Tips for Making Groups Succeed

Tips-For-Making-Croup-SucceedThe company you keep can influence the quality of your life, your risk for illness, and also, how long you will live.  Watch Dr. Amen discuss the importance of your peer group in this video.
Excerpt from: Unleash the Power of the Female Brain, Chapter 12
Being involved with The Daniel Plan at Saddleback Church has been one of the highlights of my life. The program was specifically designed to use the power of community to help individuals achieve healthier, more productive lives.
The Daniel Plan is named after the Biblical prophet who refused to eat the king’s bad food. The program has had remarkable success. One of the reasons it works so well is that we take advantage of a long-standing structure at Saddleback, where thousands of people meet each week in small groups.
Few people can make major changes alone. Getting people into small groups enhances the commitment and learning of individuals by providing ongoing encouragement and emotional support.
In fact, people are 50% more successful at weight loss and wellness improvement if they work in the context of a community rather than on their own.
The entire Daniel program is directed by Dee Eastman, a fitness and wellness expert with vast experience in small group leadership. Dee stresses the power of community that develops in groups as members watch others they trust following the program, share information with one another, and engage in “water cooler talk” that keeps group interests uppermost in members’ minds. And when people have bad days, the group environment encourages members to pause and reflect without self-judgment, and then ask for support to help bring balance into their lives.
Dee offers some great tips for making small groups succeed. You should keep these in mind if you’re thinking of joining or creating your own support group. They can help make your efforts much more effective.
Be Authentic: The success of the group depends on the level of authenticity it encourages, and group members always follow the level of vulnerability and openness shown by the leader. In that regard, “the speed of the leader is the speed of the team.” Do not feel like you have to have it all together yourself to lead a group. Just being a woman who is open to growing and acting in a community setting is enough. You don’t have to be the strongest in the group to lead. The focus should be on coming together in an open and honest place where there is a common desire to grow, change, and keep moving forward.
Have Some Accountability: Each group must decide what level of accountability members feel comfortable with, but there do need to be tangible goals that inspire members, and that all members are “behind” everyone achieving. Accountability can be implemented by giving reports at meetings, regularly checking in with one another, or any other system that works effectively.
Keep it Fresh: Don’t get into a rut of going over the same material at every meeting. Vary the material studied, whether it’s a new book, a DVD series, magazine articles, or anything else that’s relevant, informative, and inspiring. Keep the material fresh and interesting so members will feel they’re always getting something new and important, and their interest level is kept up. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to small groups!
Be Great Listeners: Group members should be great listeners for one another. They
should seek to understand and come alongside one another, and not try to solve the problems of people in the group. A comfortable, open atmosphere allows for openness and sharing. Feeling judged, or that others who think they know more are trying to fix you, is what closes people down.
Give Back: Your program should include ways of giving back to the church, culture, or community. Looking and giving outward balances the effort to grow inwardly. Sharing what has been learned extends the reach of the group’s positive developments.
Draw Out Each Individual’s Strengths: Dee says one of her favorite parts of the small group experience is seeing each individual’s passion and calling revealed, and then creating a platform where those gifts can be shared within the group and with the larger world. She creates opportunities for people to shine, perhaps by asking them to host a workshop or a food demonstration, appear in a video, write an article, and so on. She is always providing new leadership opportunities for others to serve within the group, to the benefit of the individual and the group. She works to foster these growth experiences, and discourages competition. She says, “As women we can truly champion other women – draw out each other’s strengths, provide opportunities for others to grow – so everyone wins and we operate as we were designed to live.”
One of the most exciting outcomes of the Daniel Plan is seeing the group members spread what they’ve learned outside their small groups to their families and communities, so that they become a significant influence for healthy living. There is a tremendous domino effect for the positive. Dee gives an example of one group member, Chloe, who has lost an amazing 155 pounds. Not only has she become a new person, but she’s sharing her new knowledge by writing on wellness and starting a healthy cupcake line. “And they are so delicious – go figure!” Dee adds.