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

RTV #52 - The Year of Raising a Village

In search of a way to examine what our blogs have expressed over the last year, it was with great anticipation that we clicked "ok" for the great reveal...

First, let's look back to December 2010. We at Raising the Village were fired up to share! Here is an excerpt from our blog and our commitment to our readers that 2011 would be a Year of Raising the Village:

There are many different ways to Raise a Village so we are taking some of the innovative and timeless ideas we have researched and will be sharing them with you. Yes, a year of ideas that in and of themselves might not sound like a sustainable village effort, but pieced together they sure are impressive! ...  We ask you to consider the year of ideas as a united tapestry – by taking these seemingly separate patchwork activity ideas and weaving them together into an integrated and coordinated strategy that aims at reducing child vulnerability and increasing community engagement and awareness. We encourage you to take your own grass roots approach and adapt and create what works for you and your community.

Fast forward to today... we copied every single blog entry of 2011 into wordle (www.wordle.net) hoping to see what kind of language we chose most often to express our messages.
 

 What fun to have this image materialize - full of the words that resonate with what we do, what we believe in and what we have hoped to share.




The fact that COMMUNITY jumps as the most commonly used word in 12 months of blogs is significant. As community developers, it is our passion to promote how community plays a vital role in supporting positive change.


But take a look at some of the others that made the top 50 word list - IDEAS, FUN, PLAY, CHANGE, PROCESS... just to name a few that tickle our fancy.


It has also been illuminating to look at the wordle using two new lenses - those of the 2 streams of work that we do at Raising the Village. The first focuses on “It takes a Village to Raise a Child” which is our work around building communities that nourish and support their youngest citizens thereby nourishing our future.

As we have written in our book (Raising the Village), "The well-being of children has a complex and interconnected relationship with the well-being of communities...Every person has the capacity to be a community builder. Parents, grandparents, neighbours, child-care providers, health-care workers, educators, politicians, and entrepreneurs - all contribute because the well-being of children touches us all."


The blog words of CHILDREN, TOGETHER, PLAY, SOCIAL, TIME , PEOPLE, LOCAL and FAMILIES emphasize this important focus.


Our other stream of work is around organizational collaboration, team building and strengthened leadership capacity. Here too, the wordle reflects the work we do with organizations who are engaged in supporting the well-being of children.

PROCESS, CHANGE, IDEAS, TIME, BUILDING, QUESTIONS, GROUP and TOGETHER leap out as sparks to social change makers.


So it is with great satisfaction that we end the official Year of Raising the Village and begin 2012 with a validated sense of direction and re-committed purpose to share ideas and inspiration with people. Those who want to make this world a better one for children...and those whose paths are to strengthen collaborative communities.
Happy New Year
from Tracy & Tammy

RTV #17 Unite Families with a Group Garage Sale

Mothers United Community Garage Sale

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #17.  Baby gear for sale!


Recycling baby stuff is good for our environment. Recycling ideas is great for building community!

A mother from a local parent 'n' tot group attended a "Mothers United"Garage Sale in a much larger, neighbouring community. It was an event filled with great bargains for new parents and a way to pass along perfectly good, but no longer necessary, baby "gear" to those who needed it. It also was an opportunity steeped in sharing, connecting, supporting and celebrating parenthood.

This mom returned to town thinking that - if they can do it, we can do it too! Committed to sharing the experience with her local friends, she recruited vendors (parents with stuff to sell) and worked with the local Community School to arrange space with tables and chairs. The first year was a HUGE success - so much so that the Community School saw the garage sale as an effective vehicle to support local families and build community. It is now an event that is held twice a year.

Cathy Cross, the Community School coordinator says, "I am amazed by the number of pregnant women and women with young babies that I see. Young parents with young families; grandparents shopping for and with grandchildren; it's a promise for the future of our community. It is community building in a literal sense of the word. But there is also community building in the sense that a mom is a mom is a mom: no matter what the circumstance. Everyone in the room has a common starting point. Children and babies bring out the best in us and we work from there. I hear people exchanging information on programs, people, where to find this or that. We are not only recycling baby clothes (and money) but we are sharing information. Most exciting is the buzz in the room as everyone is talking and sharing."

Is there baby gear that could be recycled in your community? Are there some great community building ideas that can be recycled too?

Village Raising Tip: Here are a few tips from Cathy to help your version of a Mothers United Garage Sale work well:

• Be clear and confirm with vendors who are interested in setting up a table
• Always have a waiting list because there are always people who end up cancelling (life happens)
• Advertise, advertise, advertise - and enlist the vendors to spread the word (and posters) among their friends and connections

RTV Week #10 - Talk: Then Put it into Practice!

A Year of Raising the Village - Week #10.

Think about what you are putting into practice!

We have spent the last two days in the Fraser Region (just outside of Vancouver) at an Early Childhood conference "Put it into Practice". We were stoked to share our Village Experience with others as well as to learn from an interesting troupe of keynote speakers in the areas of evidence, quality and leadership. Taking time to think about the application of evidence brought to mind a passage from our book Raising the Village. See if this scene is familiar to you at all...

