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You Don't Have to Do It Alone(c) How to Involve Others to Get Things Done Authors: Axelrod R. H., Axelrod E. M., Beedon J. Published year: 2006 Pages: 38-40/73 |
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Inspiring People to Get Involved Again
Endings and beginnings are significant transitions. You started your work with a powerful and inspiring invitation . It is equally important to end with something memorable. In the middle of the work, things may have been frazzled. When we are under pressure, we say things and act in ways we later regret . Any bad feelings may leave us not wanting to ever get involved again. An inspiring ending can give us the opportunity to recover some of this.
The art is in bringing closure to the work in a way that celebrates our efforts and achievements. We are not talking about hokey celebrations that embarrass people. Every type of work has its own acceptable ways of celebrating at the end. We have already seen how the movies do it.
You can use the goals you developed at the start of the work as the basis for celebration . You may want to give out Oscar-style awards for achievement of some of the important goals. The awards may be serious or comic. One group gave out awards in the form of weird or surprising presents . The award for "Most Humility" took the form of a hula hoop. When the presenter awkwardly tried to spin the hoop on his hips, the group exploded in laughter .
The last few moments of the final gathering should be memorable. People will say their goodbyes and perhaps make a final gesture of celebration for their achievements. Choose a gesture that fits the mood and style of your team. We've seen groups spontaneously join in a circle and sing. We've seen others bring in percussion instruments (drums, bells , maracas) for everyone to play. Other teams drop balloons, toast themselves with beer or wine, or distribute party favors.
After one weeklong workshop involving fifty people from five organizations—a week full of highs and lows—we gathered around the meeting table for one last time. Each participant took a piece of paper, wrote his or her name at the top of it, and passed the paper to the right. The papers traveled around the circle, each person adding a note of appreciation about the person whose name appeared at the top. In a few minutes, everyone at the table received a wonderful list of inspiring acknowledgments of their contribution to the group.
Chapter Checklist
To finish your job of effective involvement:
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Leave people knowing the job is completed. This frees them to get started on other work and does not keep them coming when there's little value.
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Draw together the loose ends; ensure that any handover is complete and that the work is all done.
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Leave people better prepared to be involved and involve others in the future.
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Take time out to reflect and conduct after-action reviews. This investment is what supports individual and organizational learning and helps us to be better at involving others in the future.
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Leave people wanting more. They should want to be involved again the next time you or someone else comes knocking.
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Have an inspiring celebration , acknowledge people's contributions, and say thank you.
Chapter 6: Meetings: the Involvement Edge
Overview
Most people consider meetings time-wasting, energy-draining, and spirit-sapping. Many of us would rather go to the dentist than attend another meeting. Nearly everyone complains about meetings. Most of us seek to reduce the pain by avoiding them or eliminating them—thus dealing with the symptoms, not the problem.
Meetings are miniature involvement processes and as such have highly symbolic value above and beyond the purpose they are called for. It is in meetings where people directly experience involvement. It is here that they learn where the work is headed, decide if the work is worth doing, and find out if their voices count. Low-involvement meetings sap energy while high-involvement meetings produce energy.
Every time we meet represents an opportunity to create and strengthen involvement. In these encounters, people decide whether to remain on board or to walk away, whether to push hard for success or to let things drift , whether to give their all to the project or allow distractions and other commitments to dissipate their energies.
If we want meetings to be dynamic, energy producing, exciting experiences that get things done, then instead of eliminating them we need to focus on making them positive experiences. Instead of working toward reducing the time we spend with each other we need to focus on how to make the time we spend together productive.
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You Don't Have to Do It Alone(c) How to Involve Others to Get Things Done Authors: Axelrod R. H., Axelrod E. M., Beedon J. Published year: 2006 Pages: 38-40/73 |
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