School-to-Work Partnerships and Vision
Creating Meaning Through Vision and Focus
Creating vision and establishing a focus are essential steps in building
a local school-to-work partnership that is truly effective. Vision and focus
are developed and maintained by attending to three key areas: mission statements,
partner roles, and group norms/meeting structure.
- Mission statements: a mission statement defines the purpose
for your partnership's existence. It is usually based on the federal and
state legislation that supports development of a particular partnerships
and on the values, needs, and characteristics of your local community.
- Partner roles: a statement of your partner roles identifies
the representatives that are members of your partnership, their unique
contributions, and their responsibilities to the partnership.
- Group Norms and meeting structure: statements regarding your
partnership's group norms and meeting structure define how the partnership
will operate and how members will interact to move toward common goals.
Reasons to Maintain Vision and Focus
Most of the time we are so busy trying to implement our goals, not to
mention the work we do through our jobs, that we do not take the time to
really look at how our partnership operates and to review whether or not
we are on the right track. Maintaining a sense of your vision and purpose
and reviewing this on a regular basis is critical to your work.
Maintaining vision and focus:
Creates a reference point for all partnership goals and activities.
It provides a basis for effective partnership work.
Supports partnership efforts to assess community needs, set annual goals
based on those needs, develop and implement an action plan, and evaluate
the outcome.
Facilitates clarity, unity, and a sense of purpose and accomplishment
among partnership members.
Links and strengthens the efforts of all partnership members. It creates
a basis for connection within and across partnerships in pursuing the shared
goal of improving the futures of all young adults as they move from school
to adult life and independence.
Encourages perseverance and determination in the process of reaching
goals and fulfilling the partnership mission.
Creates a viable, working partnership in which leadership and responsibility
are shared in attaining partnership goals.
Four Steps in Maintaining Your Vision and Focus
1. Considering the values, needs, and uniqueness of your local community,
write a statement of your partnership's purpose, mission or vision for the
community.
The majority of partnerships have already developed mission statements.
Ask yourself, if your partnership's mission accurately reflects your partnership
today. If your partnership does not have a mission statement, create one.
A partnership mission statement should reflect the broad goals listed
in school-to-work legislation. It should also describe the function your
partnership in accomplishing your goals and objectives, but within your
local community. This includes what will be accomplished, where and with
whom, and the scope of your work.
If you cannot repeat the mission statement without looking at it, it's
too long.
2. Clarify, define, and write out the roles of partnership members
in fulfilling your mission.
A role is like a job description for partnership members. It takes into
account strengths and abilities of each partner, along with the time they
are able to commit to the partnership activities. The roles of partners
should support and reflect the mission.
Clarify an define the role of partners - it is an important step in
delegating responsibility for accomplishing goals among all partners.
Develop a short profile for each partner to fill out that will provide
information about their potential contributions along with a summary of
their role on the partnership. Include fun informational items such as
job title, what they really do in their work, what they love about their
job, and a personal motto or vision statement they use to provide direction
in their work. This can help all partners to respect the commitment each
brings to the joint effort.
List an discuss each role as contrasted with each other. Discuss whether
everyone shares in the responsibility of achieving goals and sharing responsibility.
If not, your list may need to be rewritten to ensure an equal workload.
3. Develop and write out group norms and meeting structure guidelines
to guide your partnership's action and activities in fulfilling your mission.
Group norms are statements, agreed upon by all partnership members,
which can help partners to interact with each other in an effective and
respectful manner. Norms are based on partnership values and help partners
with the "how" of accomplishing your goals.
Group norms can be written in the form of "we will..." statements.
Typical areas for which norms are written are decision making, goal setting,
discussions, conflict resolution, member commitment, partnership evaluation,
and participation and attendance at partnership meetings.
Examples of group norms might be: We will give each member a chance
to make a statement about important issues; We will create an annual action
plan to achieve our yearly goals; or We will provide stipends for those
not reimbursed through work to attend partnership meetings."
Meeting structure guidelines address items such as time, date, place,
agenda, and facilitation of partnership meetings. The guidelines compliment
group norms by providing the structure needed to ensure that meetings take
place on a regular basis and are well attended as well as run efficiently
and effectively.
Examples of meeting structure guidelines might be: We will meet the
second Friday of each month from 1-3 p.m.; The agenda for the next meeting
will be created and disseminated before the end of the current meeting;
The core leadership group will facilitate meetings, but will not be responsible
for the success or failure of this group.
4. Review your mission statement, member roles, group norms, and meeting
structure guidelines on an annual basis, and whenever your partnership seems
to lose direction, motivation, or unity.
Use this review to evaluate how closely you have followed them, their
continued relevance, and effectiveness, and areas for change or improvement,
as well as areas that are working well.
Revise the mission roles, norms, and meeting structure guidelines as
needed.
How to Hold Unsuccessful Partnership Meetings
Have no set agenda, an agenda that's too large, or an agenda that's
irrelevant.
Stop and start the meeting again and again with each late arrival.
Arrive late and start late.
Have no ground rules governing interactions within your meetings.
Select and inconvenient and uncomfortable meeting place.
Come unprepared to address the topics on your current agenda.
Do not follow-up on decisions or evaluate and discuss outcomes.
Never, ever have any food available at your meetings!
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