Intention and principles for taking action together more effectively
Tools for sustaining mobilization over time
Collective Impact conditions
Tools for sustaining mobilization over time
Collective Impact conditions
A single event or cause can be enough to motivate people to come together and join forces. Acting together serves to boost the effect of individual and collective efforts. A number of principles, conditions and tools can be useful for attaining common goals and blazing a trail for change.
Why take action together?
Taking action together makes it possible to focus on a shared vision and values, step up efforts on behalf of population groups with the greatest needs, and foster a sense of unity within a community.
To make sure you are working for the common good, it is necessary to clearly define your intention and establish some basic principles, such as:
- Taking preventive action as early as possible because early childhood development offers windows of opportunity that must be seized
- Taking action to encourage everyone’s development to their full potential and breaking the cycle of social exclusion
- Taking action together with those primarily affected, meaning the parents and members of the community
- Taking action to build everyone’s capacities: children, families, communities
- Taking action that encourages the building of relationships, trust and respect between partners
- Taking action based on a sound understanding of the local context, history, strengths and challenges
Getting the most from collaborations
To reinforce any collective action, the individuals and organizations must commit themselves fully by promoting attitudes such as leadership, focusing on individual and collective competencies, and implementing various strategies:
- Adapting the collaborations through the adjustment of interventions based on the priorities decided by the group and finding common ground that allows for the creation of stimulating partnerships
- Collaborating with parents and citizens so they can influence the conception as well as the execution of the measures that affect them
- Forging links with funding partners in a position to assume an enabling role, on the condition that both parties are open to influencing each another
- Building relationships at the local, regional and provincial levels by establishing solid links between partners that operate at several levels so that early childhood development measures can be implemented in a well-structured and organized manner
Useful tool: Himmelman’s matrix of strategies
Arthur T. Himmelman proposes four strategies for working together: networking, coordination, cooperation and collaboration. According to Himmelman, the strategies are more effective when they can rely on a common vision, meaningful power-sharing, mutual learning, and mutual accountability for results.
Source: Himmelman Arthur T., Collaboration for a change, 2002, p. 4
Two key ingredients: time and trust
Organizations that join forces on behalf of a community’s families and young children must be prepared to invest the time it takes to learn to work together in common action, share power, and establish trust.
Four aspects that help establish mutual trust
Sincerity – is the assessment that you are honest, that you say what you mean and mean what you say, and that you can be believed and taken seriously. It also means when you express an opinion, that it is valid, useful and is backed up by social thinking and evidence. Finally, it means that your actions will align with your words.
Reliability – is the assessment that you meet the commitments you make, that you keep your promises.
Competence – is the assessment that you have the ability to do what you are doing or propose to do. In the workplace, this usually means the other person believes you have the requisite capacity, skill, knowledge, and resources to do a particular task or job.
Care – is the assessment that you have the other person’s interests in mind as well as your own when you make decisions and take actions. Of the four assessments of trustworthiness, care is in some ways the most important for building lasting trust. When people believe you are only concerned with your self-interest and don’t consider their interests as well, they may trust your sincerity, reliability and competence, but they will tend to limit their trust of you to specific situations or transactions. On the other hand, when people believe you hold their interest in mind, they will extend their trust more broadly to you.
Source: Feltman, C. The Thin Book of Trust, 2008, p. 14.
Espace de partage pour l’action concertée
en petite enfance
© 2010-2024 Collectif petite enfance - Tous droits réservés