, all of these worksheets are essential. Questions Your response Yes No Unsure Worksheets Comments A2, A3, A6 A4, A5 A7, A8 A9 A10, A11, A12 A13, A14 A6 A16, A17 A18 I have a new or changed role which involves linking in with partnership activity. I need to identify who is going to support me. I need to understand why there is so much emphasis on partnerships. I need to know about assessment and referral in partnerships. I want to involve parents, children and young people fully. I want to explore the idea that partnerships are more about the relationships between people than about those between organisations. I want to get a better understanding of the work of other agencies. I want to find ways of helping people to understand each other. I want to work better in groups. A1 © ContinYou Working in partnership 15 I will be supported by: Learning action plan Use the information from the ‘what do I need to learn?’ questionnaire to complete this action plan. The worksheets I plan to complete are: Start/end dates: A1 16 Working in partnership © ContinYou What do I need to know in order to get started? ‘Have I taken on too much?’ When you start a new job or role, there are certain things that you need to know. Sometimes these basic things can get clouded when agencies are working together in partnership. For example, who is your line manager? Do you have more than one? Who are you ultimately accountable to? Whatever your starting point, you know that you have just agreed to some very challenging work. The new job is about making changes in the lives of families and children. It will be very demanding, and you will need to be careful that you keep a healthy balance between your own home life and the work you do in your new role. Partnership is about working with people. The idea of partnership is that people do things together to add value to what they do. Where one partner may be weak in one area, another might be strong. An important part of your job is to help people and organisations to work together so that they complement each other’s strengths. In the same way, you must remember that you cannot do everything, or know everything. You have got to get the partnership working for you too. Recognise the skills and experiences which you bring with you, and be honest about the things you need to learn and to have in place for your new role. For example, you may bring skills and experience to the job from: l being a parent, grandparent or carer l having helped at your children’s school, perhaps by helping in the classroom, being a youth worker, accompanying school trips, or helping with clubs and sports activities l having run, or helped to run, pre-school provision l having been involved with Sure Start l having formerly worked in business, perhaps in office work, marketing, management, customer sales or production l having been involved in a Neighbourhood Renewal scheme l having worked for a voluntary organisation l having helped with committee work, or been Chair of your local community forum. All of these things may help you in your work with children, young people and families, and in your role within the partnership. Completing the audit on the next page will enable you to identify information gaps and identify actions you need to take. Discuss the next steps with your line manager. A2 © ContinYou Working in partnership 17 l who my line manager will be l in which place or places I will be based l what administrative support is available l whether I have access to a computer l what induction programme has been planned l what sort of support I can expect and from whom l which partners I will be working with l how the partnership is funded and what impact this will have on my job l something else: Information audit Response Planning action (where required) I need to know: A2 18 Working in partnership © ContinYou Practical skills I need to develop When you have completed the audit, identify no more than six things you would like to do in the short term. Make sure that the things you choose are immediate priorities. You can address some of the others as time goes on. Try and ensure, where appropriate, that the things you give priority to are included in your induction. Discuss these with your line manager. ‘Perhaps I should have said at interview that I haven’t really used emails before.’ You will have been appointed to your new role because you are considered to be able to do the job. You have been appointed for the things you can do, not for the things you cannot do, for the skills and experience you bring, and for the potential you have to grow into the job. You may: l be a parent who has been involved voluntarily in local community projects and you have now taken on a paid role with a new or existing partnership l be a local resident l have had previous experience of working locally, but you may or may not have had contact with the partnership to which you have been appointed l have had previous experience of working in local government or the health service and you may be working for a voluntary organisation for the first time l be working part-time or full-time. Fill in the audit on the next page to identify what your training needs are. Whatever your background, be honest about where there may be gaps in your knowledge or practical skills. Some of these can be addressed quite quickly, as part of your induction, for example. Others might take longer. A3 © ContinYou Working in partnership 19 Planned action (where required) I need to be confident Response about: l using computers l handling money l taking minutes and notes l planning work (eg setting aims and objectives) l organising events l something else: Practical skills audit A3 20 Working in partnership © ContinYou Who’s going to support me? You have undertaken a very challenging role. To do it successfully, you are going to need support. During your induction period, you need to make sure that this has been planned for and is in place. Some people will find that their previous work experience will make it relatively easy to identify their support needs. For others, it might be the first time they have needed to think about this. Whatever your previous experience of support, we suggest you take a little time out to reflect on what you need in order to undertake your new role. There are two basic forms of support: l formal support is arranged through the partnership/project/workplace – this might include: – meetings with your line manager (for example, supervision, one-to-one sessions) In some partnerships there may be more than one line manager, but there will be a lead person to whom you are directly accountable. They will be responsible for appraising your achievements and for making suggestions about changes. – non-managerial support (for example, meeting with someone who understands your role but is not your line manager). This can provide you with a very useful sounding-board for developing your work, and should complement formal supervision. This form of support is usually negotiated by you, and is sometimes paid for through the workplace. Buddying and mentoring are forms of non-managerial support. l informal support is not organised through the workplace. It can come from a variety of sources, including: – colleagues and other partners – networks/groups – your family – websites. While it is important to have support, it is also important to use it effectively. For example, while your immediate family may be supportive and interested in what you do, they may not want to hear every detail about your day. You are likely to get very involved in your job. Reflect on how you are going to deal with the ups and downs of your new role so that you can have a balanced approach to your life at home and at work. It is generally accepted that, when you are supported yourself, you are in a better position to support others. Complete the support needs assessment on the next page. A4 © ContinYou Working in partnership 21 Formal support 1 Consider the following statements – which of them best describes your experience of managerial support in the past? l I have had a good experience of managerial support in the past. l I have had an indifferent experience of managerial support in the past. l I have had a bad experience of managerial support in the past. 2 Having briefly reflected on your previous experience of managerial support, identify five things that you would find helpful to receive from your line manager and five things you would not find helpful. 3 When you next have a line-management meeting, ask to have a conversation with your line manager about how you are going to use supervision and support within your new role. Try and talk about expectations you have of one another. Groundwork put in now can pay off later. This is a very important relationship for both of you. It is a two-way process. Support needs assessment Informal support Identify what informal support you have found to be most useful in the past. Make a brief list. Use what you have identified to help you set up informal support in your new role. A4 22 Working in partnership © ContinYou Using support – keeping a partnership diary or log Within your partnership you will be working with people from different occupational groups – community workers, voluntary sector workers, health workers, local government workers, teachers, youth workers, those in adult and community learning, and so on. Partnerships may also involve people working in the private sector. You may well have come from one of those backgrounds. Your post may be funded by more than one funding source. You will, therefore, be working across boundaries which do not fit into the traditional managerial frameworks of ‘social worker’ or ‘community worker’. Different occupational groups have different kinds of support structures. For example, the term ‘supervision’ will have slightly different meanings in different groups. You may find, for example, that your line manager comes from a different background from yourself. Check with them what they mean by the terms they use for supervision and support. One of the toughest challenges for partnerships is finding a common vocabulary. Given the variety of backgrounds from which people are drawn in partnerships, it may be important for you to not only be clear about your own support needs, and to ensure that arrangements to meet these are in place, but also to be in a position to help others find and use support for themselves. Developing an effective support structure within the partnership might be an issue for you to consider. You will also need to give consideration to how parents are involved in providing support, as well as receiving it. This will depend very much on the type of role you have and on the nature of the partnership. A key outcome of effective support is an ability to: l reflect on what you do l have greater self-confidence l recognise that you are engaged in learning l gain new insights and understanding l make changes, and take action where needed. Some people find keeping a diary or log of critical events a helpful process. This can be written or taped. If you choose to do this, it is helpful to record how you intervene, as well as describing what happens. Remember, within the partnership you need to think about the things which help people and organisations to work in more joined-up ways. You need to think about the processes of partnership – of how people and agencies are enable to work together. Seek guidance from your partnership about record keeping and data protection. As a general rule, it is good practice to substitute first names when recording interventions with clients or to leave names out altogether. 