We have always known that building, maintaining and repairing collaboration was good for human service systems. To support collaboration, Change Matrix, in partnership with Sound Options, LLC and Georgetown Center for Child and Human Development, created the Collaboration LAB. Over the past few years, we have created and delivered training in Leading Through Conflict, Engaging in Challenging Conversations and Conflict and Collaboration. We have also offered conflict engagement interventions that have evolved to include pre-intervention interviews, a thematic summary of the interviews and sometime conflict engagement sessions with smaller groups before large group sessions.
While we believe we can say LAB training and interventions have been valuable for participants, we believe it is time to engage in a more formal evaluation of LAB interventions. We are currently gathering survey and interview data and will offer the results for the first time at the 27th Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference in Tampa, FL.
In 2014, CM with our LAB partners hope to offer a comprehensive approach including training and model building that leads to cultural shifts in collaboration across a state. The goal is to infuse collaboration values and an approach that is co-created with representative leaders throughout partner agencies and organizations in a way that leads to productive partnerships that are sustainable.
