The 5 ingredients of authentic co-production: Ingredient 3

As a follow up the previous article ‘The 5 ingredients of authentic co-production’, Kelly Gray from CommunityWest talks about the third ingredient of ‘skilful facilitation’.

Kelly’s understanding of genuine co-production and co-design has been gained from completing a literature review on the topic, writing a ‘how-to’ toolkit and coaching aged care organisations and their staff. Read a guest blog on how to implement this ingredient in your organisation.

Ingredient 3: Skilful Facilitation

Before you start a co-production project and decide to lead the process, stop and ask yourself, “Am I the right person for the job?” Just because you are the program/service manager, the general manager or manager of any kind does not necessarily mean you are the right person to lead a co-production process.

Facilitating the process goes beyond chairing meetings, it requires the ability to facilitate effective group discussions with often competing ideas or views, implement tools and methodologies, collect stories, conduct interviews, and be skilled in data analysis and project management. To determine if you’re the right person, I invite you to ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. Do I understand group dynamics, group development phases and have experience facilitating activities and discussions?
2. Am I prepared to take a back seat and facilitate the process, rather than drive it?
3. Do I have the time necessary to plan meetings, including the use of co-production tools and activities? (Tip: this is more involved than writing an agenda!)
4. Am I able to build trust and rapport with others quickly in order to foster collaboration?
5. Do I understand the principles of co-production well enough to know when it’s happening or not happening?

Hear from Lisa Astete from The Brotherhood of Saint Laurence in VIC on ingredient 3 here.

To find out how to start your next co-design or co-production project, check out the CommunityWest website here or call Kelly Gray on (08) 9309 8180 for more information.

Author: Kelly Gray, CommunityWest Inc.

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