Community Needs Assessment Plan- Problem Scope

This tool is helpful for

organizations working

in collaborations.

Users will understand

the various ways that

different participation

and communication

styles in a group setting

are perceived. The tool

also encourages users to

consider ways to share

power in order to establish

trust.

NCDI, www.ncdinet.org

Sources of Power

1. Positional power comes from organizational authority or position (people providing capacity building technical support have this power). It is often forgotten by people with the power, rarely forgotten by those without it.

2. Referred power comes from connections to others (e.g., a staff member without formal posi-

tional power but has known the ED for years).

3. Expert power comes from wisdom, knowledge, experience and/or skills (e.g., someone

is widely respected because of her skills as an organizer).

4. Ideological power comes from an idea, vision or analysis. As Victor Hugo said, "Nothing can

withstand the power of an idea whose time has come." It can be an individual's original idea, an ideal such as "democracy" or "liberation," or a developed ideology.

5. Obstructive power stems from the ability to coerce or block. Whether implicit, threatened or

demonstrated, those without other sources of power may depend on it. Many activists are experts in its use.

6. Personal power includes energy, vision, ability to communicate, capacity to influence, emo-

tional intelligence, psychological savvy, etc.

7. Co-powering is an idea that comes from the Latino community. It speaks to the responsibility

for individual leaders to mindfully work towards supporting the personal power of others through modeling, validating and giving feedback.

8. Collaborative power comes from our ability to join our energies in partnership with others in

pairs, teams, organizations, communities, coalitions and movements.

9. Institutional power means economic, legal and political power directly wielded by institutions,

whether it's a corporation, police department or one of your organizations. This institution exists apart from the individuals who work there at any one time and enjoys name recognition, mem- bership, etc.

1O. Cultural power, from the perspective of the dominant culture, means cultural norms, condition-

ing and privilege regarding race/class/gender/age. (As with positional power, this power is often invisible to the dominant group. To those with less power, it is a real and everyday experience.) From the perspective of oppressed peoples, cultural power means a consciousness of community, class or culture that serves to empower.

11. Structural power is power that's covertly or implicitly exercised through the dominant institu-

tions of society (e.g., the resistance to alternative medicine from the AMA and insurance provid- ers, racism expressed and maintained through structures such as red-lining by lending institu- tions).

12. Transcendent power comes from our connection to a higher power such as spiritual, natural

and/or historical imperative.

National Community Development Institute 17

This tool can be used

for building a sense of

community in a working

group. To maximize

effectiveness, consider

using this tool as soon

as you have a sense of

the participants and the

power dynamics that

exist. To neutralize power

differences, work with the

group to establish group

agreements, roles and

strategies.

Minimizing Power Differences

Dealing with power differences in an open and honest way is a key ingredient to success in commu- nity building. This is not always easy but essential to building relationships.

• Orient. Effective orientation of new members helps to equalize power relationships.

• Use ground rules or group agreements. Ground rules or group agreements work best if they

are developed by the entire group, acknowledged, hung in a prominent place during meetings/ activities and periodically reviewed by the group to see if they are being honored or if there are additions or deletions.

• Increase numbers of those with less power. The best way to begin dealing with this is to

have open discussions in your collaborative. If you are sincere about wanting to change the power dynamics of your group, you are the best experts on how to do this. For example, if you are looking to increase the number of parents of young children, you may have to change meet- ings to evening events with potlucks and childcare.

• Make special preparations. For example, schools and community based programs that

successfully involve parents in decision making make special efforts to inform and orient them. Approaches include special training, meeting in advance in small groups of all or mostly parents, or one-on-one conversations with parent representatives before and after meetings.

• Offer special support. Transportation and childcare reimbursements and stipends are com-

monly needed supports for parents. Remember, professionals who attend your collaborative meetings may or may not have an institution that is covering their time and expenses. Partici- pants experience these differences in support as part of the power relationship.

• Listen to and respect all members. As leader or member, your role-modeling can help equal-

ize power relationships in the collaboration.

• Be a relationship builder. Help facilitate and establish personal relationships between leader-

ship in the collaborative and those with less positional power. People need to know their ideas will be heard and respected.

18 National Community Development Institute