How can we make networks more attractive to participants?

In 2010, PSO will conduct action research on networks. The leading questions will be:
How do organisations experience their participation in North-South networks; and what attitudes and approaches make that collaboration in networks meet the ambitions, reality and expectations of its partners?

We are looking for PSO member organisations who wish to take part. They must have an active network and be willing to participate in the action research: research by doing, an ideal way to explore the causes of bottlenecks within existing collaborative networks.  

What challenges do networks face?

It is often difficult for an initiator of a network to understand what motivates members of a network to participate. Asking might not always get you a straight answer. Power differences, financial relations, cultural background and various strategic considerations might all be at play.

Initiators of the network try to best-guess what a network needs. During the start-up, interested parties negotiate the conditions, and stakeholders build the network relations. Does the resulting “contract” (which should not be seen as a fixed agreement) really meet the needs and expectations of the network members? How can ambitions be realised?

How to improve your network

We wish to offer PSO member organisations and their partner organisations the opportunity to examine their networks and analyse the issues at play. Our action research will support them in exploring what attitude they take towards their network with the aim of assessing the collaboration together.

Interested networks will work out a research methodology with help from an expert. Members within these networks will plan the research together and determine what guidance they will need during implementation. The lessons learnt will be shared with the PSO association and the development sector.

We intend to address a number of  specific questions, such as: given the network members’ contexts, which of their ambitions are being met by the network? What factors motivate or discourage participation? How have these issues been addressed in the setting up of the network? What are the differences in Northern and Southern points of view?

A high quality, participatory research project

The research will be based on shared ownership through a participative approach to evaluating the networks. Experts in network analysis will be contracted for the design of the methodology, cooperating closely with those involved in the networks themselves. The chosen methodology will be sufficiently flexible to allow for context specific factors, while at the same time being robust enough to draw some generic lessons.

The network members, both Southern and Northern, will be professional and leading stakeholders in the research. The number of networks interested in participating is expected to be between 6 and 10. PSO member organisations and their partner organisations will make their own arrangements for implementation of the research, supported by advice from either peers, or experts.  To create the space for learning, PSO can contribute to the additional time and costs of those involved in the action research.

Individual recommendations

At the end of the research, we hope to provide lessons for the developmental sector on how to improve their use and effectiveness of networks. Those taking directly part will come away with documented case studies and specific recommendations for their individual networks.

Those interested in taking part can contact Koen Faber: faber@pso.nl

The action research is expected to last from March 2010 till November 2010.