NEPR: The North-End Partnership For Renewal
A narrative case study on collaboration
The team at visionSynergy have put together a fictional case study on collaboration designed to show the step-by-step process and key principles of developing missional partnerships.
While the story of NEPR is fictional, the content and characters of the story are drawn from numerous real-world examples of church/community partnerships.
About the story
The story is set in a major metropolitan area of the United States, where the characters collaborate together over several years toward the goal of addressing major social issues in their city.
At several points in the story, the emerging partnership faces various crises. You are encouraged to pause and reflect on the crisis situation, analyze what you see as the key issues, and predict what might happen next before continuing to read the story.
Stage by stage, you will see how the NEPR group moved through the three key stages of partnership development: Exploration, Formation, and Operation. You will also see how 15 key principles of healthy and effective collaboration were at work.
How to use the story
There are two versions of the story: a plain version and a keyed version including side notes explaining the stages, principles, and lessons learned in the story.
You could use this story as a team or group exercise.
First, read the plain version, pausing at the crisis points for discussion. After reading the story, reflect on what you think could be transferable principles for your own group. Then, refer to the keyed version and read the included descriptions of the stages, principles, and lessons learned.
Download
You can download the two versions of the case study here:
Keyed version:
Source: visionSynergy