Putting Step 10 into Practice

Putting Step #10 into Practice

1. Take time to recognize how the team's decision supports the hopes you share. Invite participants to take a few moments at the end of a session to describe their experiences and how their work together contributed to the hopes they share.

2. Tie activities and results to the team's shared hopes and values. Show participants how actions link with your aspirations as a group. For example, when a large service business developed a series of improvement projects, the organizing team described each project and listed the specific hopes and values it supported. At a celebration of project results, presenters underscored these motivating values. They explained what they had hoped to accomplish, how they had worked together, and the results they had realized.

3. Keep the story focused on "us," not "me." It's so easy to step into the limelight as individuals rather than going forward together. This is especially true when you are subject to media scrutiny. To prevent this from happening, and to maintain the focus on group results, work to keep participants from becoming committed to a particular point of view during the process, before the group completes its task. For example, the committee on school overcrowding shared information, interests, and concerns as they went along, but they did not express individual positions. This gave them the freedom to find a result all of them could support.

4. Savor the progress. Celebrate not only the final results but also milestones along the way. Establish periodic gatherings to review and celebrate your progress. For example, one business laid out its action plan like a treasure map. Participants identified each major milestone, and when they reached one, they took part in a specified celebration. The elaborateness of the celebrations increased from a H agen-Dazs ice cream treat to a pizza lunch to a half day off to play paintball together when they completed the project. Find ways to mark your own progress and enjoy your exciting journey.

BE AN AGENT OF HOPE

As the saying goes, "You are what you eat." Feed on the stories of how you've worked together and pursued your shared hopes successfully. Share these with others in your organization and with the media. Give thanks for the spirit of cooperation alive in your organization. Begin a new and fulfilling chapter in the history of your group. You have the ingredients and the recipe. It's time to start cooking.