Do Things Differently!
For the last several weeks we have been working with some of our Resilient Georgia Clients. Our goal is help build their coalition capacity and identity across their regions and to identify ways the coalitions could begin moving forward, together.
During our workshops, we learned about trauma-informed communities and imagined what an ideal community could look like. Then we mapped out a journey identifying the systems that touch families, barriers that might impede them, and made personal commitments to the work.
After one of our sessions, a participant said it was the best coalition meeting he attended, ever. Later he sent me a letter and said:
“I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the valuable insight you and your team provided during Resilient Middle Georgia Cross County Conversation held on May 22, 2024, in Macon Bibb County. Your expertise, dedication, and commitment made this conversation/experience truly exceptional.
I want to emphasize how much I appreciated the clear and engaging presentation style. Your ability to convey complex concepts in a manner that was easy to understand, and follow was particularly impressive. The session was informative, interactive, and well-structured, which allowed me to grasp the subject matter more effectively.
Your patience and encouragement created a supportive learning environment that motivated me to actively participate in the various exercises and activities.”
Here is what we did to make this a different experience. Perhaps some of these tips might help your group.
Set up a warm welcome. Make sure there is someone to greet community members with a smile and maybe a swag bag.
Have music playing in the background. I learned about Lo-Fi – my new favorite background music.
Seat people with folks they don’t know! Break up groups so that people make new connections and build their network.
Plan engaging activities that get people moving and laughing. Keep your PowerPoint slide deck to a minimum.
Be sure and share the benefit of joining the coalition and why they are needed. Make sure they start to see how they can fit into the work and emphasize you aren’t asking them to do anything new!
Share membership packets and a form or QR code they can use to join the coalition. Make it easy for them to say yes, I am in!
Send a follow up email with highlights, pictures, and quotes from participants. Share with your larger group to show how much fun everyone. A little FOMO never hurts! Be sure you share on social media.
Hope these tips help inspire you to do something different than the usual “meet and talk” coalition meetings.
Let me know which one you will try!
Take care,
Ann