This resource guide is designed to provide human service agencies with information related to best practices in the formation of partnerships to achieve improved results in the provision of human services. The guide is divided into six factors that influence the success or failure of collaborative efforts.

You will find tools and resources that have been used by one or more human service agencies in Minnesota, as well as state and international research and resources, to help in the development of new partnerships and in the examination of current partnerships.

As a starting point, we want to recognize that partnerships require time and energy but we believe that partnerships can provide a real level of benefit for Minnesotans in need. The decision to form partnerships requires a manager to correctly analyze the current situation and examine the strengths and weaknesses of working with other entities. Here is a brief summary of both the rewarding and challenging aspects of partnerships.

Most Rewarding Aspects of Partnerships

· Fresh ideas through multi-disciplinary approach.

· Opens the door for change.

· Can focus on improving services / consumer benefits.

· Economy of Scale (maximizing resources, expanding scope of services, use the best part of each agency).

· Builds mutual respect.

· Proactively expands community-based care & strength-based care options.

· Brings leaders together who are open-minded.

· Improves communications (throughout and between agencies).

· Can standardize practice across a region.

· Offers cross education and “perspective sharing” between administration and direct line staff.

· Can actively watch services evolve / change “business as usual.”

· Seeing the first client receive the new service.

· Financial incentives.

· Maximizing technology.

Most Challenging Aspects of Partnerships

· Finding “extra” time for meetings (need to use phone calls and e-mails to augment regular meeting times)

· Coordinating schedules.

· Managing distance between stakeholders.

· Reporting back to multiple bosses (i.e. directors/boards).

· Re-educating new members/stakeholders.

· Maintaining focus on cost-effective services.

· How to equitably share costs.

· Run into roadblocks between agencies (i.e. union contracts, billing procedures, etc.).

· Must have the right people in the right spots, and use the right approach.

· Must get communication coordinated at all levels of the organization.

TOP - Introduction - Factors Related to the Environment - Factors Related to Purpose - Factors Related to Membership Characteristics - Factors Related to Process and Structure - Factors Related to Communication

Factors Related to...
Environment

(*Category adapted from Wilder Foundation)

Identify specific social, political, geographic, and economic pressures related to the proposed project (these pressures can help bring people to the table and foster collaboration).
Determine if the project is voluntary or mandatory.
Determine what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable.
Bring forward the things that have worked in the past, let the rest go.
Identify turf issues directly (What is the history of collaboration or cooperation in your community?).
Acknowledge history. If people feel that changes are happening because their work wasn’t respected or important, it dramatically raises the resistance to change.
Build the project off of “common ground.”
Be realistic, sometimes the primary objective is to set the table for future efforts (establish a track record / placeholder).
Take time to discuss how finances will motivate and drive decisions for your project.

Factors Related to...
Purpose
(*Category adapted from Wilder Foundation)

Conduct a Needs Assessment / Gaps Analysis

The first step in many collaborations is to identify the needs that the group will respond to. Jim Altshuld, from the University of Ohio, has presented extensively on needs assessments/gaps analysis. A gaps analysis goes further than just identifying the needs. A gaps analysis identifies the measurable discrepancy between what is and what should be. There are a number of steps in completing a gaps analysis:
- Get a clear focus
- Determine "what should be"
- Rank "what should be" in order of importance
- Determine "what is"
- Identify discrepancies
- Prioritize the discrepancies
- Causally analyze discrepancies (What has caused the discrepancies?)
Altshud suggests that in identification of needs there are three levels that should be looked at: service recipients, providers of services, and the service system.
Establish “realistic expectations” up front / define concrete and attainable goals and objectives.
Determine what the future should look like and how you plan to get there from here (must be agreed upon by all primary agencies involved in the project).
Articulate the need to move beyond current experience (Who or what drives the vision?).
Avoid the temptation to expand the scope of the project. Maintain your focus on the goal/desired outcome. Keep coming back to the core purpose of the project.
Ask “What matters most?”
Consider how you will know if you have accomplished what you want.
Consider why you are doing this:
- What population will you serve?
- Define preferred outcomes for your project
- What is the current climate?
- Financial constraints?
- Legal pressures, etc.?

Factors Related to...
Membership Characteristics
(*Category adapted from Wilder Foundation)

Regarding Members

Identify an appropriate cross-section of membership (diverse representation).
Consider if the right people are present to get things done:

“The more the merrier” philosophy:

Include as many people in the planning for change process as you possibly can. Include those directly impacted (i.e. clients and staff); those that are indirectly impacted (informal support systems, clergy); existing and potentially new partners (providers, other counties, other departments, city, law enforcement, etc.), and include interested community members. Many differing outlooks and perspectives create a better process and outcome.

