We are in the midst of a housing crisis both in terms of a shortage of affordable housing, but also in supportive housing. Having worked in supportive housing for almost 20 years I saw up close many of the strategies that work and those that don’t. A lot is asked of supportive housing providers and the issues faced are complex. Whether you are an experienced supportive housing provider or just getting started I can support you in the development of a model of supportive housing that can best respond to the issues your organisation and the clients you support are facing. This can include exploring what kinds of roles and positions are needed, what kinds of programming and services would be most helpful and effective, and how the various parts (staffing roles, programs and services) work together. Effective supportive housing model design won’t eliminate all crises or conflicts, but it can reduce or eliminate the self inflicted ones and create the conditions to be able to respond to issues that arise with more clarity, purpose and confidence.

Have you ever participated in a meeting where you knew there was an important decision to be made only for it to end with the issue only barely acknowledged and no clear decision made? Where an unaddressed conflict was increasingly eroding the capacity for the group to make decisions and work effectively. Or struggled to reach a decision as different people and factions in the group were increasingly stuck in opposition and unwilling to engage collaboratively. Or perhaps where only one or a small group of people take up all the talking space with no room or opportunity for other perspectives.

Perhaps this characterizes most of the meetings you attend! Many organizations and teams don’t address these dynamics because there is a belief that these kinds of dynamics are inevitable and that collaboration and addressing conflict and disagreement would be too much and take away from the work that is needed. However, this kind of collaboration breakdown has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the work that can be accomplished.

What if instead of being a barrier to getting results and being effective, collaboration is necessary? In my experience effective and positive collaboration is possible and is needed in order to be able to access more creativity and get more effective results. It is unaddressed conflicts and the lack of effective collaboration that leads to poorer outcomes.

I can work with you to explore when and how collaboration happens, how information is shared, how you decide what’s important and how you engage with disagreement or opposing viewpoints. I can help by facilitating a process that can help you get to a way of working that produces more creative and sustainable decisions in a time effective way, because there is more participation and buy in by everyone on the team.