Community leadership approaches and development

¶ … enterprise, before creating a plan to help a community, it is essential that an assessment is conducted to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the population and also the available resources to structure the action plan (Vincent 133). Conducting assessments works to raise awareness about the issues at stake in the public eye given the information such assessments bring to light. The assessment, using both quantitative and qualitative information, can help define the parameters of the community and its needs. Data collection methods include researching and reading previous studies of the community; literally taking a 'windshield' or observational tour of the area to record initial impressions; taking photographs; conducting interviews of residents; holding community meetings; and facilitating focus groups. A more quantitative approach is to distribute questionnaires whose results can be tallied. The ideal is to gain a full portrait of the physical, social, and 'human' infrastructure in terms of its needs and capacity for development (Vincent 135-136).

'Best practices' and 'benchmarking' various goals can be used in community development assessments just as they are in businesses. For example, just as a business identifies specific productivity and quality goals, so can a community in terms of increasing access to education or improving the health of the overall environment by reducing pollution (Phillips & Pitman 286-287). To benchmark and determine what a reasonable goal is for a community, it is essential to study healthy as well as 'sick' communities as points of comparison: for example, although there has been an unfortunate trend of obesity in children spiraling upwards, not all communities have this issue. Studying why some communities are free of this problem while in others it is an epidemic can better highlight potential solutions and what aspects of community life to emphasize in creating a plan. This is why Internet-based research using scholarly databases can be so useful, given that it can open up access to information to community solutions that have worked in the past.

A SWOT analysis is another assessment technique that draws upon the world of business (Vincent 151). Strengths of a community include present assets which can be built upon; weaknesses may include such intrinsic factors as an aging population, a poor infrastructure, and poor leadership (Vincent 149-150). Opportunities reflect the changing social environment which can allow the community to make positive changes. Opportunities might include the increased availability of grants; a sudden national interest in revitalizing the inner city; expanded access to healthcare for the poor, etcetera. Threats include the dangers that may arise in the future due to external changes, such as the future deterioration of the environment or likely future layoffs within the industry on which the area is dependent (Vincent 150).