Developing and Maintaining Effective Networks and Collaborative Relationships

CHCPRP001
Develop and maintain networks and collaborative
partnerships
ASSESSMENT BOOK
for
CHCPRP001

Assessment Instructions
All of the information that you need to complete your assessment tasks are included in
your Study Guide and associated Readings. Before attempting to complete this Assessment
Book you must read through all of the information supplied to you in the Study Guide and
Readings for this unit. You are required to complete all assessment questions successfully in
order to be deemed competent in this unit.
This Assessment Book is designed to assess your knowledge. Copying sentences and blocks
of text directly from your Study Guide, Readings, or other documents does not demonstrate
your understanding of the topic. Neither does copying the work of another student. Such
practices are regarded as plagiarism and will not be tolerated. (Please see your Student
Handbook for further information regarding Plagiarism).
A guideline for the number of words required for a response is included to give you an idea
of the depth of information that is required to successfully answer the question. If you are
well under the approximate number of words you may need to ask yourself whether you have
been too superficial in your response. If you are well over the word limit, then you may need
to ask yourself whether you have included irrelevant information or repeated yourself
unnecessarily. If you do not understand what is required for you to complete an assessment,
please contact an Education Adviser.
Submitting an Assessment Book
Please submit your assessment book via your online student portal at http://my.aipc.net.au
Use the following as a checklist before submitting your Assessment Book:
Have all of the questions and activities been completed?
Is your name and student number noted in your Assessment Book? (on the
following page)
Have you completed the Candidate Declaration? (on the following page)
Have you saved a copy of all of your work (in case of loss)?
Your work will be assessed as either “Competent” or “Not Yet Competent”. In instances
where a grade of “Not Yet Competent” is given, the Assessment Book will be returned to you
with comments from the marker who will recommend how to improve your work. “Not Yet
Competent” or “NYC” means that your work is incomplete or that you have not included
some important information or adequately demonstrated your understanding of the
information. In this case you will be required to review your responses to any questions that
have been marked NYC, follow the marker’s recommendations for improvement, and
resubmit these questions in the resubmission section of this book.
Thank you for choosing to study with the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.
Best Wishes!
3

This Assessment Book Belongs To:
Student Name:
Student Number:
Candidate Declaration:
By signing below, I declare that:
 I am the enrolled student
 I have been advised of the assessment requirements and my rights and responsibilities as
an assessment candidate, and I choose to be assessed at this time.
 All of the responses within this Assessment Book are my own.
 This Assessment Book contains no material written by another person except where due
reference is made.
 I am aware that a false declaration may lead to the withdrawal of a qualification or
statement of attainment.
Signature: Date:
(Type your full name in the field above)
Assessment Summary
Please find below the results of your first submission (this will be completed by your assessor
after your Assessment Book has been submitted)
Result Date Assessed Assessor Name Assessor Initials
Questions to
resubmit (if first
submission is not
yet competent)
Students, please note:
A Not Yet Competent (NYC) result does not mean that you have to redo the whole unit.
In the box above, the marker has identified exactly which questions you need to resubmit.
Feedback is provided (in a comment box) beside your current answer. All resubmissions
have to be completed at the end of this marked book.

To make a resubmission,
Step 1: Go right to the end of this Assessment Book to the “Resubmission Page”. Please do
not change your original answers.Your marker will need to look at your original answer
and your resubmitted answer.
Step 2: Write the question number and then enter your answers into the Resubmission Box.
The box will expand as you enter text.
Step 3: Make sure that you have answered all of the questions that you have been asked to
resubmit.
Step 4: Resubmit this assessment book for marking via the student portal.
All the best!
Please find below the results of your resubmission (this will be completed by your assessor
after your Assessment Book has been resubmitted)
Resubmission
Result Date Assessed Assessor Name Assessor Initials
Section 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO NETWORKING AND
COLLABORATION
What is networking and collaboration?
1.1 In your own words, define both networking and collaboration and explain the difference
between them. (Your response should be no more than 100 words)
Networking refers to create a group of active associates and acquaintances with the help
of continuous interaction or communication for achieving individual goals or objectives.
Collaboration is a process in which more than two people or organisations working
together to achieve or realize an objective and project successfully. Networking is a
support system which helps in sharing services and information among group of
individuals having the same interest or goals whereas collaboration is a practice in which
group of people or individuals work together for accomplishing a task and achieve a
specified objective.
Principles of networking and collaboration
1.2 Select True or False in relation to the following statements.
5

