Organizing an inter-agency meeting

Planning the meeting
Once you have finished your visits to individual agencies, and have spoken with parents and families who are clients of those agencies, the next step is to organize a meeting of interested and receptive agencies and potential partners. The purpose of the meeting is to further explore a partnership that will 1) support families in the community and 2) plan and develop a family literacy program.

Experience tells us that it is difficult if not impossible to set a time and date for a meeting that will suit everyone's schedule. By inviting people well enough in advance, you can hope that the majority of them will be able to attend, or designate someone else from their agency if they already have commitments.

Sending a letter of invitation is recommended over telephone calls. Include a proposed agenda in the invitation, as well as a reply date and telephone number so they can confirm their attendance.

As you organize this initial meeting, remember that the input, trust, and feelings of ownership of those participating are essential to successfully building a collaborative project.

Objectives of the meeting
Although you want people at the inter-agency meeting to feel that they are equal partners, be prepared for the fact that they will likely look to you for leadership and facilitation, at least during this meeting. It's important to have objectives defined for the meeting and included in the agenda. These objectives might include

• getting to know each other, and becoming familiar with each other's activities, services and mandates
• discussing the proposed family literacy project
• discussing the proposed partnership
• exploring what agencies and individuals have to offer and want to gain from the partnership
• scheduling the first planning meeting for the new partnership