Collaborative Action
This section of the Campus Ombuds web site offers a snap shot of five distinct forms of collaborative action for creating large scale system change - in higher education, corporations, schools, nonprofit organizations, communities, public institutions.
- The World Café
- Future Search
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Open Space Technology
- Public Conversations or Dialogues
There are also sections on two fundamental skills that support effective collaborative action: Working with Consensus and the Interest Based Approach to Problem Solving and Decision Making. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a useful communication strategy for almost any situation where people are interacting - the workplace, families and friends in addition to the venues cited above. [link back to NVC page]
“A well-managed collaborative effort is like a chemical reaction that creates far more energy than it consumes.When a group is in alignment about its direction (where it is trying to go), its commitment (the will is possesses to get there), and its capability (the skills and knowledge it has to complete its journey).team members are energized by the process [and so is] the surrounding organization or community.”
(How to Make Collaboration Work, D. Straus)
Resources
How to Make Collaboration Work, David Straus, Berrett-Koehler.
The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision Making, Sam Kaner et. al. New Society Publishers
How to Make Meetings Work, Doyle & Straus, the Berkley Publishing Group
www.grove.com