Mindful Meeting Magic!

Intention is change fueled and a core piece of village raising. 

Behind every goal, strategic plan, meeting or collaborative encounter there is an intention lurking. The idea is to become increasingly more mindful to the intentions, bringing them from our subconscious to our consciousness so that we can be more direct and aware of the path we are setting.

One of the leading gurus on intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer says, "The secret to changing your life is in your intentions. Wishing, hoping and goal setting cannot accomplish change without intention. What is needed is a shift from the inert energy of wanting to the active energy of doing and intention".

Where can we surface intent while working with others?

As designers of creative group processes, we have reflected on some practical ways in which mindful intent beckons us to bring it front and center. Here is what has worked for us:

Physical space/environment:  Before a gathering even occurs, think about the location of your meeting.  Being intentional in the spaces we choose sets the tone for the type of interaction we hope will evolve. If you are thinking creative - be playful and unexpected with the environment.  If you are thinking renewal and rejuvenation – design a space to be calm and filled with natural elements.  If you are thinking relationship building and networking – use a space to allow movement and connection.

Agendas:  Imagine starting every agenda clearly stating what your intent is for the day and giving space to learn what other people’s intents are.  Design an agenda that offers an opportunity for people to share. The moment intents are spoken out loud there is a transparent and open agenda that increases trust.  Intent expresses clear expectations.

Guiding principles/Ground Rules:  Build on your mindful meeting magic by crafting questions that have your group think intently together. For example, ask a key question such as, “how do we want to be together?” and feel the intent in the room.  In this form, intents are the commitment to each other in the collaborative effort. What if every person set their own intent to be responsible for their own reactions and level of participation? Ask people to set intent around how they will handle their own feelings/reactions/learning and speak to it. In this case intent is accountability.  Think about work plans clear in intent and imagine what could be accomplished!

 Mindful intention enhances meeting tone, expectations, commitment and accountability. In our next three blogs we will go into each of these in more detail...watch for it and share with us how you create mindful meeting magic. 

Collaboration Trap: Turf Protection!

Territorialism is a normal response when individuals who feel passionate about their individual organizations and/or personal mandates are expected to represent their interests in a collaborative setting or initiative. Finding the balance between being individual and collective at the same time can be challenging. 

Referring back to what we know about the brain… any threat to equity, certainty, autonomy, safety and status can cause people to disengage in positive community processes.

Territorialism or "Turf Wars" will look and feel different for everyone. As facilitators, we accept that these feelings are likely to occur, so we are as proactive as possible to reduce them.  Some of the simple yet powerful things we do to anticipate and prevent negative consequences include;

• Have visual reminders: Collective artwork, scrapbooks of accomplishments, calendars, and reflection cards which are all ways to say: “We are a team, a collaborative, and we are strong.”

• Hold “What’s on the Horizon” discussions: Provide a space for people to share what might be happening. Without these, an organization may launch something that has tremendous impact on another organization..and its too late to make adjustments so relationships suffer and we all take several steps back in collaboration efforts.

• Allow conflict to emerge: Get the elephants out from under the table. Sometimes people have to vent, talk about hard issues, and generally beat topics to death. Watch for the richness and growth in this process and the readiness to move on constructively with the work. Acknowledge common issues, concerns, and feelings of being threatened. Communication can be the biggest tool against the territory trap.

Related Blogs

Creating an Elephant Friendly Zone

Charge Your Group B.S. Meter

Turning Cantankerous into Cooperative
 

Collaboration Trap: Burn Out! Try the 4 D's.

How many times have you heard these kinds of statements? “It’s always the same people that show up at the table over and over” or “The project just seemed to fizzle out”.

Welcome to the place of burnout! This energy zapping place often occurs when people who are deeply committed and passionate about their work are potentially doing too many activities that drain them.

You can prevent (or reduce) burnout with the 4 D’s:

• Discuss succession planning from the get go of every community initiative. Have a plan.  What does the end of our working together look like? What will be in place when the work or position is ready to be turned over?
• Don a direction mindset and reconnect to your personal leadership mission and goals and where you are going as a group. When we stay connected to the greater picture or direction our actions are infused with greater purpose and burnout is less formidable.  
• Ditch or delegate by really, truly delegating and ditching the things that drain you. Break projects up into manageable chunks and open the opportunity for someone else to grow. Someone else may hold the very strength and passion to do the job that drains you.
• Drink in the successes and celebrate, celebrate, and celebrate! Acknowledging people cannot be under-rated on the engagement and burnout prevention scale.

