• All members of your MDT are busy people with many demands on their time.   Let’s assume you are missing the participation of one key stakeholder, and that absence is contributing to a lack of collective success in working on behalf of the vulnerable adults in your community. That absentee stakeholder might have a range of [...]

  • Greater understanding of each other’s responsibilities, authority, and limitations builds over time.  Building a culture of genuine curiosity, rather than blaming, helps MDT members ask questions about what each of you can and cannot do.  The important strategy is to be able to build better mutual understanding of your work, without targeting any frustration at [...]

  • The creation of an MDT can emerge from any stakeholder in the county.  It could be that DSS or other key stakeholders would be willing to participate but do not have the capacity to logistically support the MDT meetings.  It could be they don't see the potential benefit of having an MDT. The stakeholders who [...]

  • A successful meeting provides for equitable participation of all members.  No one dominates, and no one disengages.  Having a designated facilitator can help improve that dynamic. There are many strategies for engaging all participants.   It does help to set that as a goal at the start of the meeting, seek agreement from the group [...]

  • The reality is that few of us want to attend meetings we don’t find useful or rewarding somehow, and we all must budget how we spend our time.  An initial strategy is to ask people what practices would make the meeting worthwhile.  It could be your meetings are spent in ways that don’t meet the [...]