What are the best practices for building a coalition to address complex social issues?

Having done some work for pulse polio, payment gateway for front line angawadi workers, here is my 2 cents on this. Building a successful coalition for complex social issues requires clear purpose, diverse stakeholders, and shared values. Effective communication, leadership, and resource mobilization are vital. Advocacy and education campaigns raise awareness, while measurable metrics track progress. Flexibility, transparency, and community engagement are key. Leveraging technology for impact and celebrate milestones to inspire continued momentum is important element. These best practices form a strategic framework for meaningful change.

One step prior to even defining the issue and purpose of a coalition is to know why it is needed, and to be absolutely certain that it is the best approach forward. Complex social issues affect different geographies, businesses, communities and individuals at different levels - some respond to these social issues and some proactively try and tackle these to avoid or mitigate the detrimental impact they have. It is therefore imperative then to define the issue and purpose of the coalition to enable the coalition itself and other stakeholders to derive benefit out of such an entity.

Including influential decision makers in the coalition who believe in the cause. Building advocacy with relevant stakeholders in different countries. Meeting with policy makers, social media influencers, attending webinars and learning from the experienced speakers. Strategies and action plans can play a great role in building coalitions. One has to bear in mind that the sustainability of any coalition relies heavily on the passion and the social and political influence of the members. Moreover, maintaining continuous relations with donors and helping them design the components of their projects can serve any coalition's purposes.

Understanding the motivation of stakeholders and their practical capacity to collaborate if key. Where possible building into stakeholder plans ways to support engagement in practical ways is step often missed out meaning that smaller organisations that can bring a more diverse perspective cannot engage fully.

Don't try to fix everything at once! In addressing complex social issues, a common response is to fire at all cylinders, hoping something hits the mark. But doing that can be ineffective, and even expose organisations to reputational risk. Doing a bunch of things poorly is far riskier, than doing one or two things well, and getting it right in an impactful way that holds up to scrutiny. So it's important to make sure the goals you set are ambitious, but realistic.

It is important not only to identify and recruit partners, but to understand that all partners will have varying degrees of interests base on the issue or activities of the coalition. This understanding will allow some stakeholders to take a primary or secondary support stance. Building an inclusive base is important and doing so with respect to differences or challenges strengthens trust and understanding that not all stakeholders will agree on all points, but are committed to the main issue at hand.

1st thing: What are you trying to accomplish? That has be answered before anything else. 2nd thing: What's the "ask?" Busy professionals across diverse cultures and businesses need to know what's in it for them and it needs to be communicated in a way that immediately demonstrates value. Of all the people out there they could collaborate with, why would they want to collaborate with you? Everything else flows from there.

Building trust among partners and maximizing the potential of the coalition does not only involve pooling together the resources, expertise, and strengths of partners but in ensuring that each member's contributions are recognized and valued.

Variety is key! Having members of a coalition who extend beyond "the usual suspects" can bring so many benefits. I always think "who would the person/organisation I am trying to persuade LEAST expect to see in this coalition?" and then see who I can persuade to join!

What I have seen is that it is absolutely critical to know how to identify the right partners and recruit them in such a way that they are the ambassadors and champions to your cause. It may seem easy to know who the right partners are at first, but the more you discuss, the more you brainstorm, you realise that these partners will define who you are as a coalition, its reputation and drive to get the results. This realisation makes the process to identify and recruit more complex, but at the same time more robust also. Not all partners may share the same ideology as you, or between themselves. It is important to find that conscience collective where all can act on a singular belief they hold together as one.

Structure and governance are so important as it helps to keep everyone focused and grounded on the mission at hand. It is important to also achieve alignment to maximize the collective towards the desired outcome.

Often structures and governance can be left as there's lots of exciting work to be getting on with but in my experience spending time on structure, an decision making processes, will save lots of time in the future!

Governance builds credibility to the foundational structure of an organization. It should not be a one-time and done thing. Board members/company members absolutely need to understand their roles and expectations, as well as conflict of interests and liabilities.

In my view it depends whether the coalition will be a legal entity or simply an understanding by different partners. Both have their pros and cons. Therefore, it is important to first be certain how the Coalition will be formed with predefined roles and responsibilities, structure and a governance mechanism. Getting partners on board first and then deciding what they will do seems counter productive to why they were onboarded in the first place. Processes and structures should allow for flexibility so that these can evolve to shape the best working environment that is transparent, compliant to local laws and internal policies. Through establishing key metrics around the deliverables, we can then gauge the effectiveness of the coalition.

Governance is where many organizations fall apart. Few people actually like a hierarchical system, but when it comes to building coalitions with many stakeholders, an established process must be created and agreed upon before any further action takes place. Agreeing on a Vision and Mission should be front and center. Why are you doing what you're doing? Creating agreed upon activities by function, having someone manage each function, allowing for flexibility and cross-talk amongst those managers, and then staffing to the appropriate level helps move the ball forward. Very few decisions should require the sole approval of the most senior person. Stakeholders need to feel empowered to make decisions at their level.