305 ! A5 © ContinYou Working in partnership 23 Preparing for visits Whether you are meeting a new colleague for the first time, or making contact with a parents’ group or with individual partners, it is important to consider: l what you want from the meeting or conversation l what your agency/partnership wants l what the expectations of those you are meeting may be l how you will record your conversations l what you will do with the outcomes. Your conversations will be influenced by whether this is a new or established partnership. If it is a new one, you will be helping to establish it; if it is an existing partnership, you will be looking to see how it can be maintained and developed. In either case, you will be introducing yourself in a new role. Here are some points to remember when you are planning and holding the meetings: l You will not be able to meet everybody – be selective. l If you have access to administrative support, ask your administrator to set up the meetings for you. It will save you time. It will also help establish a relationship (where this does not already exist) between the administrator and your partnership/project. You will be beginning to set up an effective communications system, which will be essential as you get established in your role. l If you know that meetings are taking place which several of the people you want to meet are likely to attend, give priority to these in your diary planning. It will save time. l Make sure that you record key points from the meeting. You may not want to take notes during the meeting, though – this can obstruct the flow of a conversation. It is often better to leave yourself a few moments afterwards to write down anything you feel is particularly important. It can be helpful to have a proforma which allows you to record your meetings in a systematic way. You can use the recording sheet on the next page as a starting point for designing your own proforma. l Ask the people you visit for written material about their organisation – publicity leaflets or their annual report, for example. l Do not set up unrealistic expectations, either of yourself or your future partners. Remember that the initial meetings are exploratory – they are about putting a face to a name, and getting a feel for who people are and what their organisations do. 305 ! A6 24 Working in partnership © ContinYou Initial meetings recording sheet or you may need to add other headings of your own. Once you have got your own version, you can try it out to see how it works and amend it until you are happy with it. Use this sheet to help you design your own proforma. You need to think about what information you will want to record. You may not wish to include all the items we have listed here – A6 Date Details, observations, issues Name of contact Job title/role Contact details, including email Name of agency/group (if appropriate) Role of agency/group Role of interviewee Anticipated or existing involvement in partnership Follow-up Other © ContinYou Working in partnership 25 Why partnerships are thought to be a good thing You will be finding that everybody is talking about working in partnership. For example, high-profile cases involving abuse to children such as Victoria Climbié or the Soham murders, have alerted the government, and all those who work with and on behalf of children, of the need for more joined-up services. These, and other cases, have demonstrated the grave consequences that can follow if people and agencies are working in isolation. The government is encouraging all organisations involved in public sector activity – statutory, voluntary and private – to work more collaboratively and in partnership. Of course, there is nothing new in this. People and organisations have always worked together. The difference is that since New Labour came to power in 1997, the push for partnership has accelerated. The government believes that encouraging organisations to work together is central to addressing poverty and disadvantage in the UK. For example, partnership is at the heart of the Neighbourhood Renewal programme. By encouraging greater partnership working, the government is intending that: l organisations will begin to work differently. For example, they will put the needs of their service users first, and become less wrapped up in promoting their own needs as organisations. There will be a greater emphasis on ‘outcomes’ for service users. l as members of partnerships, people and organisations will begin to think differently, define things differently, and do things differently. l people from varied occupations – for example, social workers, community workers, health workers and teachers – will work together, sometimes in mixed occupational teams, to share skills and expertise. Complete the activity on the next page. A definition of partnership working ‘….a cross sector alliance in which individuals, groups or organisations agree to: work together to fulfil an obligation or undertake a specific task; share the risks as well as the benefits; and review the relationship regularly, revising their agreement as necessary.’ (Quoted in Partnership made painless – a joined-up guide to working together, Harrison R et al, Russell House Publishing, 2003) 401 ! A7 26 Working in partnership © ContinYou Think of an example where, by working with another partner, you have had a better understanding of an issue or problem, and where you have responded differently as a result. Identify three things which enabled you to approach the issue in a new way: What have you learnt from this? Reasons for working with partners A7 © ContinYou Working in partnership 27 Every Child Matters In 2003, the government published a Green Paper called Every child matters. This was published alongside the formal response to the report into the death of Victoria Climbié, the young girl who was horrifically abused and eventually killed by her great aunt and the man with whom they lived. The Green Paper started a big debate about services for children, young people and families. There was a wide consultation with people working in children’s services, and with parents, children and young people. Following the consultation, the government published Every child matters: the next steps, and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the legal framework for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. In November 2004, Every child matters: change for children was published. This outlines the way local programmes for children, young people and families should be developed. The organisations involved with providing services to children and young people – from hospitals and schools to police and voluntary groups – will be teaming up in new ways, sharing information and working together to protect children and young people from harm and help them achieve what they want in life. (Adapted from www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/) Every Child Matters provides a good starting point for thinking about policies which affect families, children and young people, as it brings together thinking from across government departments, and from others who work with and on behalf of families, children and young people. It provides a vision for work with children and young people that should be reflected in all partnership activity. Paul Ennals, Chief Executive Officer for the National Children’s Bureau, said at a conference organised by 4Children in September 2004 that the publication of the papers and the subsequent discussion has ‘set a different tone’ for talking about working with children and young people, ‘a different language with new symbols and signposts’. Every Child Matters makes a specific plea for organisations to think about outcomes for children and young people first, rather than the needs of individual organisations. Too often in the past, organisations have decided what services for children, young people and families are best, without asking the children, young people and families themselves. The government recognises that to achieve ‘joined-up’ working, government departments need to work more closely together, centrally, locally and at regional level. To help with this, it plans to introduce a single system of accountability. A start has already been made with the appointment of a Minister for Children, Young People and Families. Within your partnership there will be different levels of knowledge and understanding about the recommendations, and about their implications for your setting. Part of your role may be to ensure that the key messages from Every Child Matters are reflected in the work of your partnership or project. You do not have to know everything. For example, if you are working closely with social services or the health service, you will know people who have a good knowledge of the policy direction contained in Every Child Matters and related policy areas. Use their expertise to: l become informed yourself l inform others – for example, your steering or advisory group or your partners l help with planning. If you don’t do this, what is partnership about? Use the information and questions on the next page to help you explore what Every Child Matters means for your partnership. A8 28 Working in partnership © ContinYou To improve the sharing of information between agencies working in a local authority area. – amending systems to allow for a freer flow of information about children, young people and families between agencies. To give local authorities a more central role in bringing together public, private and voluntary organisations to improve outcomes for children and young people. – setting up children’s trusts in local authority areas, as part of the local authority, to provide a single route for planning and commissioning (meaning that, for some areas of work, voluntary organisations will receive their funding through the new trusts). The trusts include education, children’s social services, Connexions, and some children’s health services. To encourage the development of ‘On-the-spot’ services based on different professions and groups working together based around schools and children’s centres. – providing a rapid response to the concerns of frontline teachers, childcare workers and others. To improve the skills and effectiveness of those who work with children, young people and their families. – valuing skills from different work backgrounds and moving towards a common inspection system. Reflect on your experience of one of the above: l What opportunities are presented for your partnership? l What threats has it presented? l How are these threats being addressed? Every Child Matters: key recommendations The development of children’s services has been based on the recommendations below. Choose one of the recommendations and discuss it in detail with someone in your partnership who is familiar with the issues. Note down key points about the opportunities and threats the issue has presented for your partnership. A8 © ContinYou Working in partnership 29 Every Child Matters makes a case for a co-ordinated approach to work with children, young people and families, especially for vulnerable children and young people, and those in need and at risk. It also emphasises the importance of involving children, young people and families in having a say and in influencing the kind of services they receive. A key part of the recommendations includes the development of a tool to enable agencies to make a common assessment of children and young people’s needs – the Common Assessment Framework (CAF). The CAF is a standardised approach to assessing children and young people’s needs for services. It has been designed for workers in all agencies to help them to communicate and work together more effectively. It is particularly helpful for use by services such as education and health, to help identify and tackle problems before they become serious. The Common Assessment Framework consists of: l a simple pre-assessment checklist to help practitioners identify who would benefit from common assessment l a process for undertaking common assessment, to help practitioners gather and understand information about the needs and strengths of the child, based on discussions with the child, their family, and other workers, as appropriate l a standard form to help workers record and, where appropriate, share with others the findings from the assessment, helping to complement specialist assessments and reduce duplication. The Common Assessment Framework So, what is the link between the CAF and partnership working? Common assessment can help you identify the needs of an individual child, young person or family, for example, when you are not sure. It provides a structure for recording information; it can also help you in getting other services that you need. This may simply be referring to another provider, or in developing a joint or shared response. Information provided through the CAF can be used as a practical tool to help different workers and agencies work together, based on a common understanding of the needs of the child or family. It makes provision for one person to be the key worker/lead professional, to co-ordinate the work of others, or to check progress. The sheet overleaf asks you to think about common assessment and the ways in which information from a common assessment can assist with partnership working. 