Training Guide for the Head Start Learning Community--Community Partnerships: Working Together--Module 3: Challenges of Collaboration

Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community:
Community Partnerships
Module 3

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Challenges of Collaboration
Outcomes
As a result of completing this module, participants will be able to:

Anticipate and manage the challenges of collaboration; and
Respond constructively to conflict.
Key Concepts
The key concepts of Module 3 that serve as a knowledge base for the skills needed to meet the challenges of collaboration include:

Challenges of Collaboration. All collaboratives face challenges, or sand traps, as they take on new ways of doing business. Challenges are a natural part of the collaborative process. Depending on how the challenges are handled, they can cause the collaborative to lose momentum and collapse, or they can be the springboard for creativity and revitalization.

Conflict. Conflict is about personal and organizational differences and preferences. Not all conflicts need to be resolved; however, they must come to the surface in order to be recognized, clarified, and managed.
Background Information
It is not unusual for a collaborative to get stuck or lose steam. Many different kinds of events or circumstances can cause a momentum shift, including: frequent membership changes; buried conflicts; lack results; insufficient resources; or shifts in community or agency priorities. The collaborative may also become static or inflexible and lose its capacity to adapt to changing needs or situations. However, when challenges are anticipated, dealt with, and balanced with achievements, they can be the building blocks for a stronger collaborative.
Addressing the Challenges of Collaboration
Challenges, or sand traps, often serve as a hazard, threat, or danger to be dealt with because they can derail a collaborative effort. The potential sand traps of a collaborative fall into three broad categories: organizational, leadership, and membership. By knowing what kinds of challenges to expect, collaboratives can avoid or respond to the challenges more readily.

Organizational. Organizational sand traps include:

Deciding not to begin until all stakeholders are at the table;
Failing to set clear ground rules;
Losing sight of the collaborative's purpose or mission;
Choosing unattainable goals;
Trying to handle too many issues or actions at once;
Inadequate resources for carrying out plans;
Adverse community relations or media attention;
Not stopping to evaluate, reflect, and celebrate; or
Not acknowledging or avoiding conflict.

Leadership. Leadership sand traps include:

Trying to maintain control by resisting power-sharing;
Allowing political pressure or self-interests to drive the collaborative;
Lack of shared leadership;
Not involving consumers, direct services staff, and policy- makers in critical decisions;
Becoming too dependent on one or two partners; or
Unrealistic expectations or demands.

Membership. Membership sand traps include:

Attempting to act before partners establish a sense of trust and ownership in a shared vision;
Frequent turnover in partners or membership organizations;
Unequal distribution of work or recognition of partners;
Not taking the time to involve opponents, who could easily block what the collaborative's mission and goals;
Failing to recognize an individual partner's needs or self-interests; or
Turf battles or power struggles among partners.

In order to prepare for challenges, and avoid sand traps, partners can:

Confront underlying issues, such as a vague vision, low trust, power struggles, and differing work styles;

Create partner role descriptions and interagency agreements to clarify expectations and responsibilities;

Re-energize membership by rotating roles or recruiting new partners;

Stay abreast of significant community developments or trends;

Evaluate often what is and what is not working; and

Celebrate!

Managing Conflict
Conflict is about personal and organizational differences and preferences. The differing values, beliefs, life experiences, backgrounds, and self-interests of partners set the stage for conflict. At the same time, it is partner diversity that makes a collaborative a strong force for change. Conflict can be managed by:

Understanding Responses to Conflict
It is critical for partners to understand how they, as individuals, respond to conflict. People tend to respond to conflict in a number of ways. Each way has its benefits and drawbacks and strikes a different balance between personal concerns and the concerns of others.
When people use competition to respond to conflict, they focus on winning, regardless of the cost to others. People who use accommodation to respond to conflict neglect their own concerns and focus, instead, on the concerns of others. When avoidance is used, no one's concerns are addressed; instead, conflict is sidestepped or put onto the back burner. Compromise, on the other hand, is used by people who look for a middle ground--a way to give everyone some of what they want. Finally, people who use the win-win way of responding to conflict seek a solution where everyone wins--a solution that satisfies the concerns of all partners.

