Picnic in the park

Everyone will get stuck every now and then. Every group goes through difficult patches. Every goal sometimes seems too far away.

Here are some tips that may help motivate you to keep going, and get you back on track.

Keep your expectations reasonable

It’s hard to wait when you know how great a change could be, but change does happen slowly – especially when you’re trying to influence policy and the design of a neighbourhood. If this happens to you, you could:

  • Set yourself a couple of shorter term goals to get things moving and create a sense of satisfaction among the group.
  • Think again about whether your goals are achievable – and if they really aren’t, set your sights a bit lower.
  • See if you could solve the same problem an easier or smarter way - after all, there’s more than one way to fix most things, and the first idea isn’t always the best.

 

Don’t try to do too much

Apart from running the risk of burning everyone out, trying to do too much at once often results in not doing anything properly. If you think you’re trying to do too much, you could:

  • Have another priority setting session to try to reduce the number of things you’re trying to achieve in the short term.
  • Find some more resources (including funding and members) for your group, so you can share the load.
  • Take some time out to reflect and regather your energies.

 

Persist, even when you feel disheartened

Sometimes it’s a lack of energy, sometimes a lack of results, or it might come from some tension arising within the group – but feeling disheartened is no fun. If you’re starting to wonder why you should stay involved, you could:

  • Bring the group together to review the vision and mission, to see if it’s still a goal everyone can relate to.
  • Reflect on why you started this journey, and the passion you felt at the beginning, and see if you can recover some of that original energy.
  • Hold a brainstorming session to see if there might be a way to achieve your goal that you hadn’t even thought of yet. New ideas often generate new motivation and energy.
  • Talk to people about what you might be able to do to move things along a bit faster.

 

Remember respect

It is really easy for groups to slip into cynical mode, becoming critical of their opponents or starting to disagree internally. As a general rule, it’s a good idea acknowledge the problem, because it is unlikely to go away if you just ignore it. And while some differences of opinion or approach are healthy, if you’re starting to sense that the group is more negative than positive, you could:

  • Revisit your charter or values, and talk about whether you think the group is living them, and what it could do differently.
  • Create a safe, respectful forum at every meeting where people can offer their thoughts about what’s going well and what could improve.
  • Spend some time celebrating any success you’ve had – nothing brings people together like a sense of common achievement.