agency roles

[Julia Wondolleck <juliaw@umich.edu>]

A response to Michael Glaab's question:  if the agency participant is not facilitating "then what authority should the facilitator be empowered with to assure that all of the participating stakeholders ? really act in good faith ? ?"

Good faith can seldom be enforced by either "power" or "authority."  Rather, it comes from the incentives encouraging a participant's involvement in a process (ie. that they perceive that they can better address their interests by participating than through other means), as well as through procedural techniques that test commitment and bind parties to their agreements.  Usually, trained facilitators are more experienced and aware of these incentives and techniques than are agency participants.

It is interesting that, in our analysis of agency roles in collaborative processes (mentioned earlier by John Stephens), some non-agency participants questioned the agency's "good faith" when it adopted a facilitative rather than participatory role in the process.  We heard things like: "When EPA facilitates, we feel like EPA is really ducking their responsibility."  Or:  "There is some element of EPA abdicating their responsibilities, and the parties can't let EPA do that." [It is important to note that these comments came from individuals in processes where the agency participant also tried to facilitate?.to wear both hats.  In cases where there was an agency facilitator but a separate agency participant representing the agency's interests, no similar concerns were expressed.]

There are both symbolic and practical reasons to have a trained facilitator manage a process.  We heard comments like:  "Having an independent party to run the process was a key factor for success.  It's not the [agency] directly that's leading the meetings.  We're all in the same boat because there's someone else standing in front of the room saying "okay, here's what we're dealing with today."

Participating in a collaborative process is a significantly different task than assisting with a process, and there are practical, as well as perceptual, reasons to separate these roles.  The agency participant at the table needs to ensure that the agency's interests are addressed and that any recommendations or decisions reached are within the viable "decision space."  It is difficult for one individual to fulfill this stakeholder role, while at the same time facilitating the full group's interactions.

I hope that this clarifies our findings regarding agency facilitation in the "What Hat Do I Wear Now?" article.

Thanks!
Julia Wondolleck