305 401 ! A9 30 Working in partnership © ContinYou Assessment and referral within partnerships Have you been involved in an assessment of a child/family and in making a referral to another agency? If so, think of an example. If you haven’t been involved yourself, talk with a colleague about their experience. Keep the example in your head or write it down, but make sure it is anonymous. How were the needs of the child/family assessed? How were they recorded? Once the assessment was completed, what happened next? If there was a referral to another agency, how well did it work? What could have made it better? How was the child/family involved? What was the outcome for the child/family? What can go wrong with referrals? How do you think the Common Assessment Framework can support the assessment/referral process? What challenges might it present? How could these be overcome? What does the above tell you about working with others? A9 © ContinYou Working in partnership 31 Working with parents How do I do it? Every Child Matters emphasises a vision for working with families that puts outcomes for children and young people first. We believe that effective involvement of parents in the activities of your partnership has a positive effect on parenting. For example, more self-confident adults are likely to be more self-confident parents. How can you involve parents more effectively in the work of your partnership? What does it mean to ‘put parents at the centre’? There is a long tradition in work with families and children of striving towards ‘partnerships with parents’. Partnership with parents means different things to different people, but it broadly recognises equality between the provider and the parent. This suggests involving parents in identifying the things that are important to them and enabling them to be part of the solution. It’s about mutual respect and empowerment, and it’s about people working ‘with parents’, not ‘at parents’. Partnerships and agencies need to recognise and encourage the contribution that parents make to working with other parents, instead of seeing parents as always being in receipt of ‘professional’ help. Some consider that the principle of partnership with parents can be jeopardised through activities which are imposed by government, such as Parenting Orders. Even in these circumstances, workers can apply the same principles of equality and mutual respect in their work with parents, and focus on issues and concerns identified with them. Work with parents in partnerships needs to be under constant review. They must be kept in the loop at all times. A change of staff, in funding or in partnership priorities, will have an impact on how parents feel involved and valued. If they are part of making the change, they will be more able to work effectively with it. So, how do parents get involved? On the next two pages you will find activities to help you consider the roles parents undertake in partnership working. Try and involve parents in the activities, where possible. 305 ! A10 32 Working in partnership © ContinYou Working with parents Activity 1 List the things that parents do in your partnership – for example, they might provide debt advice, help in the office, or be members of the management group. A10 © ContinYou Working in partnership 33 Working with parents Activity 2 Using the list you have just completed, consider the following: l What knowledge and skills do parents bring to your partnership working? l Are the knowledge and skills which parents bring to your partnership used enough to help your partnership meet its objectives and targets? l In what ways do parents make a difference in your partnership? l Why is this? l What have you learnt from this activity? A10 34 Working in partnership © ContinYou Involving parents Now use the questions on the next page to help you consider some of the practicalities of involving parents. Below is an example from Andover Family Learning. Andover Family Learning (AFL) is committed to providing appropriate learning opportunities and support for families in the Andover and surrounding areas without discrimination or prejudice. The project team aims to promote equality of opportunity in every area of its work and to treat fairly all those who come into contact with the project. AFL is a partnership involving local schools, the borough council, voluntary organisations, a housing association, and many other partners, including the local education authority and the Learning and Skills Council. Parents are at the centre of its work. Much of the day-to-day activity takes place in the Long Meadow Community Centre, which is where the AFL has its main office base and where there is a coffee bar – the Coffee Pot. The Coffee Pot acts as the hub of the project with parents. Parents meet with other parents when they come to parent and child groups, classes and other activities. Workers from different agencies drop in on AFL staff, and to meet with parents. AFL has a policy of employing community learning workers, who are parents themselves, and who have been learners in the project. Parents play a key role as workers in the mobile crèche, which is also a partnership project. Andover Family Learning: l encourages parents and staff to embrace learning l involves parents as paid community learning workers. They have a key role in listening to parents, running groups and liaising with partners l involves parents in managing the Coffee Pot l calls on a core of four or five parents to represent the project at meetings and external events l recognises the skills of parents and, where possible, uses their expertise groups – for example, one parent who used to work in a bank has been involved in talking about debt in a parent support group; she has gone on to train as an adult tutor and has completed a 730 course l gives representation to parents on AFL’s Advisory Group; a system exists for parents to feed their views to the parent representative l involves parents at all stages in project evaluation l celebrates parents’ learning – for example, through events, certificates, displays and scrapbooks l offers information, advice and guidance to help parents with personal development and training. 305 ! A11 © ContinYou Working in partnership 35 Involving parents List three things that you can do to involve parents more effectively in your own partnership. 1 2 3 What effect will these have on: a) knowledge and understanding within the partnership? b) skills available to the partnership? c) the achievements of the partnership? What support will parents need in order to be effective in their contribution to the work of the partnership, as well to meet their own development needs? A11 36 Working in partnership © ContinYou As well as working with and involving parents, Every Child Matters stresses the importance of involving children and young people in developing, running and evaluating services. This builds on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that children and young people have a right to say what they think about matters that affect them, and a right to have those views taken seriously. The involvement of children and young people has benefits for organisations, children and young people, and the communities in which they live: ‘The active promotion of participation of children and young people should lead to change. This can be done by ensuring more involvement and opportunities for them to have a real say in decision making. It also creates benefits to organisations (better targeted services, saving money, new ideas, happy customers), the young people (better services, new skills, more of what they want) and to the community (engaged, community-minded children and young people, fresher democracy).’ (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/participation) The way that children and young people are involved can be many and varied, depending on the organisation or partnership. The following list of approaches has been taken from Learning to listen: core principles for the involvement of children and young people, published by the Children and Young People’s Unit (2001): l ‘ad hoc and routine suggestion schemes and ways for children and young people to offer compliments and complaints; l formal surveys and questionnaires to find out opinions, much as might be used for getting at the views of adults about national policies, current services or gaps in services; l consultation exercises. This might include a single large exercise; smaller discussion groups; creative consultations using drama or music, or games and activities for younger children and those more comfortable with non-traditional forms of communication; Involving children and young people l involving young people directly in providing services. This might include asking young people: to produce information for other young people; to design ways to communicate better with children and young people, including using information technology and other new media; to provide ‘mentor’ advice and help to other children and young people; to take part in staff development and recruitment activities; or to help assess plans for implementing services or new initiatives; l establishing young people’s advisory or decision-making bodies; l membership of main adult-led advisory or decision-making bodies.’ The full booklet, a handbook about participation and other useful information can be downloaded from www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/participation/ Using the above list and/or ideas of your own, complete the activity on the next page. A12 © ContinYou Working in partnership 37 Involving children and young people How are children and young people involved in the work of the partnership? How could they be more effectively involved? What effect will this have on: a) knowledge and understanding within the partnership? b) skills available to the partnership? c) the achievements of the partnership? What support will children and young people need in order to be effective in their contribution to the work of the partnership, as well as to meet their own development needs? A12 38 Working in partnership © ContinYou What is your experience of the importance of people within partnerships? If successful partnerships are about ‘relationships first’, what does this tell you about your role? What are the implications for your partnership? Partnerships between people first ‘Successful partnerships start with partnership between people first. Partnerships between organisations are secondary.’ (The Partnership Life Cycle – the toolkit is available on the website www.ourpartnership.org.uk) Do you agree with the above statement? 305 401 ! A13 © ContinYou Working in partnership 39 Some quotes from those working in partnerships ‘I work with a loose affiliation of people and organisations which have common needs – mutual support groups … I act as a catalyst to bring things together. I’m available for advice sometimes.’ ‘Mencap is the only provider which focuses solely on the service user. Users may have sometimes refused statutory services (for example, having had a bad experience), or they may not have come into contact with them. As a result, we may well be the first point of contact for identifying need. We often act as signposts to other services [local Mencap group].’ What do the above quotes tell you about the roles of those working in partnerships? How do these views compare with your own experience of working within a partnership? Write a brief paragraph describing how you see your key role (or purpose) within the partnership in which you are working. ‘My role is constantly on the boundaries.’ ‘Partnership in the context of my work is about identifying needs and then trying to ensure that these are taken on as agendas of schools and agencies.’ ‘My partnership role is about trying to create an appetite.’ ‘Personalities play a huge part in partnerships – the level of commitment beyond job roles. This applies to statutory and voluntary services.’ A13 40 Working in partnership © ContinYou Partnership as ‘courtship’ You have made a start on building a partnership – you have met with future or existing partners and contacts, and have become clearer about your partnership’s purpose and goals. You are also beginning to get a feel for where there are gaps in partnership working and/or in service provision, but you are still not sure about how quickly to move – are people ready to work together? At this point in the development of partnership working, it can be helpful to compare it with courtship. The activity on the next page asks you to think about partnerships: l firstly in terms of a first date l secondly in terms of a maturing relationship. Think about what helps a relationship to last and what can get in the way. This may help shed light on the pace at which you might need to work – for example, you might want to think again about the frequency and nature of partnership meetings. There are competing pressures within partnerships, not least those put on agencies by funders to meet targets and to complete pieces of work. However, unless partners are given enough time to develop relationships and to agree on shared, or negotiated, activities, the chances of a partnership meeting its agreed purpose and goals may be jeopardised. 