Assessing on-going capacity
Bringing together passionate and committed individuals to work toward a mutual goal is not easy. Keeping them working together over the long haul is even more challenging. Taking the time to reflect and check in with each other as a team can strengthen the partnership, ward off emerging problems, and lead to a more effective and long-lasting collaboration. Questions to consider:
- Has your process for building the Action Team produced the mix of individuals you need for this effort? Do you have regularly scheduled procedures for reassessing who constitutes your Action Team and whether changes are needed?
- What measures can you use to ensure that your Team remains “on task?”
- Have you identified the right policy levers to support your overall goals? If not, who else can be brought on as an ally and what additional activities may be needed to build a connection to them? Are there other partners who, given the current context, should be invited to join the Action Team?
- What processes have been implemented to ensure regular communication among Team members and between the Action Team and other partners and stakeholders?
- How are you obtaining information and implementing data in “real time?”
As your Action Team pursues community engagement (connections with community leaders and coalitions) to ensure that your initiative has the impact you seek,
- Have appropriate community members/partners been identified and invited to participate in the initiative? How well did the identification process work? Should you maintain it or alter it?
- How are community members/partners involved in the planning or development of the initiative?
- How are community members/partners involved in the implementation or activities of the initiative?
- How are community members/partners involved in the evaluation of the initiative, including any data collection or analysis?
- How have community members/partners been informed of outcomes and findings from the initiative?
Updated June 2015
