600-03 ORGANISATIONAL FUNCTIONS AND ROLES

 

Community Learning Development Resource 600 – 03

 

ORGANISATIONAL ROLES AND FUNCTIONS IN NEIGHBOURHOODS

AND COMMUNITIES

 

SUMMARY

Exploring the roles and functions within organisations (projects, services and agencies), that are seeking to enable people in communities and neighbourhoods to build their individual, collective capacity and community capacity to support community development and neighbourhood regeneration.  Each observation or idea in this resource (600-03) can be used to prompt exploration and reflection on organisational strategy.

 

1.     As an organisation we try to contact and connect with individuals and groups:

  • Engaging in outreach activity by being out on the patch – in the community or neighbourhood, trying to establish a non-threatening profile and presence
  • Making contact – through existing networks or by activity to contact people directly, for example by being invited into existing community groups or through ‘door-knocking’
  • Working to become recognised as an approachable and accessible supportive contact for people
  • If working from a physical base, being willing, able and comfortable to work ‘on the streets’ outside the base
  • Building our understanding of the nature and social capital of the community or neighbourhood – who’s who, who relates to whom, who has power and who has not
  • Being concerned to maintain and promote our value based work and approaches, not to compromise our value set
  • Continuously monitoring, reflecting on and reviewing our practice as we seek to remain on message and on target
  • Being concerned to ensure that other workers and partners are made aware of our activity and progress, and being concerned to use our own support and networks to benefit the people we find and work with.

 

2. We try to support and enable individuals and groups to change and make progress in building their own capacity:

 

  • Relationship building with people where they feel motivated and comfortable to engage with you and the work
  • Becoming recognised as a valued source of advice and information
  • Recognising what individuals and groups want and need, and what their expectations are, and feeling able to support them to achieve their aims
  • Building meaningful ongoing relationships which are enabling and supportive for individuals and groups seeking to change and make progress
  • Taking on or organising ‘buddying’ and mentoring roles as ways of supporting people
  • Using skills to support people to progress across boundaries between agencies and organisations – enabling, signposting, referral and advocacy
  • Being a catalyst whilst providing activities, events, etc., so that these are vehicles for people to build their capacity.

 

  1. 3.     We organise and deliver services, activities and  opportunities for local people

 

  • Setting up provision for people – creating new community groups, activities, celebrations, etc., – informal and non-formal learning opportunities
  • Providing information – organising notice-boards, developing newsletters, website, etc.
  • Providing support services or facilitating other workers and agencies to provide support
  • Providing formal learning opportunities – courses, classes and programmes – ‘first-steps’, taster courses, short courses, one-day courses etc.
  • Providing community capacity building and development opportunities – community learning with individuals and groups, community action groups, consultation, participative management, etc.
  • Providing opportunities for social interaction – drop-ins, open days, coffee mornings, etc.

 

  1. 4.      We collaborate in and co-ordinate  initiatives and intereventions:
  • Building, maintaining and participating in networks and networking
  • Developing, maintaining and participating in a range of appropriate co-working arrangements
  • Organising arrangements for people empowerment and active participation
  • Contributing to the planning and management of services and support
  • Connecting services, providers and people, for continuity, coherence and sustainability
  • Brokering partnership arrangements to build local capacity and support  community development and neighbourhood regeneration
  • Resourcing infrastructure arrangements.

 

PROMPTS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

  • Use this analysis to contribute to your understanding of how you might work with different groups of people in the community.
  • Use this analysis to prompt a SWOT analysis of your role, your work or the work of your service or agency.