We aren’t playing the short game, we are playing the long game.
If a member of your Personal Support Network cannot be present and involved at some point in time, it doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future.
The thread is there.
As a Community Connector, you can use that thread to build and nurture the Network.
Relationships don’t always stay at the same intensity levels and everyone has a lot going on – especially now during the COVID pandemic.
If someone is part of the Network, the odds are, they want to be there.
Assume the positive!
Let’s just assume that everybody who has said they’d like to be part of a someone’s Personal Support Network wants to be friends and wants to be involved and engaged.
Maybe the invitations and opportunities to connect aren’t working for them right now?
Maybe they are so busy that they don’t even have the time to respond to the group email that you sent out?
If a Network Member seems to not be responding to the invitations and opportunities that you are sending out to the full group, it is a good idea to reach out to them individually.
You could ask questions like:
– How are you doing? Anything that you need from the network?
– Is there something about the recent network activities that do not work for you?
– Any ideas you have for ways that we can connect?
– Are there other opportunities you might like to be involved in?
– Is there a specific role you would like to play?
– Anything we can do to make it easier for you to connect?
Until they let us know otherwise, we can assume that people want to stay in touch, instead of thinking that they don’t and feeling discouraged.
In the same way that everyone benefits from being a part of a Network, each member will appreciate your kind and personalized connections.
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This post was inspired by a conversation with the Mentors at a recent PLAN Collaboration Meeting. If you would like to hear more about PLAN’s Community Connecting work, please connect with us at hello(at)plan.ca