Phase 3. Creating a Shared Vision
What you might see
- Mindsets beginning to shift, and a growing understanding and experience of working adaptively;
- Priorities being set by the community decision-making structure;
- The agenda for change being explored in more detail, and a clear scope and goals are being defined;
- People and organisations formalising their commitment to the shared agenda through written agreements;
- The formalisation of a 'backbone' entity (if not already in place);
- The 'backbone' taking a comprehensive coordination role, in conjunction with a leadership group(s) and working groups.
What you can do
- Establish a community decision making structure that will set priorities for change and oversee the work;
- Build a roadmap for change (medium to long term strategy to deliver the agenda);
- Facilitate the community decision-making structure to set priorities and create a 6 to 12-month action plan for moving the agenda forward;
- Foster a culture of curiosity and learning, in which community members (and potentially stakeholders) can share knowledge, skills, experiences and insights, while working productively with different views for the benefit of the whole community;
- Work with the community decision-making structure and broader collaboration to translate the priorities into an agreed theory of change and action;
- Create processes to formalise commitment and membership of diverse stakeholders, not all of whom are part of an organisation;
- Ensure that community voice and perspective are reflected in the agenda and plan of action;
- Create formal and informal strategies to keep people informed, that reflect diverse communication styles and platforms;
- Develop ways to share the story of what is happening, what has worked and what is being learned.
Collaboration Tools & Resources
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Understand where your initiative is on the Collaborative Change Cycle
The language and practice of place-based and community-led change in Australia: Building a shared understanding
Collective Impact and community-led approaches have been increasingly adopted and applied by Australian governments recently, reflecting a desire to engage and work with the public differently. The uptake of these approaches signals a paradigm shift from government “doing policy and programs for, or to, people” towards partnering with, enabling and empowering communities. The Albanese Government’s recently announced Australian Public Service (APS) reform agenda, which builds on the Thodey Review, aims, among other things, to reshape the relationship of the APS to communities and others.
Collective Impact principles grew out of a recognition and evidence in North America that collaboration is necessary to resolve complex problems that span sectors or require a fundamental shift in thinking and underlying structures. It is noted that many First Nations people say these approaches reflect how they have worked for thousands of years. Proponents state that only by working together and considering all perspectives, and the system, can transformation occur.
The argument for community-led approaches is that those with lived experience of disadvantage are best placed to determine new ways of approaching those challenges. That the answers to complex challenges will not be found or written in Canberra or capital cities, the answers are in each community (and will require collective effort to shift). It also seeks to empower and amplify voices that have not historically been heard, particularly First Nations voices. A key explanation for this approach is that policy, programs or reform initiatives that don’t consider the perspectives or understand the context and needs of those they are intended to support, will be less effective.
Downloadable pdf
3. Creating a Shared VisionThis video explores why being attentive to the atmosphere around the collaborative gathering – not just the content within – is important. Deep Collaboration is a way of working that was created by First Nations and other Multicultural Australians to find new ways to work and lead together.
Deep Collaboration
Step 4 introduces additional skills you can use once you understand the key roles & patterns of behaviour, including various techniques for facilitating collaboration and power dynamics in groups. Deep Collaboration is a way of working that was created by First Nations and other Multicultural Australians to find new ways to work and lead together.
Deep Collaboration
This tool will help you to map and interpret stakeholder dynamics in your initiative. This tool can be useful at the start of an initiative when you are working out the ‘lay of the land’, if things go wrong, if there is conflict, or if you are not making progress.
This resource allows collaborators to measure how they are working together via the completion of an online survey, on a one-off or longitudinal basis.
This resource will help collaborative groups to better understand member motivation, and in doing so, develop a shared understanding of the collaborative task.
This resource includes an overview of what a common agenda is, and a five-step guide for developing a common agenda with others.
This resource explains the importance of allowing the process and results of collaboration to emerge, as distinct from applying pre-set solutions.
Change Cycle Locator Tool
Take the quick survey to work out where you are on your change journey and access information specific to your needs