a) The principle of engagement is about prioritising time to work together with
individuals and other organisations to build positive relationships that will likely
lead to future partnership and collaborative activities.
True False
b) It is important to focus on gaps and deficits in the services and supports offered by
partners in a collaborative relationship, so that the group understands what they
need to improve on. It is not important to consider the strengths of case managers,
organisations, community partners, or clients.
True False
c) Inclusivity refers to ensuring participation from all relevant organisations and key
community stakeholders involved in a network or collaborative relationship.
Inclusive practices are those that respect differences and values diverse
contributions, look for solutions and areas of agreement, attempt to break down
barriers to communication, and provide a wide variety of opportunities to
participate in group processes.
True False
d) Equity is important because upholding this principle/value will ensure that
opportunities and resources available in the community are distributed justly and
according to the needs of the community.
True False
e) When working in a network or collaborative relationship, it is important that you
try to meet only the needs of your organisation and you. It does not matter if the
activities and efforts of the group are responsive to demands in the larger
community.
True False
f) Capacity building can be achieved without upholding the other principles of
networking and collaboration, and is more about the ultimate realisation of goals,
rather than the process of how goals were reached.
True False
Improving performance through networks and collaboration
1.3 Which of the following statements about the potential benefits to individuals,
organisations and clients is not true?
a) Networks bring people, organisations and resources from different geographical areas
together.
b) Networks and collaborative relationships help build the capacity of participating workers
and organisations.
c) The work accomplished through collaborative activities could probably be done by a
single organisation if their staff just worked harder.

d) Networks and collaborative relationships help to spread out responsibilities by allowing
individuals and groups to share ideas, experiences, and resources.
e) Networking and collaborative activities often result in improved client access to services
and supports.
Your answer: Networks and collaborative relationships help build the capacity of participating workers and
organisations.
1.4 Imagine that you are a case manager working for an organsiation that supports people at
risk of homelessness. There are several organisations in the area that support at-risk
people. These organisations often have to compete for resources for the service they
provide. There is one organisation that works specifically with at-risk men
experiencing addictions issues and another organisation that works with people who
have had past involvement from mental health services and are likely to have
experienced early traumas as a result of their family life. You work for a generalist
community service organisation. On your staff, you have one case manager who
specialises in housing support, another who helps people find employment, and you
specialise in counselling and supporting clients to access other services in the
community through referral.
a) Discuss three potential benefits these organisations would experience as a result of
working together in collaborative process to support at-risk clients. Think about possible
benefits to you and other workers, participating organisations, and clients. (Your response
should be no more than 100 words)
There are benefits of collaboration an organisation can get while performing various business
operation or tasks. These benefits are as described below -
1. It can help the organisations to gain flexibility, it can help the employees to work with
more flexibility without following a same routine every day.
2. It can help them to achieve the goals more effectively and efficiently, collaboration helps
a group or team to work together and attain the objectives faster.
3. Increased sources of information and data – Collaboration may also help the various
staffs in the organisation to stay connected and communicate relevant and important
information easily among each other.
b) Imagine that the organisations decide to work collaboratively. They have negotiated and
agreed that you will be responsible for the evaluation of how worker and organisational
performance has been improved through your networking and collaboration activities.
List four questions that you would consider when conducting your evaluation. (Your
response should be no more than 75 words)
Four questions that I would consider when conducting the evaluation are as mentioned below
-
 Whether the outcomes or results worth the expenditure effort, time and other
resources?
 What other impacts were observed while working in collaboration?
 Did we achieve or obtained the goals and objectives that were desired?
7

 What have been the effect of collaboration on the customers?
1.5 Select True or False in relation to the following statements.
a) You should always focus on your own individual needs as a case manager
whenever you are engaged in networking and collaborative relationships.
True False
b) When prioritising needs, both individual and organisational, it is important to
understand the environmental context of the network or collaborative relationship
in which you are working. Generally, when working in a formal collaborative
partnership, your focus should be on organisational and group needs.
True False
Networking and collaborative challenges
1.6 In your own words, describe a possible limitation of working in networks and/or
collaborative relationships and explain why is it important to understand the limitation
of networking and collaboration you have identified? (Your response should be no
more than 75 words)
Working in networks or collaboration also have some limitations or risks which are as
mentioned below -
 Decreased and lack of flexibility within the working operations or practices.
 Risk of damage to the organisation and the wastage of resources if the collaboration is
not successful
 Diversion of resources and energy away from the organisational goals or objectives.
It is important to understand the above limitations in order to make appropriate changes and
improvements within the collaboration practices.
1.7 In your own words, list three other common challenges you may encounter when working
as a member of a network or collaborative relationship. (Your response should be no
more than 75 words)
There are various challenges an individual face while working in collaboration as described
below -
 Various conflict over opinions, strategies and positions.
 Uneven or Mistrust communication
 Issues related to personal objectives and power
1.8 There are six group dynamics proposed by Heaney and Israel (2008) that are important to
consider when working in networks and collaborative relationships: reciprocity,
intensity/density, formality, complexity, homogeneity, and directionality. In your own
words, complete the table below by providing a brief description of each of the six
group dynamics. Note: The first row, reciprocity, has been completed for you to give