305 401 ! A14 © ContinYou Working in partnership 41 Learning from courtship The maturing relationship Write down key words or phrases describing what is going on in this established family. List any new ideas you have for building relationships with your partners and for working with them in groups. Describe any changes you are going to make in the way you approach relationships within your own partnership. What will you achieve by doing this? The first date Write down key words or phrases indicating the thoughts and feelings that the new ‘partners’ might have during this first date. Before the date How were they feeling? What were they thinking? During the date How are they feeling? What are they thinking? How are they behaving? After the date What next? A14 42 Working in partnership © ContinYou Valuing cultural diversity Lenford White, writing about engaging black adult learners in community education, speaks of how easy it is, when referring to particular groups of people, inadvertently to use words which they find offensive. He has a very simple solution: ‘The watchword is to be sensitive, find out what people prefer to be called and don’t make too many assumptions.’ (White L, Engaging black learners in adult and community education, NIACE, 2002) This advice suggests that, when individuals and agencies come together, they need to negotiate how they wish to communicate and how they wish others to communicate with them. Arriving at an agreed language is a central part of building a partnership. It is a key factor in generating shared understanding and trust between partners. It is about acknowledging shared values and respecting differences. Being understood The words we use in partnership working are very important. If a group of people and agencies are going to work together, they need to use words which everybody understands. How often have you been to a new group and wondered what on earth people are talking about? All those acronyms and all that jargon! Language is often used to exclude people, as well as to include them. It is essential that from the outset you make sure that no one is made to feel left out because they do not understand the words used by social workers, teachers, health workers and other professionals. How can parents and families work with you if they are alienated by the language you are using? When you are using abbreviations, give the name in full the first time, followed by the initials or acronym. After that you can just use the abbreviation by itself. Finding a shared language will help everyone to understand each other better and to value diversity within the partnership. Use the sheet on the next page to help you think how to make this happen. 305 401 ! A15 © ContinYou Working in partnership 43 Below are some suggestions for things you could do to help meetings work better. l Ask the Chair of your partnership meeting to check regularly whether participants understand all the words and initials that people are using in your meetings. l Be prepared to put yourself on the line and ask for people to explain anything you don’t understand, and persuade others to do the same. This will get people into the habit of checking anything they don’t understand. l If you feel that people are still struggling, spend some time after the meeting going through anything they haven’t understood, or agree on another time to meet very soon after. l Keep a list of key terms and of issues which have been raised and circulate them on a regular basis. When you have tried putting some of the suggestions above into practice, consider whether or not they are making a difference. What do you think has changed? For whom? Why do you think that this is so? Being understood – making sense of meetings A15 44 Working in partnership © ContinYou Non-verbal communication Are you aware that 90 per cent of our communication is non-verbal? Our bodies express themselves non-verbally. For example, our faces often express what we are not saying out loud. Instead of saying how we feel, we allow our bodies to do it for us. Charles Handy suggests that ‘we think of those who will not look us in the eyes as untrustworthy, or those whose eyes are bright and alert as energetic and interesting.’ (Handy CB, Understanding organizations, 1993, OUP). It is true that we can express such things as surprise, approval, disproval or disgust through our eyes. However, it is also important to remember that there are cultural differences in the use of eye contact; for example, in some cultures it is disrespectful to make eye contact with an elder or a person of the opposite sex. Therefore, while many people living in western societies may agree with Charles Handy, we all need to be aware of the implications of our own experiences on the way we relate to people whose cultural experiences and expectations are different to our own. When we get our lines crossed in our communications with others, this is often as much to do with what we don’t say – our body language – as it is about what we do say. Encouraging people to express how they feel should help to bring about a higher degree of honesty within relationships in partnership groups. It should also help members of groups to identify the real issues, rather than what people perceive the issues to be – for example: ‘I was giving a talk and someone in the audience was clearly feeling sceptical. Instead of saying they felt sceptical … the person was asking me questions to try to lower my credibility. I said, “I will answer your question, but first I will ask you to tell me how you are feeling.” This immediately helped the audience focus on the person asking the question, thereby taking the pressure off me. It also helped the audience see that the person was being a little hostile, which helped the audience feel more empathy with me. And it helped me realise that this particular person was the one with the problem, so to speak. This helped me feel less defensive, more in control, and more secure. I even felt some compassion for him as he tried to explain how he was feeling and why.’ (Adapted from www.eqi.org/elit.htm, Hein S) Hein suggests that: l we find the right word for our feeling and its intensity l we explain why we feel what we feel. By using clear, direct and precise language, he says, we make things easier for ourselves. ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say.’ Hein suggests that when our words and our non-verbal communication are consistent, we gain respect because we come across as having integrity. Is this not a fundamental quality in an effective partnership group? In the activity on the next page, we ask you to balance negative feelings with their positive counterparts. A16 305 401 ! © ContinYou Working in partnership 45 Describing feelings uncomfortable unaware ……………………… ............................. ignored confused ……………………… ............................. unappreciated dissatisfied ……………………… ............................. resentful frustrated ……………………… ............................. bitter unsupported ……………………… ............................. unloved hated ............................... ............................. discouraged angry ............................... ............................. pessimistic sad ............................... ............................. hopeless hurt ................................ ............................. dependent afraid ................................ ............................. needy insecure ................................ ............................. nervous tense ................................ ............................ worried bored ................................ ............................ scared unmotivated ................................ ............................. incompetent lost ................................ ............................. stupid trapped ................................ ............................. embarrassed ashamed ................................ ............................. unworthy empty ................................ ............................. depressed numb ................................ ............................. isolated lonely ..................................... ................................. Adapted from Hein S, Emotional literacy, www.eqi.org/elit.htm What thoughts did you have while completing the above activity? Give an example of a recent experience of using non-verbal communication (in any setting): l in a supportive way towards others l in an unsupportive way towards others. What new insights have you drawn from this activity? Write down a positive word that is the opposite of each of these negative ones. A16 46 Working in partnership © ContinYou People bring different kinds of power and influence to relationships and to groups. If you recognise this, you can help people and agencies to share their strengths, so that they complement each other, rather than working against each other. The following list of categories of power is adapted from Charles Handy: l physical power – for example, a person who bullies others and intimidates other people in the group with their words and/or body language l resource power – for example, the funder who specifies the outcomes required of a partnership project or the school that provides space for the parents’ group l position power – for example, someone whose position entitles them to make the final decision or gives them the ‘casting vote’ l expert power – for example, someone who has professional knowledge or the experience of being a parent l personal power – for example, someone who has charisma and can ‘win people over’ l negative power – for example, someone who can stop things from happening, such as the caretaker who refuses to come in on Saturday to open the centre. (Handy CB, Understanding organizations, 1993, OUP) Do you recognise these categories? Thinking about the power people have and the way they use it can be very useful in any relationship. In a partnership, the concept of ‘expert’ power is one that may be particularly challenging; some people may not be seen as ‘experts’ by anyone but themselves, while others, especially parents, may not value the expertise they have. About power All of the different types of power can be used to the advantage or disadvantage of a group. For example, a person with resource power can withhold resources; people can use physical and/or negative power to get their own way or stop something from happening. When someone uses power in a negative way, it may be a sign that they feel powerless. For example, they may feel undervalued or not listened to within the partnership, or they may feel that assumptions have been made about their role by others. Perhaps the partnership does not yet have a shared goal, or maybe there are other factors involved which have not been fully recognised. To address the negative use of power it is important to talk about it: ‘It’s sometimes argued that power needs to be equally shared for partnerships to work. Sometimes there’s an assumption that power is a “zero sum game”, in which the more power you have, the less I have, and vice versa. A different view is that everyone’s power can be increased if we can talk openly about feelings of power and powerlessness.’ (The Partnership Lifecycle, www.ourpartership.org.uk) We may need to change the way we think about power, and start thinking in terms of ‘giving power to’, rather than ‘having power over’ people. At the same time, we need to be clear that we are not ‘giving’ power as a token gesture; sometimes a person or group that becomes empowered may choose to go in a different direction than perhaps anticipated – but if they are truly empowered, this will be their decision to make. Using power creatively can do much to promote co-operation between partners. This will then convey important messages to those with whom the partnership is working. 