“Limit the number of cooks” philosophy:

Be careful about inviting too many perspectives and combining multiple agendas (trying to please everyone). Be strategic about the maximum number of committee members you can have and still function as a group.

Consider having core members report back to groups of stakeholders and facilitate communication back and forth, without inviting everyone to the meetings.

Identify need for specific experts to inform members and identify level of participation by the experts.
After the project is moving forward, consider limiting new membership (always gather outside input but do not keep expanding membership).
The more agencies involved, the more broad the scope, the more pieces to coordinate, the more complicated the project, the poorer the prognosis for success (not a nice reality but nonetheless true).
Consumer’s involvement can keep the group focused on reality. Also, advocates and law enforcement, for example, can offer a different perspective, which can improve the quality of the final product.
Work to insure that all members see the joint project as in their self-interest.
Members need to be able to compromise with one another.
Define the variance for partner organizations that do not have the same climate – what is the goal for their organization? Consider the role of your community’s culture and the diversity of standards represented by the larger group.
You will need leadership support from upper management but the planning efforts should include staff that understand the details of the system.

Regarding Leadership

Clearly determine if there is a lead agency for the project.
Take advantage of the chance to rebuild relationships.
Find leaders (co-chairs) that can work well together.

Factors Related to...
Process and Structure
(*Category adapted from Wilder Foundation)

Establishing a Group Culture

Project members need to share a stake in both process and outcome.
Practice mutual respect, understanding and build trust over time.
Establish “we’re all in this together” mentality before problems surface.
Before the project begins, develop clear “norms of behavior” for the group.
Develop written policy and procedure guidelines before planning begins.
Maintain flexibility and adaptability whenever possible.
Raise questions and challenge ideas.
Keep meetings focused on 1 topic at a time.
Establish a Gatekeeper.

Consider having one person assigned to coordinate the entire effort. This can be a full time assignment depending upon what you are attempting to do. Think about whether it is important that this is a person from the inside with detailed information, or whether it is more important to have a neutral outside person. This could be a consultant or could be someone with a separate job that is not impacted by the proposed change.

Define roles for group members. Are there “decision-makers” vs. “informational” members”

Manage the Meeting

Establish timelines of what needs to be accomplished and by when (schedule meeting times in accordance to overall timeframes).
Discuss a realistic pace for how the project might unfold (define how progress will be measured for each step / best and worst case scenarios for timing and outcomes).
Establish a base location for meetings.
Manage expectations through descriptive agendas.
Organize meetings with agendas, tasks to be completed, and give committee members assignments with deadlines.
Consider breaking the work into smaller pieces and use subcommittees to share the workload.
Be sure the meeting preparation is being handled effectively.

Decision-Making

Success hinges on your committee’s ability to define decision points according to the strategy agreed upon, and then execute the plan during implementation.
Is there an outside mediator available (pre-arranged) to call in if needed?
If the project gets stuck, how do you plan to get unstuck: is there a “tie breaker” process?
If there is no consensus, does some person or agency have “final say”?
Balance process and outcome expectations (in leadership and in the group).

Factors Related to...
Communication
(*Category adapted from Wilder Foundation)

Communicate about the common ground of the project / define core services / keep on task.
Use as many methods as possible to communicate.
Use memos and copious minutes to communicate (make information available to anyone who misses a meeting).
Communicate back to line staff (consider including a line staff representative in the planning group).
Make sure new staff are aware of the project – no surprises.
Repeat main message early and often (if there is a major change use repetition to make the change well known).
Consider condensed information (executive summaries) for upper management.
People and organizations are threatened by change. Acknowledging the unknown is helpful in controlling the level of fear. Meet with people or groups that are resisting the plans for change. Tell them the truth, even when they will be negatively impacted.

Factors Related to...
Implementation

Consider if there are sufficient funds, staff, materials and time (make sure to consider technology needs, such as computers and data systems, and evaluation aspects as well).
Consider the ripple effect of your change effort. How will the change affect current employees and staffing patterns? (consider staff reallocation and reassignment as early in the process as possible.)
Define “best practice / evidence based practice” as early in the process as possible.
If you become bogged down, go back to the original vision (refocus on the consumer).
Consider how the project will “fit” with existing programs.
How will the project be implemented with quality (process evaluation)? (have feedback mechanisms established before implementation).
How well does the project work (outcome evaluation)?
How will the project be sustained?
Don’t be surprised when everything takes more time than you think.
Be ready and willing to take action.
Consider targeted staff training before implementation formally begins.

Resources

Five Vital Lessons
The following website is an interactive guide that identifies five vital lessons for working through partnerships. It includes case study projects and self-assessment tools that allow a participant to determine how well their partnership is functioning and what to consider as next steps to improve the partnership. It has a very nice web format for participants.

