Essay On Ref: Better Understanding Of The Extent Of Collaborative Partnerships And Relations In International Rescue Committee

Context:

Early January of 2015, I was given an opportunity to serve in the position of program coordinator for IRC and it is one of my dream jobs that I aspired to hold. In the past, I have worked for a refugee serving organization and I am thrilled to continue similar work at IRC. I understand that the position of program coordinator is a leadership position in advancing the goals and objectives of IRC as one of the local refugee serving organizations. I also understand that the IRC organization operates both locally and internationally and its aims are to deliver humanitarian aid and resettlement opportunities to all disadvantage people around the world.
My responsibilities include, but not limited to, closely working with the organization’s Executive Director, administrative teams, staff members, and other cross-sector organizations to liaison, facilitate and evaluate programs effectiveness in order to improve service deliveries. The context is to deliver quality services to refugee families living in Pima County such that the refugees will be able to make successful transition to life in the United States of America.
However, as the new program coordinator, I find that certain matters such as how the organization operates and how it delivers services to the intended local population are unclear. Therefore, I would like to gain a better understanding of the organization’s culture and how it delivers its programs. As such, I am attempting to explore and investigate the scope and extent of collaborative partnerships or relations in place for our organization. Prior to and in initiating this analysis, I am writing this memo to outline the course of my actions in gathering data and analyzing the information. As I specify the process of my actions, I would like generate a clear understanding and clarity regarding the information on the organization’s background, purpose and goals.

Background:

International Rescue Committee has a partnership with the US Department of State, the agency that assists refugees to resettle in the US. The agency helps refugees to move towards self-sufficiency and provides integration services. The services provided to the refuges include employment assistance, health and social service referrals, vocational training, and English-language classes.

Purpose:

The goal:
The goal is to improve the effectiveness, sustainability and quality of services delivered to the growing refugee population in Tucson, Arizona.

What I would like to know about the background of the collaboration

In modern times, collaboration is an essential tool for government and non-governmental officials, religious leaders, profit and non-profit organizations. To achieve success, collaboration is important for big and small agencies. However, it is not an easy thing and can be difficult oftentimes because it requires patience, trust, time, contributions, and efforts from partner organizations. Also, applying may not always be appropriate. It is necessary to avoid collaborations in some situations and conditions. For example, referencing to Ansell and Gash’s article on page 9, avoid collaborations in “power imbalances, incentives to participate and if prehistory of antagonism exists”. Because of these and many other reasons, government and non-governmental leaders and organizations should seek alternatives for success. For the aforementioned caveats about collaborations and the hard strings attached they carry, I would like to know and understand the collaboration background of the organizations that I am required to operate under as the new program coordinator.

Questions to ask getting information to better understand the collaborative environment

Did International Rescue Committee ever involve in collaboration network?

If yes, with whom, or what organizations?

Did International Rescue committee approach the other organizations or the other organizations approached us for building the network?

What organizations you trust?

Is this a network that IRC wants to build?
What is the purpose of building the network? Under what program?
What was and is IRC’s role in the partnership?
How did the organization benefit from this network?
Was it successful?
Getting answers for the questions stated above will give me a clear understanding on the collaborative background of the International Rescue Committee. In the first place, I will get insights, if the organization has ever formed a network alliance with other organizations or not. Assuming that the organization involved in networks, it will help me create collaborative model that will be a vocabulary for the organization down the road if I intend to form others. And, as a program developer, it will help me save time and energy to teach the organization about how and when to create alliances.

Specifying the process

Although there are many ways to approach the process of interviewing people, in this case, I will use the following techniques: Introduction, emailing, face to face meetings, and beneficiary’s home visits.

Introduction

First, I will sit with the top leaders, in this case, the Executive Director to go over my job description with him and ask any related questions I may have. Meanwhile, in building legitimacy, I will ask if I can interview staff members so that I can get clear insights from them with regards to the agency’s culture of operation and delivering services. Also, if required to do so, I will make sure that I have signed a consent agreement with the director stating interest in cross-sector collaboration approaches.
In the second stage, I will introduce myself to the rest of staff members for coordinating their program activities. I will explain who I am, my previous work history, how and why I ended up working for this organization, and my job responsibilities. Subsequently, I ask them for collaboration. With collaboration in mind, I will also give them chance to share their information with me which helps build trust between working groups. Sharing what is in their mind and what challenged them in performing their work activities is important for success. And lastly, I will request them to participate in answering the interview questions listed above.
In the third stage, I will create a Google document and email it to all staff mailing list and ask for one on one meeting based on availability that does not conflict their work schedules. Following the same procedure, I will meet with the service beneficiaries and gather information about program satisfaction. How the customers benefited from the organization’s programs and if they will have any recommendations for program improvement? Meeting with the customers or beneficiaries is essential because, through them, I will learn if the services are reaching them as projected.

Matters of institutional design

Institutional design matters when creating a social network and institutional design is essential in every step of collaboration. Thus, organizations must consider institutional design. It sets the ground rules in every process of the collaboration according to Ansell and Gash (2005) and consists of participatory inclusiveness, forum exclusiveness, clear ground rules and process transparency. Also, according to Emerson et al., institutional design consist three dimensions. These are the principled engagement, shared motivation and capacity of joint action. These dynamics work together in an interactive way to produce collaborative actions or the steps taken in order to implement the shared purpose of the collaboration (Emerson et al). However, while following the institutional design of Ansel and Gash, 2005, some of the questions I would pose relate to the designs are listed below:

Who are the participants? This will give me insights of who the participants are.

How do they get selected to participate? I will know if the selection process was fair and that participants were not forced to participate. Participation must be voluntarily and that participants must have the choice to withdraw at any time if they see other alternatives.
Is it open free participation? This gives me clear understanding of inclusiveness and if participation is open to all stakeholders, even those who have diverse interests.

Role of the manager as a leader

According to Kirk Emerson et al., a leader is one of the first essential drivers in a position to initiate and help secure resources and support for collaborative governance. At this point, my role will be advocating and assisting International Rescue Committee to achieve its goals. I also need to provide necessary intervention and facilitation for networking. Since I am in charge of what happens and why at the organization, I will determine the necessary collaborations ongoing at any time. I will do my tasks a head of time in order to be clear on the needs and goals. I will permit participants to work in groups or independently so that they contribute the maximum input to the decision making process. I will look for win-win solutions to meet the agencies goals. As a leader, I will be not too harsh or too easy on people. This will help ownership of the outcome and accountability for all.

Strategies or approaches I will emphasize moving forward?

Some of the program goals are only achievable if worked as a network. Because there is no single organization that can do all by itself, collaboration is required. Moreover, Linden in his book leading across Boundaries while addressing collaboration stated that, “The most significant challenges facing our society cannot be addressed by any one organization. They all require collaboration among many organizations” (Linden, pg.9). Meanwhile, the number of refugees coming to Tucson is increasing and a single organization cannot meet their needs. Therefore, a joint network with other organizations is required to better serve the influx of refugees in Pima County. The strategies I emphasize will include forming a steering committee from all refugee serving organizations and jointly create a clear vision to address the increasing demands of the refugees. The steering committees can arrange monthly or quarterly meetings to sharing information and addressing other issues. Doing so will help reduce budget constraints, reduce service overlaps, build trust and avoid competitions. The steering committee shall hold their meetings in a central location outside from the partnering organizations. Alternatively, they can rotate the meeting rotations in the alliance’s offices. This will show ownership, accountability and shared responsibility. Applying these approaches will lead to successful program deliveries and credibility.