Understanding roles

Draw out the difference between leading, managing and doing

These tools have been tried, tested and developed with Big Local areas.

Why use this tool?

• When the big local partnership wants to get clearer about the roles people take
• To understand who is leading in their partnership
• To strengthen working between people involved in Big Local

An example in practice

Boston Big Local is going from strength to strength. But in the early days, there were significant blockages to progress, including in understanding its role and responsibilities. There was confusion and conflict over different accountabilities linked to leading the Big Local as a resident, managing the Big Local as the contracted organisation or paid worker and simply doing things for the group and wider community. A breakthrough came during a workshop when a shared understanding of these three aspects arose. The group looks back now some years later and sees how the resolution of these differences helped galvanise Boston Big Local. The activities in this toolkit are adapted from that workshop.