Themes & Work Groups

Working Group

Working Groups are where much of the action in Collective Impact occurs and goals are brought to life. Working Group members are relevant subject matter and community experts.

Collective Impact Roles & Responsibilities

Collective Impact Roles & Responsibilities Handout

Working Group Co-Chairs

Oversight and leadership of the working group’s main functions, including:

Setting goals, establishing metrics, and selecting data to collect and study
Identifying and pursuing mutually-reinforcing activities
In partnership with the backbone staff, identifying”quick wins” where working group can act quickly to advance a particular issue
Consulting with the steering committee, backbone staff, and EVC about these plans, in advance of implementation

Leading the working group meetings, including:

Development of the agenda and content for each working group meeting — including serving as thought partners to Backbone staff and helping contribute content expertise
Facilitating discussions and decision making in meetings — including speaking up if conversation gets stuck, encouraging multiple perspectives, and reporting out on smaller group discussions
Emphasizing knowledge-sharing as a key element of working group meetings

Contributing to working group member management, including:

Addressing member concerns outside of meetings
Learning more about members’ roles and experiences to help inform strategies
Nurturing relationships among working group members and ensuring each member‘s unique assets and contributions are supported and valued

Cultivating a focus on equity by:

Seeking diverse membership and fostering inclusive discussions within the group
Using data to understand disparities and develop strategies

Serving as a bridge for the initiative’s work by:

Seeking input from key stakeholders, speaking at events and updating campus community members on progress

Working Group Members

Time Commitment: attend working group meetings every 6-8 weeks, 2-3 hours/month including meeting time and pre-read, etc.

Describing current equity gaps and taking action:

Help the working group identify common goals and metrics
Apply those goals and metrics to projects you oversee
Identify resources needed to achieve goals (e.g., funding, materials, volunteers)

Information sharing:

Bring ideas, best practices, lessons learned, data and other knowledge into the working group
Share knowledge and information from outside the working group that are relevant to the working group themes
Identify collaboration opportunities within and outside the working group

Processing:

Champion the Collective Impact effort broadly on campus
Attend regularly scheduled working group meetings; review pre-read materials prior to meetings and come prepared for engaged discussion, active listening, and respectful dialogue

Backbone

Project management, facilitation, and support for the functions the co-chairs and working group have decided to pursue, which include:

Documenting how selected metrics and data support the selected goals
Assisting with implementation of mutually-reinforcing activities
Establishing shared measurement practices — managing data collection among partners and supporting the use of data for learning and evaluation of effort

Assisting co-chairs to maintain strategic coherence of the working group’s efforts, by:

Monitoring/evaluating progress and performance measures and keeping the co-chairs updated
Researching topics relevant to strategy development
Helping the co-chairs prioritize opportunities for action and identify “quick wins”
Interacting with Collective Impact stakeholders and partners regularly to cultivate and facilitate collaboration, identify barriers, and provide recommendations

Assisting co-chairs with meeting logistics:

Plan/schedule working group meetings
Help with development of meeting agendas
Ensure attendee lists are up to date
Develop materials for meetings

Supporting the working group co-chairs to identify opportunities to communicate about inventories, participation rates, quick wins, etc. to the campus community to encourage broader engagement in Collective Impact efforts:

Update the steering committee, EVC and community regularly on progress of groups
Promote and facilitate communication across working groups and with additional partners

Help organize data for the initiative; provide needed data for the Working Groups