305 ! A17 © ContinYou Working in partnership 47 Think of the people and organisations represented in your partnership group. Imagine them sitting in the group. l Draw a map of your partnership group, naming each person around the table. Give each person a ‘power’ label, based either on the categories suggested by Handy or on ones of your own. l Draw lines between the group members, showing where you feel there are helpful or unhelpful exchanges involving uses of power and influence. l Have you included yourself in the map? If not, do so. Reflect on how you use your power and influence within the group. Are there ways in which you think you could use your own power and influence more effectively within your partnership? What effect would this have on the outcomes for your partnership? What sources of power do people bring to your partnership? A17 48 Working in partnership © ContinYou Dealing with differences of opinion This page is to help you think about the situation where you have established your group, you have agreed on your purpose and you know what you are planning to do, but people still see things differently. Although much of the language about working in partnership reflects a desire for common values and goals and shared working, the reality is often very different; partnerships are often fraught with differences of opinion and conflicts springing from the different agendas brought to the partnership by different members of the group. Differences of opinion between partners (and partner agencies) can be both a creative and a destructive force. To some extent this depends how conflict is managed. The critical factor is to harness differences of opinion and to use them as a strength, rather than seeing them as a weakness. You have a key role to play in resolving differences of opinion to help the group meet the agreed objectives of the partnership. Charles Handy suggests that conflict arises when there are differences between people over: l values l facts l priorities l goals. (Handy CB, Understanding organizations, 1993, OUP) The activity on the next page asks you to reflect on your own experience of partnership working in relation to dealing with differences under these four headings. Additional reference The Partnership Lifecycle at www.ourpartnership.org.uk has a useful section on working with conflict. 305 401 ! A18 © ContinYou Working in partnership 49 Understanding and using differences of opinion Give one example of differences of opinion drawn from your partnership under each of the headings below. Values Facts Priorities Goals What steps did you take, or are you taking, to help resolve differences? Focus on one of the examples above. If you were presented with the same situation again, would you deal with it differently? If so, how? A18 50 Working in partnership © ContinYou At the finish Think about your experience of partnership working, and what you feel you have learnt through using these materials and trying to put the ideas in them into practice. Compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you recorded earlier, on the sheet ‘At the start’. Then think about what you need to do next – perhaps you simply need to continue using what you have learnt, or maybe there is something you need (or would like) to find out more about. Write your thoughts below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. The things I have learnt are: Next I need to: B: Supporting partnership work 52 Working in partnership © ContinYou Activity/worksheet Learning outcome ref Portfolio page no At the start B1 Supporting partnerships: what do I need to learn? Why partnerships? B2 What type of partnership am I working in? B3 Different types of, and approaches to, partnership working B4 Benefits of/barriers to partnerships Partnerships between people first B5 Understanding where people and agencies have come from B6 Establishing a clear purpose B7 Clarifying your purpose and goals B8 Developing a strategic approach to partnership working B9 Planning meetings Groups and leadership B10 Working with groups B11 The thinking behind group work B12 Working with different levels of power and influence within partnerships B13 Leadership and power B14 Leadership in partnerships At the finish All 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 All Description Portfolio page no You may include anything else in your portfolio that you feel provides evidence of your learning, for example, notes from meetings or activities from other sections of the materials. Use this table to list them. Supporting partnership work: portfolio checklist This checklist tells you what you need to put in your portfolio to provide evidence of learning for this unit if you are doing the OCN. You can use it as a ‘contents page’ for the final portfolio if you wish, by adding page numbers in the right-hand column. © ContinYou Working in partnership 53 At the start Think about your experience of partnership working, and the thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, you have about it. You could reflect on an amusing incident, or think back to a real success or disaster. Write down your experiences below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. Keep what you have written or drawn for future reference. It might also be useful to refer to your notes when you decide which parts of the materials to use. You could compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you record later on, when you complete the sheet ‘At the finish’. 54 Working in partnership © ContinYou Supporting partnerships: what do I need to learn? This short questionnaire should help you to identify which worksheets are most appropriate for you. Worksheets with a prefix ‘B’ are in this section; other worksheets (prefixed ‘A’ – in brackets) may also be of use to you and can be found in the appropriate section(s) of the materials. Questions Worksheets Comments (A2, A3, A6) (A4, A5) B2, B3 (A9) (A10, A11, A12) (A13, A14) B6, B7, B8 B9, B10, B11, B12, B13, B14 (A16, A17, A18) I have a new or changed role which involves co-ordinating partnership activity. I need to identify who is going to support me. I need to understand the type of partnership I’m working in, so that I can understand my own role better. I need to understand why there is so much emphasis on partnerships. I need to know about assessment and referral in partnerships. I want to involve parents, children and young people fully. I want to explore the idea that partnerships are more about the relationships between people than about those between organisations. I want to get a better understanding of the work of other agencies. I want to help the partnership establish a clear purpose. I want to make better use of meetings. I want to find ways of helping people to understand each other. I want to work better in groups. I want to find out about leadership in partnerships. I want to get people to work together. I want to work with others to plan the work of the partnership. When you have completed the questionnaire, prepare the learning action plan on the next page. If you are planning to do the OCN, all of the worksheets with a prefix ‘B’ are essential. (A7, A8) B5, B9 (A6, A15) (A15, A16) B10, B11, B12 (A16, A17) B8 B13, B14 B10, B11, B12, B13, B14 (A16, A17, A18) B1 Your response Yes No Unsure © ContinYou Working in partnership 55 Learning action plan Use the information from the ‘what do I need to learn?’ questionnaire to complete this action plan. The worksheets I plan to complete are: Start/end dates: I will be supported by: B1 56 Working in partnership © ContinYou What type of partnership am I working in? Community Forum, Community Committee The local education authority has attracted some funds to enable a local community forum to conduct a survey of the needs of parents and families on a disadvantaged housing estate. Your role will be to establish a local project steering group, conduct the survey, and work with parents, others within the community and local agencies to address some of the needs which you have identified. Funding is available for three years from central government. Your contract of employment is with the Community Education Service and is available in the first instance for three years. Local voluntary organisation The local branch of a national voluntary organisation, which works with families with learning difficulties, has attracted funds for three years to run a Family Support Programme. The programme has grown out of work previously undertaken through a Health Action Zone. Two years of a three-year programme are left. Your role is to pick up where the previous worker left off. You will deliver the Family Support Programme through working with an established group of partners drawn from social services, education and health, as well as from voluntary agencies. Your contract of employment is with the local management committee. Family Learning Partnership The local education and health services, with support from the local Learning and Skills Council, have set up a Family Learning Project on an estate which is known to have low levels of basic skills. There are also high levels of unemployment, particularly among men. Funding is for one year in the first instance, although it is expected that this will continue. Your role will be to develop a forum on the estate which will bring together parents and families with agencies to address ways in which basic skills levels can be raised. You will be employed by the local Family Learning Partnership, which is an independent charity. Worker support group You work for a local voluntary organisation which provides counselling and other support services to parents and their families. You have built up a good network of support, which your agency is keen to maintain. The support network which you have helped to set up meets regularly and it is keen to improve the range of services for families and young people within the city. It has secured funding for a part-time co-ordinator to identify new ways of working together. Your agency is prepared to free you for two days a week to carry out the work. Your contract will remain with your agency. You are probably aware that there is no single definition of partnership working. In the same way, there is no single definition of what supporting a partnership might entail. The role you undertake will be dependent on the kind of partnership working in which you are going to be involved. These materials will help you get a much fuller understanding of partnership working over time. For now it is enough for you to gain an understanding of the kind of partnership arrangements with which you are working. Whatever the particular focus of your work – whether it is information and advice, project work, one-to-one support, or providing parenting courses – you are almost certainly going to be working with a mixture of people and organisations from local government (such as social workers, teachers and community workers), as well as from the voluntary sector. Some of your work may also involve contact with private organisations. The way in which you work will depend to some extent on the way the partnership is established. As you would expect, there is great variety and partnership arrangements seldom stand still. Read the examples below and use the questions on the next page to help you think about what type of partnership yours is, and what implications this has for you. 401 ! B2 © ContinYou Working in partnership 57 What type of partnership am I working in? a) Decide which of the four examples of partnership outlined on the previous page is most like yours. Describe in what ways it is also different. b) If none of the examples is similar to yours, describe what you understand your arrangements to be. c) Does this information about your partnership tell you anything new about your role? d) List any changes you are going to make in the way you carry out your job, as a result of identifying the type of partnership you are working in. B2 58 Working in partnership © ContinYou Different types of, and approaches to, partnership working Partnerships are about people and organisations coming together to share a common problem or issue, and taking responsibility for doing something about it collectively. Within partnership working, people take on different levels of obligation to one another. As part of this they agree to share risks – for example, meeting agreed targets set by funders or jointly taking the responsibility for running a project. One way of describing partnership working is to look at how ‘close’ partners are to one another. Do they mainly: l co-operate? Partners may share information and recognise one another’s existence. However, there is no joint planning and resources are kept separate. l co-ordinate? Partners will do some planning together and may focus on a specific project. There will be some sharing of roles and responsibilities and some shared resources and risk taking. l collaborate? Partners commit themselves to longer-term projects and make organisational changes so that there is a higher degree of shared leadership, control, resources and risk taking. Collaborative work can lead to organisations merging. Partnership is, therefore, both a way of working and a form of organisation. The nearer partners are to collaboration, the more likely they are to share common organisational arrangements. Use the questions on the next page to help you think about the degree of closeness in your partnership. 