Through my interactions with authorities in urban health governance, institutional knowledge & policy teams at hub and citizen touchpoint single windows at spokes are critical to implement issue resolution strategies. A stellar example in gender justice is of Tier-III hospitals under Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) establishing active Humanities Cells, especially centres on Women's Maternal & Child Health (like Gynaecology & Obstetrics) as hubs and Gender Resource Centres (GRCs) as spoke connectors manned by experienced activists as citizen facilitators. The ultimate reason these centres have worked is due to organic hub-spoke coordination owing to a common experienced resource pool.

Strategy is pivotal in addressing social issues. Many often skip this step and dive right in to actions. This often leads to wasted resources and unmet objectives. At the same time, a strategy should not be rigid especially when dealing with social issues. There are many factors to consider with various levels of uncertainty, depending on the issue. A poignant yet flexible strategy could lead a long way to the success of the coalition.

There are two defining pillars to this. One is developing a strategy, and the other is implementing it. Having a strategy in place is key. It is an absolute essential and should be done while developing the purpose of the coalition, at the very start. Without a strategy, there is no compass or line of direction for the coalition. You might make a very strong coalition, but without a purpose. Planning is key here, spend more time developing a strategy than implementing it, if you have to, but get this step right. Implementation of a strategy requires a collaborative approach within and outside of the coalition. Having defined structures and governance in place will help navigate the coalition efficiently and effectively.

It's crucial to do an initial stakeholder mapping to understand their motivation and participation interest. Narrow the list further through the alignment of common organisational interests and advocacy goals. Empower stakeholders further by establishing a co-partnership to achieve advocacy goals

In my view a well mapped out stakeholder matrix, and at times matrices, that are issue based and classify the risks and appropriate weights to them has a greater impact. Once you map your stakeholders, it is advisable then create a circle of influence the matrix has. This will allow for knowing which stakeholders can support what objectives of the coalition and how to best engage and mobilize them. It is about effective communication, building rapport and trust and leveraging each others strengths. Commonality of objectives may not bring together stakeholders and partners at times, and so it is important to know the pulse of your stakeholders.

Stakeholder buy-in is often considered the natural next step in the planning process. But buy-in isn't about numbers and spreadsheets, it's about building relationships, developing trust, and gaining support. If you don't have a robust community / corporate/ or government engagement team nested in, and acting in concert with the planning process, the plan is bound to fail. No advertising dollars are enough to fill the void of lukewarm or disinterested stakeholders.

Professionals should consider mapping along a continuum of change for the growing needs of a project or the organization. The dynamic nature of power and influence should be considered and adequately planned for. We must be more fluid in our review & analysis of stakeholders and always have our “ears to the ground” to note any shifting priorities. Map stakeholders on how they affect us today and their ability to affect us later. Also consider how they will influence the maintenance and the sustainability of positive project outcomes. Considering these possibilities can mitigate challenges where stakeholders who feel “ignored” in one stage become critical stakeholders for another phase or another project.

To learn from others through feedback and to adapt to changing times is an ever evolving process. Organizations that become too rigid in their ways of working often fail because they do not tap into the potential of modern processes that are being introduced. It important to receive feedback with an open mindset since sharing constructive feedback is not easy and when it is being shared, we should be open to receiving it. Closely monitoring best practices by other coalitions and networks also helps bring different perspectives that allow for better learning and quicker adaptation.

An organization I'm a board member of has an appropriate hashtag; #zigszagsandpivots. Inflexible leaders make or break engagement strategies. Too many times I've seen organizational leaders who expect their stakeholders and customers to come to them; to adopt their thinking by force of will. As long as people have the power to push back, that is rarely the outcome. Feedback is crucial and adaptability is a must. No program is going to be perfect (see, New Coke in the 1980s). Even Coke gets it wrong sometimes. The difference is what you do when what you planned doesn't work? As Marines say, improvise, adapt and overcome. Be flexible. If the numbers tell you one thing but you think another, be willing to change to the information.

One thing I have learnt is that every issue and opportunity is unique in its own way. Therefore how we respond to the issue or how we utilise an opportunity will be different. However, one thing that remains a constant is how we approach the issue or opportunity. Once that becomes clear, problem solving or opportunity leveraging becomes easier.

Your insight about the uniqueness of issues and opportunities is spot on. It reminds me of the quote, 'When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.' Embracing the distinct nature of each situation challenges us to think creatively and adapt. It's a powerful reminder that our mindset and approach are the driving forces behind successful problem-solving and capitalizing on opportunities.

#Timing is everything when bringing people together to tackle tough social issues. A big event or decision that's out of our control can actually be a golden chance to gather different stakeholders and get them on the same page. It's like a natural deadline that pushes everyone to join forces and act. So, when an outside event sets the clock ticking, it's a great opportunity to build a strong team ready to dive into the issue and work towards making a change.

When building a coalition, initiators should be aware of possible varying interests and priorities among coalition members or potential conflicts of interest. That issues should be identified and analyzed in advance and have a strategy to deal with them in transparent way through coalition, without trying to hide them.