Skilling Up for Stronger Voices

A skills framework for third sector representativesSummary of recent research from theImproving Local Partnerships project at NAVCASteve Skinner and Linda Joy MitchellOctober 2008

The research

In 2007 NAVCA commissioned research on identifying skills and abilities neededfor effective participation by third sector representatives on the executive boardsof LSPs. The work involved telephone interviews with 21 representatives acrossthe country and the report

Skilling Up for LSPs

was published in the summer of 2007.The

Skilling Up for LSPs

research also involved examining relevant jobdescriptions and personal specifications and included a brief search of literatureon the specific skills and abilities needed to be an effective representative onexecutive boards of LSPs. It found most of the existing written material discussedpolicy issues or described the knowledge needed, rather than the skills involved.Desk research was also carried out into national occupational standards, as wellas other sources.In 2008 further research called

Stronger Voices

was carried out, this time togather information from third sector representatives on

thematic partnerships

within LSPs. 26 people were interviewed by telephone in Yorkshire, the Humber and the North East, and asked about core purpose, tasks and skills as well asother issues, including barriers to participation.Drawing on these different sources, the two research projects produced acombined set of 15 main headings for skills and abilities; the similarities infindings are discussed in the

Stronger Voices

report.The combined set of 15 headings is designed to replace the more limited setgiven in

Skilling Up for LSPs

and intended to be used as a flexible resourcefor supporting both types of representatives. Both research reports –

Skilling Up for LSPs

and

Stronger Voices

– used the term

‘competencies’

; in this shortpublication written to summarise the work, we use the more accessible term

‘skills and abilities’

. Some of the original terms for the roles, tasks and skillsheadings have been amended to improve clarity. The research also providedsome insights that may be useful in the design of future learning provision for representatives.The

Skilling Up for LSPs

research was carried out by two consultants, SteveSkinner and Linda Joy Mitchell; the

Stronger Voices

research was carried out bySteve Skinner.

www.steveskinnerassociates.org.ukwww.lindajoymitchell.org.uk

Skilling Up for Stronger Voices

Contents

Introduction ...............................................................................................1Key roles...................................................................................................2Tasks ........................................................................................................2Skills and abilities .....................................................................................4Using the framework.................................................................................4The skills framework for third sector representativesPartnership skills .............................................................................6People skills ....................................................................................7Practical skills .................................................................................8Conclusions ............................................................................................. 9