Identifying Sources of Conflict
Uncovering conflict and pinpointing its source are two more steps toward conflict management. Sometimes, a simple question such as, "what's happening here?" or "what's on everyone's mind?" will bring a masked conflict to the surface and get partners talking about how to resolve it. Other times, it may take a lot of discussion to get to the real source of a conflict and its solution. Typical sources of conflict include: historical baggage between organizations or partners; vagueness about the collaborative's mission or goals; low trust and/or power struggles among partners; little or no concrete proof of progress; lack of authority to act; or too many competing demands on partner time.

Learning to Be Unconditionally Constructive
Being unconditionally constructive encourages the other side to act constructively in return. Here are some key points to remember:

Think about your response before acting. Respond to the issue, rather than reacting to your emotions;
Try to understand the situation from the other person's point of view;
Communicate clearly and briefly. Do not monopolize center stage;
Listen carefully and ask questions to clarify (not attack) the other person's position;
Keep an open mind and look for potential points of agreement;
Practice backing away and letting the group process determine the action; and
Do not ignore hostile actions, but try to identify the underlying issues and bring them to the surface.

Creating a Conflict Resolution Process
When the collaborative has a process for resolving conflict constructively, partners are more likely to risk bringing up a conflict and trying to work it out. Thus, another important step toward managing conflict is having a process in place that provides vehicles for partners to:

Assess the impact of a conflict on the collaborative's mission and goals;
Give everyone an opportunity to speak and be heard;
Find points of agreement or, if that is not possible, agree to disagree and move on;
Call a meeting for the sole purpose of resolving the conflict or dispute;
Appoint a subgroup to study options for resolving the conflict;
Use an outside facilitator or mediator; and
Forgive and heal.

Even the most difficult conflicts can be managed when a collaborative creates a conflict resolution process that encourages partners to understand and respect each other's views and to continue working together despite differences.

Instructions
More information on conflict management is provided in the Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community, particularly the management series.

Activity 3-1: The Challenge Can Purpose: To uncover the challenges of collaboration.

Preparation
For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: Dangerous Sand traps
A large can labeled "The Challenge Can"
A package of 5" x 7" index cards
Four sheets of newsprint labeled: "Organizational," "Leadership," "Membership," and "Other"
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

Trainer Preparation Note: Prior to conducting this activity, carefully review the background information on Addressing the Challenges of Collaboration. The examples given in that section will help with decisions about where to place each "index and challenge". As an alternative to placing the challenges in the pre-set categories, you may want to guide the group in identifying themes or other categories.

Set the context for the activity. Point out that the purpose of this activity is to help participants prepare for the challenges that occur when collaborating with others. Explain that challenges must be anticipated and unmasked in order to deal effectively with them.

(a) Begin the activity. Distribute four index cards to each participant. Ask participants to think about the challenges they have faced, or anticipate facing, as a collaborative partner. Instruct participants to record at least two of the challenges on the index cards, using a separate card for each challenge. If the group needs help getting started, give an example or two from the background information.
(b) Allow five minutes for participants to complete their index cards, then pass the Challenge Can around the room to collect the cards.

(a) Provide a framework for discussing the challenges of collaboration. Tape up four sheets of newsprint with the following labels: "Organizational," "Leadership," "Membership," and "Other." Explain that most challenges can be traced to a collaborative's organization (i.e., structure and process), leadership, or membership. If necessary, give participants examples from the module's background information.
(b) Ask for a volunteer to select an index card from the Challenge Can and read it to the group. Decide with the volunteer whether the challenge is an organizational, leadership, membership, or another type of issue. Once a decision is reached, ask the volunteer to tape the card onto the appropriately labeled sheet of newsprint.
(c) Repeat step 3(b) above with different volunteers until no more index cards remain in the Challenge Can.
(d) Go over the index cards taped onto each sheet of labeled newsprint. Point out recurring challenges or themes.

Discuss challenges of greatest concern to the group. With the group, pick out one recurring challenge (or cluster of similar challenges) from each of the four sheets of labeled newsprint. Taking one challenge at a time, encourage participants to share their experiences and views by raising the following:

What kind of impact might this challenge have on a collaborative? On you as a collaborative partner?
How might acknowledging this challenge turn out to be good for a collaborative? For you?
What are some possibilities for managing this challenge?

