At Cohesion Strategy, we work to help nonprofits and funders foster pluralistic solutions, and key to this work is creating depolarizing collaborations. There are many reasons why this work is important (read past blogs exploring collaborating with your competition and what I mean by cohesion to get started exploring why) but how we make these collaborations work is equally important.
When I came across this article, it really got me thinking about the ‘how’ of depolarizing collaborative. It argues that by looking first for disagreement and focusing our collaborations on where we differ, we may be doing more harm than good.
So, what are the steps we should be taking? And how can you create a depolarizing collaboration that works? I did a webinar on this topic some time ago, and you can check out the whole thing here, but today I want to offer a quick breakdown.
Creating a depolarizing collaboration can be done in six steps:
Step 1: Map the Field
The first step in developing depolarizing collaborations is to map the field by deeply exploring who is funding organizations, conducting interviews, and assessing adjacent issues. This process helps uncover the underlying drivers of conflict, such as meanings or values, which are crucial for addressing polarized issues effectively. We call these underlying drivers of conflict the “understories.”
For more on mapping, check out this previous blog, or for a quick overview, take a look at the clip below.
Step 2: Develop the Strategy
Once you have your map, the next step is to begin developing your goals, vision, and strategy. Note that these may change as you continue the process but establishing them here at the start is key for the remaining steps.
Step 3: Internal Work
Now it is time to meet with your staff and discuss all components of the collaboration. Clear communication with staff is key when creating partnerships around real or perceived lines of differences. Note that this is a particularly important step if your organization is mission driven.
Step 4: Collaborate & Facilitate
At this stage, I strongly encourage you to invite a third-party moderator into your work to help with facilitation. There will almost certainly be conflict – you want it to be productive. An outside facilitator can guide you through it.
Step 5: Develop your Programs
You should now be ready to develop programs! I like to think of this holistically as development and implementation, evaluation, and iteration.
Step 6: Communications and PR
Finally, make sure you are telling the story of your depolarizing collaboration through communications, marketing, and PR.
If these six steps seem daunting, it can be helpful to take a step back and think about the skills that are either already present in your organization or that you can supplement with via a third-party facilitator to help your collaboration succeed.
I’ve always found unlikely collaborations to be the most generative and effective of partnerships, but there can be pitfalls. They can be avoided ... but only if you know to look out for them.
Assisting organizations through the above six steps is one of the best parts of my job!
If you are interested in learning more and exploring how your organization can benefit from this work, comment below and I will reach out!
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