401 ! B3 © ContinYou Working in partnership 59 Partnership – degrees of closeness Would you describe your partnership/project as mainly concerned with co-operation, co-ordination or collaboration? Give reasons why you think this is so. In what ways do you think the type of partnership/project in which you are working affects your job/role? Are there ways in which you can use an understanding of the type of partnership in which you are working to help you become more effective with those with whom you work? B3 60 Working in partnership © ContinYou Benefits of/barriers to partnerships Thinking about your own partnership, list five reasons for working in partnership and five things that can get in the way. Compare your list with the one on the next page. Are there any significant differences? Are there any issues that have been listed which have a particular impact on your new job or role? Outline any steps you plan to take to address some of the issues you have identified. Reasons for partnership What gets in the way 401 ! B4 © ContinYou Working in partnership 61 Partnership checklists Some reasons for partnership l It leads to better co-ordination and joining up of services. l It allows for more work across boundaries between services. l People are able to do things in new ways. l People can share resources – money, staff, expertise, buildings, skills, intelligence. l Information is better communicated, so that parents and families benefit. l It is more efficient; things are less likely to be done twice. l It enables organisations to put the needs of parents and families at the centre, through breaking down barriers which exist within and between organisations. l It leads to improved understanding of parents and families. l It makes the organisations and individuals involved better able to represent, speak on, and work with, issues and concerns facing parents and families. l It brings about more efficient and responsive development of those who work with and for parents and families – for example, through joint training across agencies/occupational groups/workforce development. Things that can get in the way of partnership l Rushing the planning l Failing to identify clearly the reasons for working in partnership (the purpose and goals of the partnership) l Lack of time for those with an interest in the partnership (‘stakeholders’) to get to know one another l Not enough time not being given to enabling those with an interest in the partnership to gain an understanding of each other’s areas of work l Not enough involvement by parents and families in defining the service that is needed or in delivering it l A lack of trust l The feeling that there are unequal levels of power between partners and the failure to acknowledge or address this l An unelected person trying to take over l Poor communication systems l Lack of recognition of differences between cultures, languages, organisations, occupations and community members l Lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities l A failure to look at how a partnership is doing and to measure its achievements (through monitoring and evaluation) B4 62 Working in partnership © ContinYou Understanding where people and agencies have come from People come to partnerships with different levels of anxiety, anticipation and expectation. This is particularly true of a new partnership. Sometimes people are so keen to sort out exactly what they want to do – for example, activities to meet the demands of funders – that they don’t give enough time to getting to know each other. Part of your job may be to persuade people to create time to help them develop mutual trust, so that over time they will be confident enough to share risks together. This does not happen overnight. Your considered intervention may be central to making this happen. You could try out some of the activities outlined on the next page with the members of your partnership. Make a note of what effect these have on the partners and the partnership as a whole over time. 305 401 ! B5 © ContinYou Working in partnership 63 Finding out about partners l Devote a large part of an early partnership meeting to asking people to tell other partners about why they have come, and what they hope to get out of the meeting for a) their organisation and b) themselves. You could do this by breaking into pairs and giving each person three minutes to talk about their reasons for attending the meeting. Then bring everyone back together and ask each person to report back to the whole group about their partner’s reasons for being at the meeting. l Alternatively, if the group is going to meet reasonably often, you could have this as a regular agenda item and invite one or two of the partners to contribute each time. l You could consider producing a small booklet/newsletter with a brief description of each partner and their reasons for being involved. l Later, when new people or organisations join, make sure that they are similarly introduced and that your booklet is updated. You might also choose to have a website. In what ways have these activities had an effect on: a) your relationship with your partners? b) changes in relationships and/or understanding between partners? c) the direction of the partnership? Give examples where you can. B5 64 Working in partnership © ContinYou Establishing a clear purpose In York, the local papers produce an annual Citizens’ Guide in collaboration with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB) and the Council for Voluntary Service (CVS). As a result of organisations coming together to produce the Parentaid Directory, there is now an open exchange of information between the papers, the CAB, the CVS and the Parentaid Project. The annual update of the Citizens’ Guide provides a timetable for new or revised entries. Information has to be submitted by 31 March. Information provided for the Citizens’ Guide is also used to update the Parentaid Directory. The success of the York Project is a result of partners having: l a clear purpose l some shared values. Use the sheet on the next page to help you consider the process of agreeing on the partnership’s purpose. It is overwhelmingly accepted that, for a partnership or partnership working to be effective, there has to be a clear purpose. The way you work, and the relationships you develop, will be strongly influenced by the partnership’s purpose. By ‘purpose’ we mean: l the overall direction of the partnership – What is it there to do? What are its goals? l the values of the partnership – What do partners believe in? What binds them together? For example, the purpose of Parentaid, a partnership project set up by ContinYou, is: ‘to produce a Parentaid Directory designed to enable those working with children, parents, and families to help parents to gain access to advice, guidance and support’. The commitment by partners to producing a Parentaid Directory complements the goals of member organisations. The partners also demonstrate that they share some common values, such as: l a commitment to working together l a commitment of time l a desire to empower parents to have greater choice in developing support for their children l a commitment by some to be involved in a steering committee l a willingness to share information. The experience of Parentaid suggests that, although partners come together initially to produce a directory, it is not uncommon for the partnership to go beyond the original goal – for example: 401 ! B6 © ContinYou Working in partnership 65 Defining your purpose – where are you? For new partnerships What steps are you taking with your partners to agree on the partnership’s purpose? Are you finding it difficult to agree? What is your role within this? For established partnerships What steps were taken at the beginning to agree on your partnership’s purpose? Are people still happy with it? If not, what are some of the difficulties? How might you enable the partnership to address any difficulties? B6 66 Working in partnership © ContinYou Clarifying your purpose and goals Things to remember l Clear partnership goals do not just happen. They come about through a process of identifying needs, gathering information and doing research. The research phase of a partnership will often provide some of the first opportunities for partners to get to know one another. For example, Parentaid partnerships undertake a needs audit, and an audit of available resources as the basis for producing the directory. l In supporting a partnership you may have a significant role to play in helping the partnership to identify and promote its key purpose. Your ability to do this is entirely dependent on the quality of the relationships you have with others, as well as on your understanding of how to help groups reach agreement. l Whether you are enabling a partnership to identify its goals, or working to help implement them, you need to maintain a strong sense of the part you play. Partnerships will only be successful where managers at the most senior level are involved and where they actively support partnership working. Your role is to work with partners, including managers, to help the whole partnership arrive at an agreed purpose for the partnership. l As a general guide, it is helpful to think of your role as enabling others to do the work. Your prime concern is to enable people to work in a joined-up way so that they can meet their objectives. The way in which you do this will depend on the type of partnership in which you are working. Some people will work in a very local ‘hands-on’ way, while others will work more strategically in clearly defined partnerships. The important thing is to remain mindful of your core job. At a future advisory/steering group meeting, allow some time for the exercise on the next page. You will need to make it the main agenda item. This is a very useful exercise to undertake before entering the planning phase of your partnership. 401 ! B7 © ContinYou Working in partnership 67 Clarifying your purpose and goals The purpose of this exercise is to agree (or reconfirm) the purpose and goals of the partnership. Put a flip chart or large sheet of paper on the wall, with a circle drawn in the middle covering half the page. Give everybody a supply of post-it notes to write on and ask them to write down three statements about what they think the partnership’s main purpose and goals are, or should be. They should then stick their post-its inside the circle on the paper. Participants then read through all the statements. Each person in turn moves any statements with which they disagree to the outside of the circle. This means that all the statements remaining in the circle will be those on which there is common agreement. Invite participants to look at the flip chart again but not to change anything, and then to discuss what they have discovered from this activity. End by writing down the agreed main purpose and goals of the partnership. B7 68 Working in partnership © ContinYou Developing a strategic approach to partnership working We have suggested that partnership working is both a way of working and a form of organisation (B2). The nearer that partners come to collaborating, the more likely they are to share common organisational arrangements. In general, the clearer the purpose and goals of the partnership and the more that partners want to work collaboratively, the greater will be the commitment to setting longer-term goals and developing a more strategic approach. Whatever the nature of your partnership work, you will be involved to a varying degree in strategic approaches. Basically, the strategy provides the bigger picture into which individual projects or collections of projects fit. It provides the direction for the work and indicates the longer-term outcomes that are expected. Some partnerships, such as Local Strategic Learning Partnerships, are set up specifically to provide a framework through which partners – learners, providers, and central and local government departments – can shape projects to meet local needs and national targets, such as targets for literacy and numeracy. Strategic approaches are generally more ambitious than non-strategic approaches. It is especially important that they are based on: l a clear analysis of what the partnership can do to complement the work of individual partners l shared values and an agreed purpose l clearly defined roles and responsibilities l an assessment of which agency is best suited to undertake which actions l a system for monitoring and evaluating the partnership’s work from the outset. Strategic working requires clear leadership, which combines enthusing and encouraging partners with keeping them to task. Arrangements need to be in place to ensure that resources are managed efficiently – for example, arrangements for funding, staffing and training, and for sharing information. Working strategically is the opposite of approaching things in an ad hoc fashion and reacting to things as they occur. It provides a framework, and a sense of direction and purpose, into which the various components of partnership working can fit, and which can be adapted to changing circumstances. 