Appendix C: Site Visit Framework

Delmarva used roundtable discussions with Better Quality Information (BQI) leaders and stakeholders to capture the rich knowledge and expertise from the six established BQI sites highlighted in this guide. These on-site meetings typically convened for half a day, during which the Delmarva team took notes as the site leaders and stakeholders presented their insights. Delmarva then wrote summaries of the site visits, which the sites vetted and approved for this guide.

Before each site visit, Delmarva sent the BQI team a list of questions to help frame the discussion around key issues pertaining to beginning a regional coalition. These questions are included here to provide the context for site visit summaries and to provide Community Leaders with questions they may want to consider as they form their regional coalition.

Forming a coalition

• How was your coalition initiated? Who initiated it?
• What was the catalyst for formation, the steps that led up to formation? What were the first steps in creating the coalition? Who set the priorities? How were the priorities set?
• Was there one particular leader instrumental to the formation of the coalition?
• What does it take to form this type of coalition?
  • Timeline.
  • Resources.
  • Parties involved.
• What is your definition of a coalition or collaboration?
• How do you make the business case for forming this type of coalition?
• What is your business model?
• Are there models that helped in forming your coalition?
• What are the barriers you had to overcome?
• What are the lessons you have learned from forming the coalition?
• What are the "rules of engagement" for participation?
• Who are the major stakeholders? What role does each of them play? Who decided who should and should not participate?
• What is your coalition's mission (purpose and major goals)?
• How have you achieved alignment in your marketplace (prevented the many from going different ways?)
• How have you engaged the various stakeholders? Was there a different strategy for each stakeholder group?

Maintaining relationships in the collaborative

• How are decisions made?
• How is the coalition structured as an organization?
• What is the leadership structure?
• What is the board structure?
• How are decisions communicated?
• What is the organizational culture like?
• What do you perceive to be your successes and challenges?
• What do you do to continuously identify new opportunities?
• How do you maintain alignment and decrease fragmentation between other similar activities within your region?

Evaluating success and progress

• What are your key initiatives? How do you know you are accomplishing your goals? How do you define success?
• How do you know that you are making positive impact?
• How do you measure your success?
• What do you perceive the gaps to be between current knowledge and future requirements?

Sustainability

• What are your plans to sustain or how have you sustained the model you have in place?
• What or who are your funding sources? How did you get the funding stream established? For how long are your funding sources?

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