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What You Need To Know Before You Join A Community Problem Solving Effort
Written by: Dianne CramptonArticle Overview: As a business owner, one way to build community awareness and loyalty to your company is to volunteer on an important community project. Beware. Some of these projects can dissolve into conflict and confusion. Here is what you need to know to make sure that doesn't happen.
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What You Need To Know Before You Join A Community Problem Solving Effort
Can you visualize this? You are settling in for the evening and put a movie into the DVD player. You decided to make some designer popcorn and have turned on the stove, added the oil and popcorn to the pan when the phone rings. You turn the heat down and inadvertently take the lid with you as you sprint into the adjoining room to answer the phone. It’s an important contact you have been waiting for all week. Little do you realize that turning down the heat did not stop the popcorn from reaching the popping point. The popcorn pops. You are holding the lid.
This illustrates what it is like to be on a disorganized community project team composed of members belonging to different organizations with no formal bond other than a common goal. Without pre-established ground rules for resolving conflict or identifying common values and boundaries, holding the “lid” is no consolation when differences begin to pop.
Volunteer community problem solving groups are Strategic Alliances formed to cooperate. The power structure is shared, and instead of a top-down communication process decisions require collaboration. To build a solid foundation, it is best to begin any collaborative process by assembling the members, creating a vision, agreeing on desired results, and building trust.
Trust building must begin early on. It is nurtured by building one-on-one relationships that rely on the integrity, honesty and fairness of the people involved. Therefore, disclosure of self-interests in relation to the common goal is extremely important. Without this, suspicions and perceptions of undue advantage can surface,jeopardizing the process.
Other important ground rules to consider include the following:
1. Defining your common practices:
Identifying common practices builds unified procedures resulting in shared ownership.
2. Disclosing your power base:
In all relationships, it is important to realize that power is always present and never equal. Disclosing the power that exists and the power that is sought from other members ensures that power is used wisely and ethically.
3. Disclosing values:
By identifying each member’s values, group operative values develop resulting in a foundation for making decisions and solving problems. Identifying up front those behaviors that support the majority value structure and those behaviors that would disrupt your process create the boundaries that allow your group to function.
4. Identifying loyalties:
Foundational loyalties affect the decision process. It is important to know how loyalties will affect decisions.
5. Establishing a grievance process:
Identify a process, put it in writing, and appoint the necessary leaders to facilitate misunderstandings and conflict. Make sure each member has a copy and is committed to the peacekeeping process.
Clear-cut ground rules as well as objectives build a favorable social and political climate where members witness cost-effective and efficient progress in exchange for their efforts. Make sure these groundrules are known before your effort starts to minimize conflict and confusion.
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About the Author: Dianne Crampton RSS for Dianne's articles - Visit Dianne's website  Dianne Crampton helps leaders build teams of employees who are as engaged and committed to the organization's success as the leader is. As one of North America's leading authorities on business team culture, she is a team culture consultant, author, professional speaker and founder of TIGERS Success Series, a trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. Because you found this article in the jungle of all the articles that are out there, use the code October234 to receive 50% savings on our most recent book, TIGERS Among Us - Winning Business Team Cultures and Why They Thrive Here. To download a Complimentary CD series that discusses the TIGERS cooperative values and a white paper that discusses how to measure these principles in teams, click Here. To view Dianne's latest team tips video on how to build team commitment, click Here. To join Dianne's newletter to receive these tip videos on a regular basis click Here. Click here to visit Dianne's website   How to stop the harmful effects of stress in your life Five Ways to Improve Your Team Building Success Its not only what you say that counts its what you do EMPATHY CAN YOU WALK A MILE IN THEIR SHOES Five Tips For Building A Wildly Successful Team Based Business |
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How do you "Give Back To the local or world Community?"
- Elie Wiesel:
This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.
We want to know what you do to give back to your community.
When we say "Community" we mean the Human Community . . .around the corner or around the globe.
Don't be humble here . . .This is where we'll all learn from each other.
Don't be selfish . . .You BRAG we LEARN.
Let's help each other ALL make a difference. . . . One person at a time.
If you're not involved now, maybe you could learn how right here. It's never too late to do good.
What?
- Problem fixed. Never mind!
Re: Top Banner Help
- Hi Evan!
Looks great! Funky background!
What would it look like with the 'Entrepreneur Community' in orange?
Networking / Mastermind Groups
- I love the ideas Evan and Lake. It's impossible to put a value on the help I got from friends, family, and other entrepreneurs when I was getting my company started. It wouldn't have been possible without them. Join as many groups as you can!
Jennifer.
How to get financed
- We looked at doing the same thing. Problem is you own the truck out-rite, so most require a add on to your title or release of title to them for liability should you default. Contact Kevin at RV Lending, he assisted us with our stacker transporter, pretty easy to deal with and straight up with the answers before you give all you personal information.
Good luck
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