401 ! B8 © ContinYou Working in partnership 69 Developing a strategic approach to partnership working This activity assumes that you already know the purpose and goals of the partnership. List six actions that you have undertaken in the last four weeks which have contributed to the strategic direction of your partnership/project. You could consider them under the following headings: l Leadership l Funding l Working with partners (eg colleagues, agency staff, volunteers, others) What do these actions tell you about how you work and how you set priorities? Do you consider that you have achieved the right balance between strategic activity and more immediate concerns to help your project/partnership achieve its purpose and goals? If not, what might you do differently? What have you learnt from this activity? B8 70 Working in partnership © ContinYou Planning meetings Allowing time for partners to find out about each other gives everyone involved messages about being valued and listened to. The way in which meetings are run, who chairs them, how they are chaired, and the extent to which people are able to present their points of view and feel that others are listening to them, are important ingredients in promoting commitment, involvement and trust. It is, therefore, worth reflecting for a few moments on running meetings, especially at the beginning of a partnership, when people are finding their feet. Here are some of the things you will need to think about: l What is the purpose of the meeting? Who is convening it? l What outcomes would you like to see? What outcomes do you think your partners would like to see? Are these realistic? l Where is the meeting going to take place? Remember that it can sometimes be helpful to use a venue which is seen as neutral. This avoids the impression that one agency is taking over. B9 l Have you thought enough about when the meeting will be held and how long it will last? l Can those you most want to attend get there? Have you checked their diaries? l Who will deal with the domestic arrangements? l What arrangements have been made for paying for the meeting? l How is the agenda going to be agreed? Is the agenda achievable within the time available? Who is sending it out and to whom? l Who will chair the meeting? l Who will take notes and who will they send these to? l Who is going to be charged with encouraging action where this is required? l Do you want any media coverage? If so, who is going to brief media representatives? See if you can add further items to this checklist – we must have forgotten something! Use the sheet on the next page. 401 ! © ContinYou Working in partnership 71 Planning meetings What else would you add to the checklist about planning meetings? B9 72 Working in partnership © ContinYou Working with groups Think about how much time you spend working in groups. l Make a list of the main groups (both formal and informal) in which you are involved. l Estimate the amount of time you spend in each. l Work out what percentage this is of your working week. What does this tell you about the work you do? As you develop relationships and the partnership becomes more established, you will find that you are increasingly working in groups. There are two broad kinds of groups: l formal l informal. Some groups are temporary, while others are more permanent. Whether you are in contact with several small partnership groups, or are part of a larger, more formal grouping, you will constantly be involved in meeting people in various combinations. Charles Handy suggests that: ‘On average, managers spend 50% of their working day in one sort of group or another. Senior managers can spend 80%’. (Handy CB, Understanding organizations, 1993, OUP) 305 401 ! B10 © ContinYou Working in partnership 73 Understanding groups Use a ‘mind map’ to help you think about working in groups. Draw a picture showing the groups in which you are involved. Use different colours to indicate formal and informal groups. Consider the connections between them (draw lines to link them). Suggest what the connection is, using a word, phrase or drawing. Where do you fit into the picture? What does this tell you about your role? What have you learnt from this activity? B10 74 Working in partnership © ContinYou The thinking behind group work ‘A group, first of all, is any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group.’ (Charles Handy) The generally accepted view of groups is that they become established in four steps: l forming l storming l norming l performing. (Tuckman BW, ‘Developmental sequence in small groups’, Psychology Bulletin, 1965) Some people would add a fifth step: closure or regrouping. A basic understanding of how groups are formed will help you to be more effective as a group worker. It will also help you towards a better understanding of the development stages of your partnership group. A little knowledge about how groups are formed and how they develop can help you address the tasks of the group. It is not suggested that all groups go through all four or five stages; some never get that far. Nor is it suggested that the processes within groups follow this neat chronological order. Some of the features listed on the next page will be happening alongside one another. This analysis is provided as a tool, to help you interpret what might be going on in some of the groups in which you are involved, and to help you make assessments about how you can best intervene to help groups achieve their purpose on behalf of parents and families. For example, in a group which is ‘forming’, you are likely to concentrate on helping people to get to know one another, to build trust and to identify their purpose. In a group which is ‘performing’, your involvement will tend to be more about helping the group to sustain its work and evaluate performance. Read the information on the next page and then complete the activity that follows it: ‘What I feel in a group’. B11 305 401 ! © ContinYou Working in partnership 75 Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is our task? What do we agree on? Who’s responsible? Where’s the power? How do we feel? What approaches can we take to achieve our objectives? Who is going to do what? How are we going to do it? Have we got all the information we need? How can we be most productive? Forming At this stage group members: l will be introducing themselves and getting to know each other l will be trying to establish their individual identities l will be discussing the group’s purpose l will be exploring the scope of the task l may be avoiding serious topics and feelings. B11 Storming This stage may involve: l members competing with one another l conflicting interests between members, as the group becomes more focused on tasks l bending ideas, attitudes and beliefs to suit the group organisation l questioning about ‘who is responsible for what?’ l discussing the group’s structure l conflicting views about structure, leadership, power and authority. The four stages of groups Norming At this stage there will be: l more cohesive group relations l a higher level of trust between group members l a greater focus on tasks l accepted leadership l a creative flow of information to inform the tasks. Performing At this stage: l members show high dependence on one another l there are deeper relationships between people l the group becomes good at problem solving; there is more experimentation l individual members become more self-confident l the group is at its most productive l members review what they are doing. Closing At this stage: l members acknowledge the group has performed its task l the group is closed or a successor is established. 76 Working in partnership © ContinYou Think of any group (formal or informal) in which you have been involved in the recent past. Write down five feelings you experienced in the group. Identify at which stage of the group you had each feeling and list it under the appropriate heading. You can just write down key words, or you could have a go at drawing your experience. Forming Storming Norming Performing Closing Is there anything you can learn from this to help your partnership working? a) in relation to understanding? b) in relation to skills? What I feel in a group B11 © ContinYou Working in partnership 77 Working with different levels of power and influence within partnerships You will constantly be coming up against different perceptions of power and influence between individuals and within groups. You can use this positively, or you can panic and allow people and agencies to use their energy negatively, rather than positively. People use power in order to gain influence. If you can help everyone to feel they have an influence on what is happening, you will have gone a long way to using differences in power and influence in a positive way. Groups function well when their members believe they have some influence over one another. Influence comes from exerting power over others. This happens in different ways. What one person sees as a powerful act, another will see as completely the opposite – for example, power dressing will impress some people, but turn off others. The perception of power and influence is something that impinges on all relationships within a partnership, both in and out of meetings. People will sense that different agencies have different levels of power and influence – for example: l ‘The local council has all the say.’ l ‘They have the money; we are just here to help them get their funding.’ 305 401 ! B12 78 Working in partnership © ContinYou Who do you believe holds the power in your partnership? Which people, or which organisations, do you believe hold power and influence in your partnership? Ask others in your partnership where they see the power and influence lying. Are the most influential partners always those from the biggest organisations? What else might give people influence? What power and influence do parents and families have in your partnership? What have you learnt from this activity? B12 © ContinYou Working in partnership 79 Leadership and power Jean Lannie, Family Learning Co-ordinator for the Family Learning Project in Andover, describes her leadership role: ‘As co-ordinator for the project I am supported by a large and active multi-agency steering group, which was established principally from those engaged in the Parentaid Steering Group. Members of the steering group are influential in their own organisations – for example, headteachers, the CEO of the Council for Voluntary Service, managers from health and from Mencap. ‘I see my role as being an effective advocate, having good media skills, being enthusiastic and energetic. I recognise the specialist skills of others. My role is to empower others to take responsibility and to empower parents as a parent project … I have to ensure that systems are set up to make things happen – for example, that these are clear written roles and responsibilities for staff.’ David Prodrick, Development Worker for Families and Friends in Tunbridge Wells, describes his leadership role in the following terms: ‘I have links with organisations right across Tunbridge Wells. My work is a loose affiliation of people and organisations which have common needs – mutual support groups. I act as a catalyst to bring people together. I am available for advice sometimes. Once I have helped to establish the groups, a “hands-off” approach is best. They need to set the pace.’ Families and Friends is a national demonstration project funded by the DfES. It aims to identify the needs of parents in pockets of deprivation in otherwise affluent areas and establish ways of meeting them. The projects report to an advisory committee. When looking at partnership working, we are not just looking at individuals who might play a leadership role, but also at agencies. l What leadership role do you play in your particular setting? l Which agencies play a stronger role in leadership than others? One of the main things which will affect your role as a leader in your partnership is how the partnership has been set up. Two possible structures are outlined below, along with an example of each. l If you are working with a loose affiliation of groups, you may report back to an advisory group or a community forum. l If you are working in a formal partnership where there is an appointed co-ordinator for the whole project, you may report to a multi-agency steering group or management group. 305 401 ! B13 80 Working in partnership © ContinYou What is your role in leadership? 1 Below is a list of different leadership qualities. Tick the ones that you think apply to you. q I’m a good organiser q I push things through q I consult other people q I pull things together q I am diplomatic q I’m an enabler/facilitator 2 What impact do you consider your leadership role has on the partnership in which you are working? 3 List two ways in which you will use your leadership role differently as a result of undertaking this activity. What difference will this make: l to your relationships with your partners? l to outcomes for the partnership? B13 Leadership in partnerships B14 Some people who write about partnerships suggest that everybody in a partnership is a leader. Since relationships are such key features of partnerships, leadership is about promoting good relationships. You may be wondering: l Am I a co-ordinator? l Am I a leader? You could be both. You may be the only co-ordinator for the partnership, but you will be one of several leaders in the work of the partnership. In partnerships, some organisations may seem more significant than others in the sense that they may, for example, be the lead funder, or they may be carrying the greatest risk – for example, of losing money if other partners do not meet their commitments. However, this does not make them more important than others. In a true partnership, things can only happen with the agreement and support of all parties. Of course, agreement can be achieved through using power and influence to gain negative control over others – for example, by saying: ‘You will do this or we will withdraw the funding.’ In the spirit of partnership, however, a more consensual approach is needed to decision making. Partners do carry more weight when they can truly claim that they represent their organisation or group. This means that they carry the authority and the support of their organisation into the partnership grouping. This also reinforces the power of leadership within partnership working and accountability to partner organisations for achieving agreed outcomes. Where the members of a partnership have agreed together on the purpose and goals of a partnership, they are far more likely to be committed to and involved in joint working. So how does this relate to choosing a leader? A partnership can only have a recognised leader if the partners agree to elect one. A leader cannot be imposed. Leaders in partnerships need the authority of the partnership group to act. In the activity on the next sheet, we ask you to think about the leadership qualities of the members of your partnership. 305 401 ! © ContinYou Working in partnership 81 B14 Who are the leaders? Who are the leaders in your partnership? What qualities do they display – for example: do they act in democratic ways? are they able to motivate others? What impact do they have on the business of the partnership: l in building the partnership? l the outcomes of the partnerships work? 82 Working in partnership © ContinYou © ContinYou Working in partnership 83 At the finish Think about your experience of partnership working, and what you feel you have learnt through using these materials and trying to put the ideas in them into practice. Compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you recorded earlier, on the sheet ‘At the start’. Then think about what you need to do next – perhaps you simply need to continue using what you have learnt, or maybe there is something you need (or would like) to find out more about. Write your thoughts below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. The things I have learnt are: Next I need to: 84 Working in partnership © ContinYou C: Understanding strategic development of partnership work 86 Working in partnership © ContinYou Activity/worksheet Learning outcome ref Portfolio page no At the start C1 Understanding strategic development of partnerships: what do I need to learn? Monitoring, evaluation and performance C2 Audits: working with others C3 Planning audit C4 Monitoring and evaluation – definitions and audit C5 Performance audit – assessment tools (optional) At the finish All 1 2/3 2 3 2/3 All Description Portfolio page no You may include anything else in your portfolio that you feel provides evidence of your learning, for example, notes from meetings or activities from other sections of the materials. Use this table to list them. This checklist tells you what you need to put in your portfolio to provide evidence of learning for this unit if you are doing the OCN. You can use it as a ‘contents page’ for the final portfolio if you wish, by adding page numbers in the right-hand column. Understanding strategic development of partnership work: portfolio checklist © ContinYou Working in partnership 87 At the start Think about your experience of partnership working, and the thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, you have about it. You could reflect on an amusing incident, or think back to a real success or disaster. Write down your experiences below – or draw them if you prefer, or a mixture of both. Keep what you have written or drawn for future reference. It might also be useful to refer to your notes when you decide which parts of the materials to use. You could compare your present thoughts and feelings with those you record later on, when you complete the sheet ‘At the finish’. 88 Working in partnership © ContinYou Understanding strategic development of partnerships: what do I need to learn? Questions Your response Yes No Unsure Worksheets Comments (A2, A3, A6) (A4, A5) C2, (B8) C2, C3 C2, C4 C2, C5 I have a new or changed role which involves providing developmental/strategic support to a partnership. I need to identify who is going to support me. I want to work with others to plan the work of the partnership. I would like a development plan for the partnership. I want to find out about monitoring and evaluation. I’d like to know how my partnership is performing. This short questionnaire should help you to identify which worksheets are most appropriate for you. Worksheets with a prefix ‘C’ are in this section; other worksheets (prefixed ‘A’ or ‘B’– in brackets) may also be of use to you and can be found in the appropriate section(s) of the materials. When you have completed the questionnaire, prepare the learning action plan on the next page. If you are planning to do the OCN, all of the worksheets with a prefix ‘C’ are essential. C1 © ContinYou Working in partnership 89 Learning action plan Use the information from the ‘what do I need to learn?’ questionnaire to complete this action plan. The worksheets I plan to complete are: Start/end dates: I will be supported by: C1 90 Working in partnership © ContinYou Audits: working with others This section contains three sets of materials to help you audit: l planning l monitoring and evaluation l performance. You may wish to use all three or just one or two of these audits, depending on the partnership and on your own learning needs. Each audit is designed to help you and/or your partnership produce an action plan in relation to the priorities you identify. You may wish to take a broad brush-stroke approach or to hone in on one or two key areas. For the OCN you must, as a minimum, complete the planning and monitoring and evaluation audits, activities and action plans. The performance audit is optional. Give careful thought to how you involve members of the partnership in carrying out and sharing the results of the audits. They will need to feel some ownership of the process. This will involve careful planning and communication. Here are some ways you might use the audits (but you might think of others): l Set aside time at a partnership meeting to explore an audit, working through it as a group. This will ensure all partnership members feel involved – but it may be difficult to dedicate the time needed within regular partnership meetings. l Ask all partnership members to complete the audit(s) independently and then collate the results for discussion. This will ensure that people have an opportunity to contribute – but, again, the pressures of time and of getting responses from all partnership members may be a challenge. l Support a sub-group in completing the audits, reporting back to the main partnership group. If the membership of the group is agreed at a full partnership meeting, this will enable all those with an interest and the time available to be involved. However, you may find the sense of ‘ownership’ within the whole group less strong – this may be important if the results of the audit, and/or suggested actions, are contentious. l Complete the audits by yourself as a learning process and to inform your own role. This will be useful for you, but may mean you do not gain the full benefits of the audits within the partnership as a whole. Before you start, discuss with your line manager how you wish to conduct the audits, and how the results will contribute to the work of the partnership. How you use the audits within the planning and evaluation cycle will be influenced by the progress that you have already made. For example, if your plan has not been written, completing the audit will help you prepare for it; if it has already been written, it might prompt some additional thoughts or actions. Look for patterns in your responses. They are an assessment of where you are at a given point in the life of your partnership. 305 401 ! C2 © ContinYou Working in partnership 91 Planning audit Defining the partnership’s purpose Does your partnership have a shared vision? Do you have an agreed purpose and agreed goals? Do your goals match those of your funders? Are your partners clear about the basis of their membership of the partnership? Do they have the backing of their own agencies? Do they have the support and involvement of senior management? In what ways are parents involved? Your response Yes No Unsure Questions Further issues to consider Have you agreed how you are going to: a) monitor and evaluate the work you do? b) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership? Have clear and realistic aims and objectives been set for different elements within your project? The way in which you agree on your vision can be as important as the vision itself. Work on what you can agree on (at least in the early stages) and not what you cannot agree on. It is very important that partners represent their agency. It helps to create clearer lines of accountability in partnerships. NB This depends on the nature of the partnership. Parents are key partners. Avoid tokenism. Objectives should be: l Specific Are our objectives clear? l Measurable Have we ways of monitoring? l Achievable Can we do it? l Realistic Do our objectives fit with our overall purpose? l Timebound Do we have clear timetables and are they realistic? Parents and families can be involved through taking part: l in your advisory group l as paid staff or as volunteers l through community planning events l through open days l in visits l in doing research l in giving feedback. Have parents and families contributed to identifying the needs which the partnership is trying to meet? Will parents be involved in meeting the needs which have been identified? Putting parents at the centre 305 401 ! C3 92 Working in partnership © ContinYou Action plan – planning What have