You Dont Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done

Decide what kind of involvement is needed . . .

• Use the Return on Involvement Assessment Tool (Figure 1.1) to think through the risks and rewards of involving others in your work or going it alone.

• Determine if it makes sense to tackle the work in front of you without involving anyone else. If it does, go to it and get the job done.

• If you've gotten clear that you want to include others in your efforts, decide what kind of involvement will be most useful in your particular circumstances:

  • Know-How Involvement

  • Arms and Legs Involvement

  • Caring and Commitment Involvement

  • Teaching and Learning Involvement

Decide whom to include . . .

• Think about whom to include based on the six categories: people who care, people with authority and responsibility, people with information and expertise, people who will be personally affected, people with diverse points of view, and people who are considered troublemakers.

• Brainstorm all the relevant stakeholder groups.

• List the people you must have to succeed and those who would be nice to have to support the work.

• Decide whether you want to open the project up to volunteers, and, if so, how many.

• Chunk out what you see as the stages, and think through the kinds of people you would like to include at each stage.

• Make the final selection of people to invite, basing the number of invitees on the nature of the project and practical considerations such as the amount of time and money available.

• Adjust as you go along.

Create your invitation . . .

• Review the list of people you want to invite.

• Make notes of what you know or can find out about these people—their needs, interests, and concerns.

• Decide on the most appropriate media for your invitation.

• Prepare a distinctive message for each person you want to invite.

• Track the responses and follow up as needed.

• Thank everyone involved, including those who turned down your request.

Keep people involved . . .

• Remind people why they got involved in the first place.

• Keep those people involved over time that you need involved over time.

• Support people so they want to stay involved.

• Stay open to who stays involved.

• Don't worry if a few team members choose to opt out.

Finish the job . . .

• Leave people knowing the job is completed.

• Draw together the loose ends; ensure that any handover is complete and that the work is all done.

• Leave people better prepared to be involved and involve others in the future.

• Leave people wanting more.

• Celebrate and say, "Until we meet again."

Meetings: The Involvement Edge . . .

• Start by making people feel welcome.

• Take time to foster connections among people.

• Discover the way things are—build a shared picture of the current situation.

• Elicit people's dreams—build a shared picture of where you want to go.

• Decide on who does what to create the future you've agreed upon.

• End by saying goodbye.

Things to remember . . .

• Make sure that your project is worth doing, that people are focused on the task, and that people know their contributions count.

• Be aware that you'll go through the same pattern at every stage of the project.

• Start small.

• Don't start unless you plan to finish.