Effective%20Collaboration%20and%20Planning%20Strategies%20at%20the%20State,%20Local%20and%20Program%20Levels

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Effective Collaborative Leadership and Teaming
Strategies Barbara J. Smith, Ph.D. University
of Colorado Denver September, 2008
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Overview of Presentation

• The Why", "Who and What
• The Collaborative Leadership, Teaming and
  Planning Model An Evidence-Based Approach to
  State and Local Planning

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Why Engage in Collaborative Team Planning? (or,
why cant I just do it myself?)

• Two heads really are better than one
• Stakeholder buy-in and support
• Many EC services and programs exist in any state
  or community including child care, public
  preschool, Head Start, early intervention, family
  child care, etc. They need to be coordinated
  so that resources and activities
  can be shared

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Examples of Collaborative Leadership and Planning

• State level
• Coordinated professional development (PD) system
• Community level
• Coordinated training and TA services
• Program/family level
• Program-wide PBS/Pyramid teaming

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Is Collaborative Planning Effective?

• It depends on, who, how, why, what

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What Works

• Collaborative leadership and teaming
• Is a process not an event
• Is hard work collaboration
• Requires trust and respect across team members
• Requires buy-in and ownership of all stakeholders
• You cant mandate what matters
  
• Logistics and meeting strategies to ensure
  trust, buy-in, action
  and results!
  

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What Works

• Collaborative leadership and planning requires
• objective team facilitation
• Skills in group decision making
• shared understanding purpose, values, passion,
  concepts, language, ground rules
• shared vision
• written action or strategic plans
• ongoing supports and resources, incentives

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Collaborative Leadership, Teaming and Planning
Model

• Builds on evidence-based practices and experience
• Based upon a collaborative leadership team that
• establishes a shared goal or vision,
• engages in shared decision making and action
  planning to reach the goal,
• and evaluates both the team process
  and outcomes

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Collaborative Planning Model for Program
Improvement and Systems Change


Smith, B.J. (2006), Module 4, Center on Social
and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning,
www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
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Collaborative Team

• Members
• Depends on purpose of team
• Are decision-makers
• Have the support of the decision makers above
  them
• Are committed to cause and shared decision-making
  
• Have a stake in the vision or goal
• Have a positive attitude
• Agree to the logistics for conducting the work
  of the team

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Team Logistics Ground Rules

• Size around 10 members
• Ground rules
• attendance no substitutes or representatives
• absenteeism support decisions and stay informed
• rules for respectful communication
• rules for decision making
• Place and time for meetings planned early
  convenient
• Agendas meeting objectives, decisions to be
  made, member roles, time allotments for
  each agenda item
• Administrative support agendas, meeting
  logistics, minutes, etc
• Meeting evaluations

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Team Facilitation

• Team meetings need meeting facilitation that
• Promotes trust among members
• Uses shared decision making meeting activities
  and strategies
• Results in every meeting being productive
• May be provided by an outsider or, if insider,
  must be viewed as objectiveand fair may be
  shared among rotatingteam members

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Team Goal/Vision

• Defines and binds team to a common
  purpose/direction
• Is inspiring while also concrete and attainable
• Can be changed if the team agrees
• Builds
• Common ground
• Common understanding
• Common language
• Trust

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Challenges to the Vision

• What must we overcome to achieve goal or vision?
• Which challenges do we address? How do we
  prioritize?

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Action Plans

• Develop Written Action Plans to overcome
  identified challenges and move toward the vision
• Written action plans can are used for
• Coordination of activities
• Establishing work groups
• Meeting agendas
• Evaluation

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Action Plans

• Address what needs to be done to overcome
  challenges and to implement change
• Address important transitions
• Address what needs to be done to
  sustain the change

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Action Planning Form

• DATE
• GOAL/VISION
• OBJECTVE
• TEAM/WORK GROUP MEMBERS

Strategy/Action To be Taken Persons Responsible, Resources Needed, Timeline Indicators of Success Status, Date Completed





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Evaluation

• Evaluate the Team and Planning Process
• Evaluate the Outcomes