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.