Coordinate roles and capabilities

The key partners should clarify the work needed to progress from ideation to implementation and assign responsibility for the various aspects of the work. Depending on the scale and complexity of the ambition partners may consider working with a backbone or partnership coordination structure to facilitate progress.

In this phase of pre-establishment, the backbone may be an organisation or a person or team in the partner organisations that are given dedicated time to drive progress from the initial concept into a tangible plan forward.  This role should not be a simple add on to other responsibilities. The coordination role needs to be resourced adequately to be able to be effective.  They also need to be trusted and endorsed/ authorised to represent the project in engaging with additional stakeholders.

The backbone role could change hands over the life of the project.  An “early backbone” may help guide the initiative from the concept to endorsement and establishment of the core partnership governance and then the partnership would determine whether to continue with the same backbone role or redefine to suit implementation.  

Backbone staff bring together the key players to undertake planning, expand the stakeholder group, strategize, maintain engagement with key allies, coordinate actions and build trust in the potential of the work.  They are also involved in identifying resources (funds or key partnerships) that would enable the implementation of the community school.

Often, they are the face of the vision and can work across traditional sector boundaries to engage additional stakeholders in exploring and endorsing the concept of involvement in Schools as Community Platforms. They may be referred to as Boundary Spanners.  They also work with the stakeholder and partners to define and hold each other accountable for commitments made so that momentum and progress is maintained.

The resources for the backbone function depends on the scale of the work, in a small-scale project an independent advisor/ facilitating role may be a suitable boundary spanner to assist with scoping and planning and the backbone may change once implementation commences. 

Our Experience/Learning

Being familiar with but independent from the systems they are working with enables the backbone to take flexible approaches, challenge roadblocks to progress and retain an impartial observer function in negotiations as plans and agreements are developed.

The role of the backbone changes over the life of the project as may the structure.  In the early stages, prior to agreement to commence, the backbone function was achieved by allocating existing staff from both Colman education foundation and the department of education to creating the initial design, engaging with additional stakeholders and working on internal process change requirements.  Once there was agreement to proceed with the 10 sites, a larger support structure was needed, and the focus became more on enabling implementation. 

Strong and trusted relationships are developed in this role and are critical to progress and there may be no formal agreement beyond an intention to work together, they are navigating unknown territory between partners and need to have the confidence and respect of all.