Congregation Beth Israel, SD Retreat, 8/14

Congregation Beth Israel“Connected” Retreat

Presented by Lisa ColtonAugust 17, 2014

Our Plan Today

• Introductions – me, you & the day• Exploring what it means to be a “connected

congregation”• Community, engagement & operationalizing It• LUNCH!• The process of change• Designing for social• Reflections & wrap up

A Little About Me

Lisa ColtonChief Learning Officer, See3 CommunicationsFounder and President, Darim Onlinelisa@see3.com@lisacolton @darimonline434.260.0177

Now it’s about YOU

BRIEFLY:•Share your name, •Your role at CBI, and•One of your earliest childhood memories about money.

Your Role

• Think big• Take risks, push yourself• Challenge each other (and me!)• Be ACTIVE!• Question your assumptions• Yes, AND… (not yes, but…)

Traditional Mindset: Hub & Spokes

Connected Mindset: Social & Networked

What is a Connected Congregation?

A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful and engaged Jewish community.

Connected congregations prioritize relationships and shared values, and align all aspects of institutional management in service of the community.

Those within connected congregations feel a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for each other and the collective, and are empowered to contribute their ideas, energy and resources.

Steps to Till Your Soil

1. Clarification of organizational values

2. Leadership alignment of vision

3. Deep understanding ‘community’

4. Transparency and openness

5. Comfort with risk 6. Psychology of money7. Meaningful spaces8. Communications and

social media9. Designing for social10. Staffing, job

descriptions and expertise

VALUES ARE YOUR DNA MOVING FROM

TRANSACTIONAL TO RELATIONALTemple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown, NY:

“Our board had to discuss our approach to financial relief. The question posed was this: When families ask for special relief are we having a conversation about the pain that family is in or the state of their finances? In other words, are we acting as agents of Acts of Loving Kindness or the IRS?”

-From “Tilling the Soil”, a case study on the Darim Online blogBy Allison Fine, Immediate Synagogue Past President

Where are you now, and where do you want to be? Complete on your own, then compare with others at your table.

You can download the blank worksheet for your own use athttp://connectedcongregations.org/organizational-values-worksheet/

Organizational Values Worksheet

DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF “COMMUNITY”

A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful and engaged Jewish community.

MATTERNESS“Matterness” is the deep desire we all have to count, to be heard, to be considered important as individuals and not just donors or customers…

“Matterness” means that someone is really listening to your interests and concerns, that you are being cared for not just cared about, and that you have opportunities to help strengthen the institution.

In return, institutions get the best kind of participant, a “sticky” one who is a repeat donor or volunteer and ambassador who recommends the organization to other people.”

- Allison Fine, past president, Temple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown, New York

WHAT IS COMMUNITY?Collectivity is not a binding, but a bundling together; individuals packed together…

Community… is the being no longer side by side but with one another of a multitude of persons.… [While] collectivity is based on an organized atrophy of personal existence, community [is based] on its increase and confirmation in life lived toward one another

The purpose of community is community.-- Martin Buber, 2002

WHAT IS COMMUNITY?

Text StudyPost Its

Discussion

What does your Community Look Like?

“Engagement” is the Process of Evolving the Network Map

• What IS engagement?• What’s the goal of engagement?• Who or what are we designing for?• What does it feel like to be engaged?• Who’s job is engagement?• What kinds of cultural, programmatic or other

shifts are needed to enrich a culture of engagement?

“Engagement” is the Process of Evolving the Network Map

Look back at your organizational values worksheet.

What axes would you prioritize for attention in order to develop the culture of engagement you envision?

What could that look like?

At each step of design and decision making, we can ask ourselves

“is this in service of the community or the institution?”

OPERATIONALIZINGCONNECTEDNESS

WALK THE WALK

CultureProcessProgram

MeasurementResource Allocation

Ask Questions!

• Values based• Nuanced protocols• Personal touch• Infused the DNA• Paying it forward

CARING COMMUNITY

Mike Moxness with Debbie Echt-Moxness On Living On After a Diagnosis of Cancer

Informational -> Relational

SHUFFLE & LUNCH!Count off by 4’s and we’re going to shuffle for

lunch and the afternoon activities. (Adjust as needed for well mixed groups)

DESIGN THINKING

EMPATHY• The ability to share someone else's feelings• The action of understanding, being aware of,

being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present

WITHOUT EMPATHY,YOU MAY MISS THE MARK

“We had tried social programming in the past but never got the turnout we hoped for, which led us to conclude (wrongly) that people did not want to make social connections through the Religious School. Measuring Success helped us develop a targeted follow-up survey to probe deeper about social connections. That led to an “aha moment” when we learned that people do want to make social connections, they just do not want us to add new events to their calendars. When we realized that, we took steps to build socializing and community-building into existing events.”

—Barri Waltcher Vice President and Chair of Religious School Committee Temple Shaaray Tefila

From the 2012 SYNERGY paper Vision and Data: Essential Building Blocks for Successful Synagogue Change

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS. WELCOME TO DESIGN THINKING.

DESIGN THINKING

What did you notice?

CONSIDERATIONS WHEN

DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:

1.EMOTIONSa. Helping people feel safe/having a buddy

b. Remove awkwardness/structure/ice-breaking

c. Intimacy / transparency

d. Inviting/modeling vulnerability

CONSIDERATIONS WHENDESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:

2. WEAVING THE NETWORKa. Design with empathy – understand your

audienceb. Get to know interests/skills in the room;

invite/empower others to lead/teachc. Scaffolding for shared interests/needs (get

outside comfort zone)

CONSIDERATIONS WHENDESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:

3. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONSa. Think on multiple social levels: 1:1; group;

person to community b. Space design – where, what, how. Vibe and

structure!c. How to continue connections after. How are

you planning for the long term results?

DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL

• 4 scenarios• Tight time constraints• EMPATHY EMPATHY EMPATHY• Be bold and outlandish!• Make up your own rules• All hypothetical!

DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL

WHAT DID YOU COME UP WITH?

REFLECTIONSHEETS

GROUPREFLECTION

WHAT’S NEXT?