Jim Howden, a professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University, was our guest speaker. He is a very experienced instructor, having given more than a thousand training sessions in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Mr. Howden travelled from Montreal especially for this occasion*.

 

The dynamic approach adopted by Mr. Howden throughout his presentation produced lively interactions among conference delegates. Participants had the opportunity to discuss and use concrete strategies intended to better structure the collaboration between stakeholders, encourage collaborative decision-making, and mobilize teams on a collective project.

 

In short, Mr. Howden’s message was: to succeed, it’s not enough to work as a team – collaboration must be structured. With this in mind, here are the elements that ensure the success of a collaborative team:

 

1. Take into consideration the composition of the team.

2. Develop team spirit (with an emotional focus before a cognitive focus) – in other words, recognize differences between the team members; highlight the importance of diversity and its resulting creative potential; and above all, maintain emotional bonds between team members.

3. Identify interdependence within the team. What’s our common goal? What are the various tasks we want to accomplish?

4.Identify collaborative work skills that can make the task easier: actively listen, ask for help, ask questions, look for a consensus, don’t accept solutions that are too simple, encourage the participation of others, foster a positive environment, organize the team’s work, etc.

5.Regularly perform a critical review of collaborative work skills: prepare handouts, questionnaires, or highlight a few points at the start of a team meeting, and come back to them at the end of the meeting.

 

Parents and community partners who participated felt inspired and motivated as a result of this workshop. It highlighted how it’s crucial to “cultivate collaboration” in all aspects of the work of parents’ associations.

 

To view the document given to workshop participants, click here.