Sleeves rolled up, furrowed brows, slumped shoulders, a heaviness in the air...Weighed down with an all-consuming responsibility, no one in the room dared pause for so much as a coffee break. The participants were focused, intense, and determined to wade through the fog and confusion. In front of each chari was a stack of papers bursting with negative statistics and cold statements about the well-being of children in the community. On the one hand, the documents held great validity and interest for those around the table. On the other hand, the information they bore failed to reflect the spirit of the community or the hard work that this group and others had dedicated to children and families. The overwhelming task before them was to make sense of the data, define the key issues, and make a plan to better meet the needs of the community. (Raising the Village, 2009)

This is a situation many of us working with communities can relate with. It can feel heavy when faced with cold hard facts and yet it is these cold hard facts that can be the fuel to keep us seeking new ways of working together. When faced with data - take time to talk about it, ask questions, vent emotions, look at it from different perspectives and then talk some more. Through conversations that matter, a process will be revealed.

It's worth the heaviness.

At the conference we heard some great ideas about HOW to "put it into practice" that resonated with how we try to show up. Here are our top 3.

1. Working together is what it is all about. Truly! We could choose to work harder (hmmm) or get smarter (huh?) or partner better (yeah!!!)

2. It is never just ONE thing that derails development...so it's not going to be just ONE thing that fixes things either. This is so true whether it is applied to child development, business development, collaborative development - you name it.

3. Take time for deep conversations so that WE change and then we'll actually be able to MAKE change. (oooh gives goosebumps!) As Einstein said, you can't solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.

Village Raising Question:

How do you deal with cold hard facts?

What are you putting into practice?

RTV #4 - Sharpen Your View! Distribute Cameras to Children and Families

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #4 - Using PhotoVoice with Children and Families

Give children and their families a creative opportunity to contribute their perspective on community. Perspective - literally - through the lens of a camera. Ask them to take photos about their lives in general or about a specific issue. Celebrate their contributions and then USE what you learn in community planning. 


While including the voice of children and families is important it can also be challenging - see our previous blog on listening to parents.  Photovoice is a very special methodology that can be used with citizens of any age.  Here are some links to give you some more direction and inspiration. They offer examples of the power of photovoice with children and families!

Children as Photographers This research study looks at children as photographers. It is a large-scale research project looking at how and why children take photographs – which can shed some light on how to approach a photovoice project and give some realistic expectations of children at different ages.

Kids With Cameras Kids with Cameras was founded in 2002 by photographer Zana Briski out of her work teaching photography to children in Calcutta's red-light district. She believes that photography is an effective tool in igniting children's imagination and building self-esteem.

The New Orleans Kids Camera Project The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was created to address the psychological and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Through the use of photography, creative writing and mixed media, children from flooded neighborhoods explore their environment and express themselves, their stories and feelings with their friends

PhotoVoice These projects uses photography to enable those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator - to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives.

PhotoVoice – St. Louis Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition

The photography project was part of a PhotoVoice Empowerment Initiative in which the mothers were asked to create a window on their neighborhoods, their needs and perhaps illuminate why health and prosperity remain so elusive.

Village Raising Tip:

Not only will organizers learn a TON from the children and families who contribute – but the participants, themselves, will feel a sense of ownership and belonging to an inclusive community planning process. 

Group Consensus – Just what I wanted!

“I’m so happy we reached group consensus – our decision is exactly what I wanted.” Stop the Raising the Village bus! Is this truly a statement that reflects a consensus result? Perhaps, but first consider what consensus means to you and the group or community you work with.

Consensus is a process that empowers an understanding between people where there are no individual winners or losers. It is a decision making route where each person may feel fully, partially or maybe not at all reflected in the final decision, however they can see how the decision benefits the “whole” or the larger system (in this case the village).

How do groups reach consensus?

We recommend starting with hearing all participant voices in different ways. This may range from individual reflection time to small and large group discussion. Reaching consensus is not about pushing through votes, being “right”, or campaigning for your personal choice. It can be viewed as an opportunity for you to share your ideas and thoughts…with the chance to then sit back and open yourself up to hear other ideas.

Katrina Shields, a social action leader, describes how to reach consensus in her book In the Tiger’s Mouth. “Consensus requires a group that is willing to work together and trust there is a solution, as well as patience and perseverance. It requires us to come to meetings with our minds not fixed on a particular solution or position; in the light of hearing all the possible positions we may modify ours.”

Shields goes on to describe a step-by-step consensus process: (adapted)

a) The facilitator states the issue clearly and in an unbiased way
b) Discussion is invited, proposals are put forward, no individual dominates
c) A pause for reflective silence is included
d) People are welcomed to share - who agrees and disagrees with proposals (not people)
e) The facilitator states and restates the position of the meeting as it emerges until agreement is reached
f) If agreement is not reached, ask if anyone is willing to “step aside” – they do not agree but accept the decision proceeding. If not, the issue gets tabled to allow more time for individual and group reflection.

In our experiences with groups, we aim to reach consensus by saying… “Let’s talk about it until we can all sleep at night.”

Group consensus can be a tricky process. We recommend these other resources too. The Facilitators Guide to Participatory Decision Making by Sam Kaner or the Quaker model at http://www.earlham.edu/~consense/mats.htm

If you find yourself in group decision-making mode, find a consensus process that works to get a decision made and leaves people feeling satisfied and heard.

Village Raising Question:
In what ways does a consensus making process support shared leadership?

Upcoming in RTV blog: Watch for more on consensus including how to use it to unearth group values.