Chapter 4: How do I Keep People Involved?


Overview

Ian Peters had a dream—to bring the 1989 Canadian National Cycling Championships to Ft. McMurray, Alberta.

Ft. McMurray was not really a logical choice for the race. It's a small town in northern Alberta, meaning it would be a long trip for any competitor. The local cycling club had never hosted a major race. Ian's dream was a long shot. He knew it would take a lot of effort to win the bid for the championships and even more to keep people on board for all the planning that would be needed.

Despite these challenges, Ian and his team won the right to host the race. Now they had a new goal: To host the best National Cycling Championships ever.

The Ft. McMurray steering committee went to the 1988 race in Toronto to get a head start on their work. For the next year, the entire committee stayed deeply involved in planning and staging the race. No one left the group. They met regularly to stay on track with time lines. They got together informally in small groups to problem solve over coffee. They traded late night phone calls to celebrate successes and share frustrations.

In the end, they realized their vision. Riders, coaches, fans, and the national governing bodies hailed the Ft. McMurray race as the most successful ever.

Unfortunately, not all stories of involving others go as smoothly as Ian's. It's often frustrating after getting off to a solid start to see progress dissipate over time. Many people find it easier to brainstorm plans than to do the heavy lifting required to implement them. When work becomes hard or boring, it's tough to keep people's attention. Attendance slowly dips at committee working sessions. Or maybe people still show up for weekly meetings, but the mood becomes one of detachment rather than engagement. You find yourself longing for the debates and disagreements that peppered your earlier get-togethers.

Often the same few folks end up doing more than their fair share to get the job done. Well-intentioned teammates miss a conference call or two because of other pressing commitments. You end up as one of only two parents joining your child's overnight end-of-year camping trip when you were positive five hands were raised when the teacher asked for volunteers during the Open House in September. The stories go on and on.

Sometimes these gaps in involvement mean you and others need to pick up the slack and work late or on weekends to get things done. In other situations, you may need to ratchet back your expectations on what you can accomplish. Another option is to concede and wave a white flag: A good idea never becomes reality because you can't keep enough people involved to make it happen.

These bad stories look even worse when you begin calculating the up-front hours spent involving people when you could have dedicated that time to putting your shoulder to the wheel and getting the job done. You've made less progress by involving more people—a convincing case for the anti-involvement people.

This step is about making sure these scenarios aren't part of your story of involving others. It's about working with people in ways that are fun, engaging, and successful—about bridging the gap between making plans and achieving results.

When things are clicking in this step, people work from their strengths, excited to be part of the team. Plans are clear and progress gets made. No matter how busy they may be, people find time to contribute. Instead of shying away from tough challenges, they embrace them. The work draws people in. You don't have to force them to participate—they want to stay involved.

How do you make this happen? The keys are:

  • Remind people why they got involved in the first place.

  • Keep the key people involved.

  • Support people so they want to stay involved.

  • Keep an open mind about who stays involved.

  • Don't worry if a few team members choose to opt out.




You Don't Have to Do It Alone(c) How to Involve Others to Get Things Done
You Dont Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done
ISBN: 157675278X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 73

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