(a) Close the activity. Bring the activity to a close. Recap highlights from the discussion. Distribute handout 1 and suggest participants refer to it when working in a collaborative partnership.
(b) Make the following points in closing the activity:

Challenges, including conflicts, are inevitable and can be healthy for a collaborative because they provide opportunities for partners to gain clarity, practice new skills, and recommit themselves to collaboration. When challenges stay buried, or are only discussed behind the scenes, they can eventually become destructive and cause partners to abandon the collaborative.

Strategies for recognizing and managing challenges can be built into a collaborative. Those strategies include:

Setting clear ground rules;
Defining partner roles and expectations;
Taking time out during meetings to evaluate what is working and what is not;
Frequently revisiting what originally brought partners together;
Celebrating all achievements no matter how small;
Creating a conflict resolution process before conflicts arise;
Getting outside help or training.

Activity 3-2: Managing Conflict Purpose: To practice constructive techniques for managing conflict. Preparation For this activity you will need:

Preparation

Handout 2: Managing Conflict Worksheet
Handout 3: Tips for Managing Conflict
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

Warm-up the group. Ask participants to think about the way they usually respond to conflict. Raise the following questions, allowing a few seconds between each for self-reflection:

Do you usually respond to conflict by competing--doing all you can to win with little or no regard for others?

Do you usually respond to conflict by accommodating--by letting others win just to keep peace or harmony?

Do you usually respond to conflict by avoiding it--by not letting your concerns or needs be known or by dodging issues?

Do you usually look for a compromise to respond to a conflict--a solution that partially addresses everyone's concerns or needs?

Or, do you usually look for a win-win way to respond to a conflict--a solution that makes everyone a winner?

Provide a brief overview of conflict management. Using the background information to guide your remarks, go over the basic steps of conflict management: understanding how we tend to manage conflict, getting to the source of the conflict, learning to be unconditionally constructive, and having a process in place for resolving the conflict.

(a) Prepare participants for a small group activity on conflict management. Explain that the purpose of the upcoming small group activity is to provide practice in managing conflict. Refer the group to handout 2 and review the instructions.
(b) Divide participants into small groups, each having five to six members. Explain that the large group will reconvene in 35 minutes to debrief the small group activity.

Process the small group activity. Reconvene the large group. Use the following questions while debriefing:

What conflicts are evident in the PACT collaborative? How did the partners respond to the conflict?

Which conflict do you see as most threatening to the collaborative's survival? Why? What seems to be the source of that conflict?

What would you try first to resolve or manage the most threatening conflict? Why? What would you try next?

What would you suggest to help this collaborative regain its momentum?

Close the activity. Distribute handout 3, pointing out its usefulness to a collaborative. In closing, emphasize the following points:

Lack of conflict only indicates that issues are buried. A pattern of allowing conflicts to surface, recognizing their sources, and exploring resolutions will better serve a collaborative.

While resolving or managing conflict can be a difficult struggle for a collaborative, it builds strength and credibility and contributes to a critical sense of ownership and common purpose.

Activity 3-3: Preparing for Collaboration's Challenges Purpose: To enhance skills in anticipating, responding, and managing the challenges of collaboration.

Preparation
For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: Dangerous Sand traps
Handout 3: Tips for Managing Conflict
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

Introduce the session. Begin by presenting the activity's purpose. Point out there are numerous challenges that develop when people collaborate and that conflict is one of these challenges. Emphasize that people respond to conflict in many different ways. Based on the background information, briefly describe the five (competition, accommodation, avoidance, compromise, and win-win) ways people respond to conflict.

(a) Guide participants in assessing their response to conflict. Ask participants to reflect on a serious conflict. Make it clear that you will not ask participants to share the details of the conflict, but you want them to think about the following questions:

What bothered you most about this conflict?

How did the conflict affect you? The other person?

Why was the outcome important to you? What was at stake?

How could the conflict have been handled better?

(b) After allowing a few minutes for self-reflection, give participants the option of sharing. Review the ways people respond to conflict. Ask participants which way best describes how they responded to the conflict, which way best describes how the other person responded to the conflict, and how could the conflict could have been managed.

