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.




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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