Working Together for community outcomes

Working together for community outcomes

Community outcomes describe what people want for the future well-being of their community.

Achieving community outcomes involves a wide range of groups and organisations in the community working together.

	Groups who can contribute to community outcomes include local authorities – regional, district and city councils central government agencies community and non-government organisations the private sector – e.g. business and industry Māori and iwi groups.

Groups who can contribute to community outcomes include

local authorities – regional, district and city councils
central government agencies
community and non-government organisations
the private sector – e.g. business and industry
Māori and iwi groups.

Community outcomes processes encourage a collaborative approach between these organisations. By working together organisations can more effectively use their range of knowledge, skills and resources that contribute to community outcomes.

Under section 91 of the Local Government Act 2002, one of the purposes of the community outcomes process is to “promote the better co-ordination and application of community resources”.

Central and local government working together

By establishing community outcomes processes the Local Government Act 2002 recognises that a collaborative approach between local and central government is needed to solve the complex issues facing communities.

Community outcomes processes encourage central government and local authorities to work together to identify common goals and achieve community outcomes.

There are many examples in New Zealand of central and local government successfully coming together to improve community well-being. As community outcomes processes develop there are increasing opportunities for central and local government to continue to build relationships for community outcomes.

	Benefits for central and local government working together include sharing of information and knowledge sharing resources at political, strategic, technical and operational levels increased organisational capacity, through working closely with other organisations – e.g. understanding new processes, thinking, systems, planning, history, ways of working alignment of planning processes between central and local government agencies, which can identify areas of common interest or potential joint projects tailoring services to local needs and more coordinated service delivery cost sharing of projects and processes developing new indicators, performance measures, and processes for monitoring community outcomes added credibility, mana and profile of government agencies, within communities access to additional networks, connections and funding speeding up the policy feedback loop – i.e. the implications of government policy in terms of impacts and outcomes at the local level. Source: Putting Pen to Paper. DIA and Megan Courtney 2006 p4-5

Benefits for central and local government working together include

sharing of information and knowledge
sharing resources at political, strategic, technical and operational levels
increased organisational capacity, through working closely with other organisations – e.g. understanding new processes, thinking, systems, planning, history, ways of working
alignment of planning processes between central and local government agencies, which can identify areas of common interest or potential joint projects
tailoring services to local needs and more coordinated service delivery
cost sharing of projects and processes
developing new indicators, performance measures, and processes for monitoring community outcomes
added credibility, mana and profile of government agencies, within communities
access to additional networks, connections and funding
speeding up the policy feedback loop – i.e. the implications of government policy in terms of impacts and outcomes at the local level.

Source: Putting Pen to Paper. DIA and Megan Courtney 2006 p4-5

The services of central government agencies, such as health care and policing, contribute to achieving community outcomes. Central government agencies also support community outcomes by providing funding, advice, monitoring information and other resources.

Although central government agencies have no prescribed role in community outcomes processes under the Local Government Act 2002, The Act signals that central government should use community outcomes processes to promote the coordination and use of resources.

Government policy encourages central government to develop partnerships and relationships with local government to achieve mutually desired outcomes.
(Central Government Engagement in Community Outcomes Processes, Summary of Cabinet Policy Committee Paper, DIA, 2004)

Read a summary of the Cabinet Policy Committee Paper on Central Government Engagement in Community Outcomes Processes.

Read the Policy development guidelines for regulatory functions involving local government

The Department of Internal Affairs’ Interface Facilitation Team works to connect and support central and local government relationships, to achieve community outcomes.

Ways of working together - partnering

Partnering covers a broad spectrum of joint working arrangements…partnering is acknowledged as key to addressing complex problems which are beyond the realm of any one agency working alone.
(Source: Putting Pen to Paper: Profiles. DIA and Megan Courtney 2007 p.5)

No single organisation can achieve community outcomes on its own. Community outcomes processes encourage organisations to find ways of working together to achieve shared goals.

The partnering continuum below describes some of the ways organisations can work together. The continuum can be used to assess what kind of working relationships best suit the reasons for organisations coming together.

When considering joint working arrangements it is important that organisations know where on the continuum the relationship will lie. Increasing levels of interaction and commitment are required as you move along the continuum.

It is possible to be working in more than one continuum box at a time and to aspire to move along the continuum over time.

Partnership is the formal end of the continuum and involves significant responsibilities and expectations. Partnerships are not appropriate to every joint working arrangement.

A partnering continuum

(Source: Potential of Partnership. Craig & Courtney 2004 p.38)

Co-existence

Know about each other but don’t need to come together
No direct relationships with other agencies
No dependency or need to collaborate.

Networking

Informal discussions
Information sharing is the basis
No formal collective agreement on visions, tasks etc
Lower level of co-operation
Not about shared decision making
Establishing and maintaining relationships
About knowing and understanding who’s doing what.

Cooperation

Lower level of collaboration
No fixed term or long term relationship implied
Acknowledgement of common issues/interests/agendas
Could involve helping another organisation to achieve their project/task etc
Could involve documentation such as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that notes what will be worked on together
No ongoing or formal commitment to each other.

Collaboration

Has trust implicit
Is based on negotiated and agreed actions
Don’t have to share same base values but have an agreed set of principles for working together
Has shared decision making
Means giving up some things (i.e. power and control)
Provides an opportunity to add value to other organisationss as well as yours
Sometimes documentation is prepared to support different types of collaborative effort.

Partnership

Work from an agreed shared values base e.g. trust, honesty, openness
Sharing
- Risks and rewards
- Resources
- Accountability
- Visions and ideas
- Decision making
Has a degree of formality and two/multi way contractual and relational obligations
Processes, systems and mechanisms are developed to support the partnership e.g. structures contracts, principles and visions, plans, conflict resolution etc
About shared power but not 50/50 notion of equality
About the way things are done rather than the evenness (or not) of power, control and resources
Resourcing and contributions about equitable rather than equal contributions, they may be in kind as well as monetary
Emotional and spiritual awareness of each other, that is, involves hearts, minds, passion.