Remind People Why They Got Involved in the First Place

Remind People Why They Got Involved in the First Place

Look for opportunities to remind people about the larger purpose of the work they're doing. When you are buried in daily to do's, it's easy to lose the meaning of the work. To prevent this, help your team tap back into their original hopes and dreams. Talk with them about the progress being made toward your vision. Get back in touch with the enthusiasm you all felt when you first got started. It's easy to stay involved when you are enthusiastic.

When people stay involved, an organization or community can build plans on a longer time frame. Freed from the burden of having to finish projects quickly, groups no longer have to "think small" when "thinking big" is what's needed.

Here's an example. The Performance Network was a small community theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It produced a variety of plays on minimal budgets with amateur actors and operated out of a cramped warehouse with a pole in the middle of the seating area.

One day, the board and staff of the theatre decided it was time to think big. They put together a ten-year strategic plan to transform the theatre. During the next decade , through the ongoing work of scores of people who continually connected back to this original vision, the transformation they envisioned unfolded. Today The Performance Network has become the only professional theatre in Ann Arbor. Housed in a beautiful new play space, the company has won many regional awards for the quality of its productions , even earning national acclaim from playwrights and critics . These results could never have been achieved in the short term nor if people had not been reminded why they chose to get involved in the first place. The only way was through the sustained effort of many people over a long period of time.

That's the power of keeping people involved.

Keep the Key People Involved

Regularly reassess your needs for involving others in what you're up to. Because certain people were helpful as you launched your efforts is no guarantee that they're the right ones to help you complete them. How many times do people feel forced to sit through meetings when they have nothing to offer? In their minds, they have made their most valuable contributions but keep getting notices of the next meeting, keep receiving minutes from the last one. Well-intentioned invitations to keep these folks involved leave them feeling there is no way out of this never-ending cycle.

A surefire way to keep people involved over time is for them to do work that is needed. Involvement gets a bad name when it becomes involvement for involvement's sake. When we're doing work that matters, it's easy to stay involved. When we're contributing from our unique abilities , we stay engaged. Here's a tool ( Figure 4.1) you can use to make good decisions about whom to keep involved in your work.

Ask yourself the following questions to get clear whom you need to keep involved in your work over time:

• What things do I still need to get done given where I am with this work right now?

• How many people do I need to complete each of these to do's that are now on my list?

• What knowledge, skills, and experience will they need to get these jobs done well?

• Who is already involved that I need to keep involved?

• Who has been involved in the work so far that I don't need to continue involving in the future?

• Who else do I need to recruit to join our team to finish the work?

Figure 4.1: THE KEEPING THE RIGHT PEOPLE INVOLVED TOOL

When you continue involving the right people over time, you will make better decisions and get the work done faster. If you get stuck along the way, you can draw on their perspectives and it'll be easier to come up with innovative solutions.

What do you do about those folks whose help you no longer need? First, pause and reflect on the value they've added to your efforts. What have you been able to accomplish because they chose to get involved? Get specific. People will appreciate hearing these details when you thank them for their contributions. Reframe what you might feel is an awkward situation of "dis- inviting " into a celebration . Set time aside and bring others together to publicly acknowledge those who have helped advance the work so far. Often at the same time we're worrying about how to ask someone to no longer be involved, they're wishing they had an elegant exit strategy in hand.

If you ever do find yourself with someone who wants to continue participating past the point of their being useful to the team, you need to be clear with them. Thank them and explain why you don't believe they'll be able to add value in the work ahead. If they can convince you otherwise , you have just recruited one very committed player for the future. If they can't, stand firm and be prepared to carry on without them.

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