The five vital lessons include:

Create the Conditions
Think Strategically About Relationships
Take Stock to Unblock
Enable, not Disable
Facilitation Skills Count

Getting Better at Managing for Shared Outcomes: A Resource for Agency Leaders

This is a document created by New Zealand's Managing for Outcomes Programme Office.

The document covers:

When to manage for shared outcomes

Using a decision making framework

Types of sharing and shared outcomes

Achieving results through shared outcomes

Common success factors and barriers

Implications for agency leaders

The role of central agencies

Competencies, behaviors and actions

New Zealand's Managing for Outcomes Programme Office.

Effective Committees

Web-based fact sheet by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food written by Susan Humphries, Field Service Manager. Contents briefly outline the “why and how of committees.”

Free Management Library by MAP for Nonprofits

The Free Management Library includes original material, which is updated regularly by MAP consulting managers and specialists in nonprofit management practices. The site also provides links to the best nonprofit resources on the Internet. It is a free community resource intended for users across the world. It has an index of 675 topics (for example: risk management, systems thinking and groups skills). The resources in the group skills section relate to managing meetings, conflict management and facilitating meetings.

Basic Guide to Conducting Effective Meetings

Web-based meeting-management guide by MAP for Nonprofits, written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD.

Free online from Wilder Foundation

Collaborative Factors Inventory – 20 Factors

Topics from the Collaborative Factors Inventory include:

Do agencies have a history of working together?
Is solving problems through collaboration been common?
Are leaders who aren’t part of the collaborative hopeful about it?
Are they hopeful about what can be accomplished?

Wilder Foundation

Books on Collaboration:

Collaboration Set

Collaborative Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey

Collaboration: What Makes it Work?

Collaborative Factors Inventory, Assessing Your Collaboration Strengths and Weaknesses

Nimble Collaborative: Fine-Tuning Your Collaborative for Lasting Shares

MN State Auditor’s Office Best Practices Clearinghouse

In 2004, the Legislature gave the Office of the State Auditor responsibility to conduct “best practices reviews” of local government services in Minnesota. The first report was Cooperative Efforts in Public Service Delivery. This is a guidebook for local officials highlighting the best practices for fostering, crafting, and implementing cooperative agreements among local governments.

There is also a clearinghouse that lists collaborative efforts by city, county, school district, and townships in 23 different categories of service that include emergency management, health/social services, law enforcement, general government, etc. The clearinghouse gives a brief description of the project and contact names for additional information.

Projects Presented
A special thank you goes out to the following people for their help in developing the information for this project:

Social Services / Public Health Partnership

Lincoln, Lyon, Murray and Pipestone Counties formed a partnership to address social service/public health concerns that could be approached collectively. The partner counties strive to serve the needs of their respective communities using a model of collaboration. The underlying goal is to efficiently provide high quality services and reduce duplication of efforts.

Presenters were: John Schuh and Sue Monson

Contact: Brian Buhmann - Phone: 507-825-6720

East Metro Adult Crisis Stabilization Collaborative (EMACS)

Mobil crisis team improving access to crisis services, meeting presenting needs with the appropriate level of care across county and health agencies (Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, 4 health plans, 3 health systems, State Operated Services, DHS Adult Mental Health Division)

Presenter was: Joe Manuel

Contact: Laurie Hestness - Phone: 651-266-4315

Kids to Adult Transition Services (KATS)

There is no web site Collaboration of DHS State Operated Services, St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services, Life House, and the Human Development Center. The project serves the mental health needs of youth between ages 16-23 and the first priority is for youth who are homeless. The project uses a multidisciplinary approach with an emphasis on providing services in youth friendly sites (i.e., outreach on the streets and places where they congregate).

Presenters were:
Michelle Fatiga – Life House

Adrienne Kern – Human Development Center

Judd Perko – St. Louis County

Contact: Judd Perko - Phone: 218-749-7179

Moose Lake RTC Closure

Information and suggestions about what worked best with the regional mental health planning for the closure of Moose Lake Regional Treatment Center.

Presenters were:
Jude Holden – Carlton County

Kevin VanHooser – Isanti County

Jim Gruba – Human Development Center

Tom Witte – St. Louis County

Pam Brumfield – Carlton County

Contacts:
Pam Brumfield

Carlton County Public Health & Human Services

Phone: 218-879-4511

Tom Witty
St. Louis County Public Health & Human Services

Phone: 218-749-0657

Data Warehouse / Minnesota Data Collaborative

The Minnesota Data Collaborative is a group of counties who have come together to fund a staff person at DHS who accesses data in the State Data warehouse. The collaborative includes staff from health and human services departments. The staff person has created reports summarizing medical service utilization for individuals by county. Counties also share information about how they have approached data collection and analysis issues.

Contact: Laurie Hestness - Phone: 651-266-4315