Coalitions

As coalition leaders, we can get caught up in the next task, meeting, activity, report or plan that we forget to add “celebrate” to the list.

One of the ways we can stay overwhelmed is when we try to keep doing everything ourselves. Join me this week as we practice delegating well.

One of the most common approaches to evaluation in coalition work is to plan and implement a project and then develop an evaluation plan.

When a coalition is ready to implement, they have done the work of figuring out how to work together and what is most important for them to do right now. Join me this week as I highlight three questions to consider to support implementation.

One of the most important and challenging aspects of coalition work – and sometimes life – is prioritizing. When leading a coalition, you can see all the needs and all the opportunities. There is always more to do than you have time, resources or partners who can do it.

An important role of coalitions is to find ways to catalyze and combine efforts so that collectively the coalition can accomplish much more than could be done by any one organization working independently.

Engagement is one of the most critical components of coalition work and it can also be one of the most challenging. With our busy and overwhelming schedules, finding ways to intentionally and successfully engage our coalition is incredibly important.

One of the first and ongoing coalition activities is planning. Whether you are working on a strategic plan, an action plan or an upcoming meeting plan, you are constantly planning something.

Coalitions focus on different topics, causes and are often related to improving a health or social outcome. They focus on achieving results that can only happen when people work together rather than on their own.

Have you ever been in a coalition where you were not sure why you were there or what you were going to do? Have you been in a coalition that was clearly focused and seemed to be functioning smoothly?