The Working Together Continuum
With many stakeholders in a Community-led Development approach, working together is naturally going to take shape differently depending on who’s involved, at what levels, and at what stages. This guide will help you determine where you are on the Working Together Continuum and what tools you can utilise to make each working relationship a success.
Understanding different kinds of working relationships is crucial to getting the most out of key stakeholders within your community. From local government, to businesses, to residents, to funders and everyone in between, having an understanding of the types of working relationships you’re likely to encounter – and which ones you will strive to have – will only strengthen your ability to connect with people community-wide.
This explanatory document will introduce you to the types of relationships and their characteristics and allow you to constructively plan ways of communicating and bringing people together to work within these relationship types. It might also encourage you to move a working relationship along the continuum, because it’s important to note that partnering isn’t necessarily the ultimate goal for every relationship.
Also, this worksheet may be useful to print and use in mapping out current and intended relationships.