Village Raising Question?

How do you combat leadership burnout? What keeps you (and your group) energized?

Collaboration Trap: M-O-N-E-Y

There are three big, heart-stopping, "watch-your-step" traps to avoid when building community. Attempts at coordination, cooperation and collaboration can take a turn south when these three elements are neglected. Learned from both experience (good and bad) as well as what we discovered from research and many interviews over the course of writing Raising the Village, the three traps are… money, burn out and territorial issues.

This week, lets look at the power of the green stuff (or gorgeous colourful cash in Canada). 

Money can be a difficult subject for many people to talk about. When we are referring to funds that support community, it often gets politicized and interlocked with power and influence. In the world of community not-for-profits, we don’t want it to be, but one of the biggest threats to sustained collaborative relationships is money.  Most social programs and services are funded in a patchwork way, stitched together from a variety of sources: government, charities, foundations, grants, local businesses, and consumers. Funding opportunities are usually created and distributed with narrow deliverables and strings attached.  

People either whine too much about money or don’t whine enough and take on a "make do," limiting attitude. Some people act irrational when money is dangled in front of them. How many people have experienced the end of the fiscal year rush when one-time only “pots of money” are grabbed at by organizations, using the trendy need or theme of the day or who you know?  The inconsistency of funding opportunities and allocation unavoidably creates the perception that funding is unpredictable and unfair. This perception feeds into the panic about funding.

Raising the Village Consulting helped set up one group process in which the agencies who were submitting a proposal to a funding competition were required to sit in a room with all the other organizations asking for money. While a tad awkward at times (!!) – proponents shared their ideas with passion rather than secretly submitting them. The entire group had the pleasure of hearing the many fantastic ideas and... at the end of the evening many of the proposals changed because they all heard the true priorities that lay beneath the proposals. Agencies that typically would have kept to themselves were inspired to engage with new partners. The excitement of how to help each other's great ideas was palpable. For example, two proposals were so similar that the agencies involved said, "lets do this together" and decided to submit a joint proposal – saving a ton of money and increasing the likelihood that they would both get a piece of the proverbial pie. Another organization said, you don't need to ask for "x" - we'll give that to you for free!

This sort of process takes practice and a huge dose of trust. Our hope is that processes like this can replace traditional funding competitions more often. We also believe strongly that community collaboratives can play a strong role in shaping community priorities, allocating community dollars and maximizing the use of the limited money out there.

Village Raising Question:

What are your tips to help AVOID the money trap when working in community?

Understanding, engaging and moving forward with groups.

This week we answer the question: What are some of the best ways to UNDERSTAND a group, ENGAGE them and MOVE FORWARD in addressing complex issues?

UNDERSTANDING takes listening and learning.  This could look very different depending on the group. Formally, you can use surveys, forums and research or consider collaborative conversations and seeking points of view more informally through fun engagement and interaction. Be curious…ask questions. Craft ones that are tough, deep, and emotional because its those kinds of questions that get people thinking. Remember to be open, patient and deliberate in all of your approaches within community.

 ENGAGE the group by giving them what they need. Keep brain based engagement principles in mind.  Find what makes things relevant for them.  That might include what is relevant for the group as a whole as well as what is relevant for individual people too.   Create the space, ask phenomenological questions, celebrate together, and hold tons of dialogue.

Then, once you have got people engaged, MOVING FORWARD to address complex issues is the goal. We believe that it is though well planned group process that moves groups to action.  And not just any action – but one that resonates, is well informed and has everyone’s buy-in.

See our related blog on the four steps to dealing with complexity using group processes.

Village Raising Question:

Reflect on what might happen when any of these strategies is skipped or rushed.  What happens when a community builder doesn't really understand the group they are with or if only part of the group is engaged in the topic or issue? How effective is action when not everyone is informed and "bought" it?

Related blogs:

 6 Group Process Tips
Brain Based Engagement Strategies
Find What Binds You