Role play a conflict between collaborative partners. Choose a conflict that involves a collaborative; for example, a partner who rarely attends scheduled meetings or a partner who does not follow through on assigned tasks. Do an impromptu role play depicting the conflict, with participants showing how they would respond using each conflict style. Afterward, discuss each conflict style, the feelings you and participants experienced during the role play, how the conflict was managed, and the outcome. Point out that in a collaborative, it is critical for participants to be attuned to the way they and other partners respond to conflict.

Coach Preparation Note: As an alternative to developing your own conflict scenario, you may want to describe the scenario in handout 2.

Explore ways of handling conflict. Discuss typical sources of conflict and the components of a conflict resolution process, based upon the background information. Refer participants to handout 3 and review the tips for managing conflict constructively.

(a) Practice analyzing and managing conflicts. Give participants a homework assignment. Tell participants that when you meet again you want them to:

Describe one conflict they experienced or observed during a meeting;

Describe the responses and the primary way(s) the conflict was handled during the meeting;

Describe what they or others did to try to get the group to manage the conflict constructively.

(b) Choose a time to meet again within the following two weeks. Offer to be available to participants to answer questions about the homework assignment. Explain that in the next session you will want to hear from participants about the outcomes of their assignment and explore some of collaboration's other challenges.

Explore strategies used for managing the conflict and their outcomes. When participants return, ask them to share their general reactions to the homework assignment. Engage participants in a discussion on conflict management, using the following questions as a guide:

What was the conflict you experienced or observed?

How did the individual meeting participants respond to the conflict? Did you see any competing going on? Accommodating? Avoidance? Compromising? Win-win strategies?

How was the conflict managed? Did you or others do anything to get the group to handle the conflict constructively? What happened as a result? (Probe for ways participants/others tried to unmask the conflict, get to the source of the conflict, be unconditionally constructive, find a solution, or create a conflict resolution process.)

(a) Explore other types of collaborative challenges. Encourage participants to identify all the challenges they may experience as a collaborative partner. List the challenges on a sheet of newsprint, as they are identified.
(b) Provide a brief overview on the challenges of collaboration, using the key concepts and background information to guide your remarks.
(c) Refer participants to handout 1; compare the sand traps to the challenges listed on the newsprint. Stress the importance of staying alert for sand traps, avoiding them whenever possible, and practicing pro-active strategies for managing them.
(d) Again review the list of challenges. Help participants identify a strategy for preventing or managing each challenge on the list.

Close the session. Stress the following points in closing the session:

Any collaborative process can be filled with challenges and conflicts. Not only are partners involved in creating change in the community, but they are also involved in changing the way they are used to doing business. Change is rarely easy.

Keeping a collaborative alive and energized is an ongoing process. However, strategies for keeping partners on track and motivated are well within the reach of staff and any collaborative.

Next Steps:
Ideas to
Extend Practice Follow-up training strategies to reinforce the concepts and skills taught in Module 3 are presented below. After completing Module 3, review the strategies with staff and help them choose at least one to work on individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

Follow-up training strategies to reinforce the concepts and skills taught in Module 3 are presented below. After completing Module 3, review the strategies with staff and help them choose at least one to work on individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

Enhancing Skills in Conflict Management
Form a peer study group which meets weekly to enhance their conflict resolution skills. Encourage the group to develop a process for resolving conflict. Ask members to take turns presenting a conflict they experienced or observed during the past week. Then, do an impromptu role play of the conflict situation, using the process for managing conflict. Afterwards, discuss the reactions of the role players and the observers, and the conflict's outcome.

Dealing With Collaboration's Challenges
Volunteer to be a member of a collaborative effort at work or in your community. During meetings watch for challenges. Bring your observations up with the group. Practice your skills as a group facilitator by getting everyone involved in discussions about your observations. Be ready to suggest some ways these challenges might be addressed, such as reviewing the collaborative's mission, expanding membership, getting training, involving a third-party facilitator, re-examining the needs and self-interests of partners, and talking openly about underlying issues or partner differences in communication and work styles.
Handouts

Copyright © 1998 Head Start Publications Management Center
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