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When Should You Use A Participative Process?

Nothing brings a group of people together faster than using a participative process (i.e., making sure everybody in the room has a voice and gets to bring his or her best ideas, energy, and passion to a decision). And, in a time of rapid culture change, most organizations find that they really NEED every voice, every gift, every insight, everyone’s experience, and everyone’s participation to respond to the challenges they face. The most innovative and exciting organizations around the globe are learning to use participative processes today; they know that everyone really does have something to offer.

Of course, not every situation requires a participative process. In fact, in some cases, it can be silly - even dangerous - to use one. For example, it wouldn’t be a good idea to stop and take a vote on what to do if the house is on fire. Somebody just has to start getting everybody outside!

So, how do you know when to use a participative process? We presented this chart  to those who joined us for our webinar this week; it can help you decide:

Deciding When To Use A Participative Process

The Golden Nugget

Last night we hosted our first ever online seminar. We're pretty sure that one of the things we can do that will be the most helpful to our friends, partners, and clients is to figure out how to deliver online training. This will allow people to participate with us in the work of renewal in a way that is cost and time effective. Anyone, anywhere, can have access! But this is a whole new thing for us. And so we were really thankful to the 40+ people who volunteered to be our guinea pigs last night. Their feedback is going to be invaluable as we figure out how to work this new tool.

At the end of the session, we had about a dozen questions that we didn't have time to answer, and we promised that we would address them here in this space. The first unanswered question was this one: What's the golden nugget in Lutheran theology that is the most underutilized?

Now, the question sounds like it would only apply to church leaders and, then, only to Lutheran church leaders. But I think the answer goes way beyond both groups.

Getting right to it: I think the most underutilized nugget in Lutheran theology today is a priesthood of all believers. (Nevermind the argument some theologians make that this isn't really of Martin Luther; I'll have that conversation off line with you, if you like.) The idea of a priesthood of all believers is that every single person, once baptized, is given the freedom and the responsibility of ministry. We are all "priests," in other words, called to share the good news of God with others in word and deed. And each one is given gifts with which to do that job. Everyone has something to offer.

Embedded deep within the Lutheran soul is this golden nugget that provides all the inspiration we need to embrace what is quickly becoming a best practice in the most innovative and exciting organizations across the globe.

In his book, The Future of Work, MIT professor Tom Malone describes the four guiding principles of AES Corp (one of the world's largest supplier of electric power): fairness, integrity, social responsibility, and fun. They put special emphasis on that last one and, knowing that "one of the best ways for people to have fun is to have responsibility for things that truly matter in the world," they have worked to create a culture in which everyone truly has something to offer:

"AES has been built on the idea that every employee should be a businessperson - a well-rounded generalist, a mini-CEO - responsible for important decisions in the company."

Now, I can't report on how successful AES has been at accomplishing this goal. But, to be honest, I have seen more examples of people trying to create cultures that really and truly look like a "priesthood of all believers" (i.e., that take seriously the gifts each one has to offer and seeks to share responsibility for their common purpose) in secular organizations than I have in the church! But we have found that helping people learn to use participative processes is one of the fastest ways to begin turning that around.

Thanks for the question! We'll take up others that were asked at the end of last night's webinar in days to come.

Webinars: Bringing it Home

So, what's an online seminar (i.e., "webinar") for, anyway? You may be asking that question if this experience is new to you. But you may also be asking that question if it's not; in fact, you may be wondering "why a webinar and not a podcast?"

Well, the A.R.E. podcast is in development. We'll get there. In terms of delivering content that is portable and convenient to users, you can't beat a podcast. You can download a podcast like you download a song or a video clip or a file and listen to it on your computer whenever you want. You don't have to show up for the LIVE event. It's prerecorded. If you have an iPod or an mp3 player, you can even take the podcast with you wherever you go. Listen in the car or while you're exercising or whatever.

On the other hand, you have to actually show up at a certain time to be in on a webinar. You have to log on at the same time the presenters do. In other words, it's a LIVE event. This is a whole lot less convenient for people. So, why bother? Well, according to Ardeth Albee, a webinar can accomplish three main things:

• extend and develop conversations


• transfer knowledge


• grow a community of involvement around a topic

The key advantage of a webinar is that it has the potential of being INTERACTIVE. You can ask questions, make comments, suggest resources, learn from other participants, build on ideas, and be a part of a conversation. The number of people online with you at any given time determines, in a lot of ways, how much interactivity you can have and even how that interaction takes place. For example, in very large groups, you may have to write your thoughts; in smaller groups, you can actually talk to each other.

At A.R.E., one of our guiding principles is "Using Participative Processes." And a lot of what we do is to help our friends, partners, and clients put that principle into practice. So webinars, with all the potential they have for interaction, seem like a natural fit for us. We plan to explore the possibility during these next weeks and months. And we're looking forward to what you have to say about it. What do you like? What don't you like? What do you need? What would be most helpful for the people in your organization? It's not too late to register for tonight's webinar. CLICK HERE to go right to the registration page.

In the meantime, think about this: Instead of insisting that people physically come to you to get whatever it is you're offering, podcasting and webinars, each in their own way, take your message to people...wherever they live, work, and play. It helps you literally bring your message home to people. Is this something your organization could - and maybe should - be doing? What kind of impact could this technology help you have in the lives of the people you are serving? How could it help you begin to think "beyond the walls" of your organization?