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

What engages YOU? The 3 C’s of Personal Engagement.

This week we answer the question: If we want to improve engagement in our communities we need to understand what personally engages us. How do we uncover that and what benefits does that bring to the engagement process?

 “Leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others.”  ~Kouzes and Posner~ 

As this quote suggests, there is great potential if we think of engagement as a process of bringing forth OUR best and fostering the leadership in all of US. It’s when we uncover what personally engages us, and align that with the work that needs to be done, collaborative action will flourish.

We can uncover what engages us by knowing what calls to us, what sustains us and what makes us feel strong.  The more we notice our strengths and become engaged in our own lives – the more engaging we are to others and the more open and accepting we become to seeing others for the uniqueness they bring. Be curious about why people come, why they stay, and what keeps their momentum going over time. When we do this we know what we need to tap into to keep things engaged.

Knowing what engages you personally helps with the 3 C’s:

• Concentration: When we engage from a strengths filled place the result is focused goals, intentions and visions
• Calling: A strengths approach increases meaning and purpose to the work. The stronger the connection or the calling a person sees between themselves and the work, the more enthusiasm and energy they will feel able to devote.
• Confidence: Strengths increase confidence and commitment in decision making abilities. It’s easier to decide what to do – and follow through - when you know what engages and BINDS you to it.

Village Raising Question:

What would happen if you took a strengths filled approach to your community work?

Which one of the three C’s do you want to put into practice this coming week? How? Tell us about it!

Looking for more strength filled resources and HOW TO's of personal engagement?

 See online at www.raisingthevillage.ca for the Vibrant Life – Vibrant Leaderships workbook, where we were inspired by Lance Secretan’s process of guiding leaders through a process of defining their destiny, calling and cause and by Stephen R. Covey’s work of finding your voice as well as Marcus Buckhingham’s and Jennifer Fox’s strengths work.  

Related blogs:

Strengths Compass

Maximizing Community Engagement

Maximizing Community Engagement was the title of our tele-learning event with host Donna Jean Forster from Tamarack Institute last week. Much to our shock and delight - we broke the record with the highest registrations to date.  So what is it about Community Engagement that has struck a chord with people across North America? Why are people so eager to connect and learn about this topic?  Is there something about where we are socially that calls out for a renewed interest or deeper learning about how to engage with others?

Let's start with a few definitions of what community engagement is...

Put simply, community engagement is the process of involving people in decisions that affect them. This can mean involving communities in the planning, development and management of services.   - from a great how-to guide by The Scottish Government.

Loosely defined, community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people. It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioral changes that will improve the health of the community and its members. It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices (Fawcett et al., 1995). - by the Centre for Disease Control

 Based on our research, we understand community engagement to be “people working collaboratively, through inspired action and learning, to create and realize bold visions for their common future.” - by Tamarack Institute, who have done considerable work gathering resources on the topic.



From our interview in Donna Jean, there were a number of questions that we believe get to the heart of people's interest. We were asked;

1.  If we want to improve engagement in our communities we need to understand what personally engages us. How do we uncover that and what benefits does that bring to the engagement process?

2.  Communities are groups of people. What are some of the best ways to understand this group, engage them and move forward in addressing complex issues?

3.  What are some of the traps to avoid when we are working with or living in community?

All great questions!  How would you answer them?

See the Tamarack website for an audio recording of the interview - and check here back next week as we begin to answer them within our blog.

Thorny Questions in Your Side? Get the Community Clippers!

We just came off of a thought provoking Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP website) webinar, hosted by Joanne Schroeder and guest presenter Paul Kershaw, titled Influencing Public Policy: Tips and Traps.  What drew us into the call was our quest to learn more about how community can take action, impact policy changes and engage with people at a local level and beyond. Trust us, they delivered, so if you missed the call watch for the archive of this presentation on the HELP website.

Joanne discussed thorny questions – the barriers that get in the way of people participating in change efforts. See if you can identify with any of these prickly scenarios:

“We just can’t seem to agree on the action/priorities.”

“We can’t endorse that piece of work.”

“What difference will it make?  Will we really have any impact?”

Lo and behold, village raisers, you will be impressed (and likely not surprised) with Joanne’s response to the above thorns. Yes, get your community clippers out and take heed that the answer seems to circle back to the power of community collaboratives and participatory processes.

Here are some collaborative shearing tips:

• Be clear on your group’s definition of advocacy. What’s the difference between influence and advocacy?
• Base your advocacy conversations on research and fact rather than opinion. Ask people “What do we know to be true?”
• Use consensus building processes to work through the fact of life that people have different opinions.
• Connect with other communities – learn from and share with other groups to decrease isolation and increase shared power.
• Be a conduit for community voice with a pro-active planned strategy (include in your annual plans).
• Use a solution based focus - stay positive
• Find both quiet (building relationships, small conversations) and louder (rallies, big messaging) ways to advocate.
• Evaluate your impact

It seems that time and time again that to have impact and foster change, we need to use informed group processes that boost a collective empowerment. The thorny questions will arise – what we are after are the practices that help people move beyond the thorns into the further development of their working together initiatives.

6 Group Process Tips: How to prepare for the flow of TIME in group sessions, activities and agendas.

Have you ever planned a group session down to the minute? 

You know what we mean, where you give 10 minutes for introductions, 30 minutes for updates, 1 hour for the topic of the day with a 15 minute energizer and 5 minute closure.  

Sounds wonderfully, perfectly timed out.

 So what could go astray? Trust us, many things can happen that cause time to run out or to stand still! To get back on the ticking track, it’s helpful to aim for an estimated time AND to plan for how you will respond to timing in the moment.Frankly, exact timing may not be possible. As group facilitators we like to have an outline structure that we follow and we are aware that things do not always go as planned!

We have come up with a list of 6 Group Process Questions & Tips that can help you review and master the TIME element for your next session:

1.  What time is available? Start with what time is available to work with.  Take your ideas and adapt them to fit in the allotted time. This can be handy if you are asked to take a 3 hour presentation and condense it to 15 minutes or extend it to a day long. It happens!
2. How long do you imagine it to take? Do a mock run. Time out the agenda/process. Don’t forget to build in time for group dynamics caused by group passion, apathy, nerves or unexpected events.
3. How large is the group? Adapt the process to match the size of the group who is meeting. For example, in a small group you may have more individual sharing, while in a large community group it may be more small group reporting. Each type of interaction and reporting out will take a different amount of time.
4. Where is the group's focus? Our exercises are often adapted on the spot or even tossed off the agenda to follow the group's focus. Being flexible and having an open approach to group processes is invaluable. 
5. Who is showing up? If there are new partners or old history joining the room, allow for time adaptations to honour the "warm up" period of people interacting before diving in.
6. What will be in your facilitator back pocket? Plan to be able to "let something go" from the agenda or to add something in. We will often ponder - where could we extend this activity if it doesn't take as long as expected OR where could we skip over if the dialogue is rich and deep and it takes more time than expected.

 Think on your feet, have a loose structure, and let the time flow!

Raising the Village Question: 

What else do you do to prepare for the flow of time in your group/community meetings?


Looking for engaging activities to enrich your working together time? 
Our RTV activity books are about to be released (will be on Amazon soon). In the meantime - sign up directly with us for a special early bird discount. Contact tammy @raisingthevillage.ca or tracy @raisingthevillage.ca for more scoop.