I have organised a few events over the last year or two.
Activities
The main activities I have found that work for a successful event, are:
- Decide you are going to have the event (and roughly what sort of thing it will be)
- Pick a date (hopefully far enough in the future)
- Identify things that need to get done to make the event happen (broad brush works fine)
- Work backwards from your date and work out intervening milestones
- Delegate activities
- Work your plan and make things happen!
This is really about project management – lots of lists being generated, tasks being ticked off etc.
Begin With The End in Mind
Best said in Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”. The more you know what you want, the more likely you are to get it. The key work of “leadership” occurs at the start of the process.
The interesting thing I have found is that a kind of internal change happens for me – a “knowing” that the event will take place. In some way it is a personal commitment that I will make it happen (for those events I have been prime organiser for). This is strengthened by setting a date (and usually getting the agreement and commitment of some other people on the relevant committee). However, it seems to be more than just personal. Perhaps it is just what has been noted elsewhere “the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too” Goethe (very freely translated).
The personal commitment brings out help from others, and provided that you put the work in to hit milestones along the way, things happen.
Goals
I have had less success in other forms of goal setting for more abstract , but having been thinking about this to the extent of writing this entry, I am working on ways to apply it in more abstract settings.
Having been on a few volunteer committees, my rules of thumb are:
Commitment Breeds Rewards
Putting your hand up to be involved and active on a committee is a great way to get started, and truly magnifies what you get back.
There’s nothing like a few committee meetings to start to get know people. That then leads to all sorts of links, tie ins etc. Even a brief spell on a committee can reap you benefits for years afterwards. Read Alan Weiss (”Million Dollar Consulting” and similar books) for some ideas on this.
Only a few people actually do the work
There are always a few key people who actually do the work. Find out who they are and work with them. The old saw about getting something done by giving it to a busy person, is oh so valid.
Ideas vs. Actions
A corollary to the above – lots of people have great ideas for this, that and the other. When it comes to implementing the ideas, the idea generators are not to be seen. If I am organising something then I always treat ideas as “nice to have” until someone signs up to take responsibility.
Pretty much any implementation, however bad, beats any number of virtual ideas.
Sustainability
Groups wax and wane according to the needs and energies of the committee and the members of the group. Decisions that are taken need to have at least half an eye on the future, and in particular how sustainable something is. Activities such as maintaining a web site need to be done with technology such that some else can take it over in the future. Using a specific tool just because it is convenient for you or you have access to it at work, leads to you not being able to hand it over.
Which Groups Should I Belong To?
There comes a time when a group becomes much less useful to you, and it is time to move on. Re-evaluate groups and commitments regularly (perhaps a couple of times a year), and change when appropriate. This is an idea I got from life coaching – evaluate activities and work out if they are energy boosters or energy drains for you. Remove the drains!