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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last time<\/a>, I mentioned the idea of “small wins.” It’s a common concept in change management discussions and a fairly self-evident one. Still, I’ve been struck by the number of community engagement professionals leading organizational transformation to community engagement who have cited it as a critical factor in the process. These mini pilot projects developed jointly with new community partners lay the groundwork for bigger things, establish trust and credibility, and, mentioned as often as anything else, excite staff and board members of the arts organization who did not participate in producing them. Seeing a room full of community members enthused about something that the arts organization has helped put together makes community engagement real and goes a long way to demonstrating why it is so important. Another commonly cited benefit is the buzz they can create through media or simple word of mouth that piques the curiosity of funders.<\/p>\n I am indebted to Jason Holland, VP for Community Engagement at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA and a new ArtsEngaged CET Trainer, for reminding me of this. He has generously offered the following as examples and inspiration:<\/p>\n I found it was important when launching pilot community engagement programs to get some \u2018quick wins\u2019 early on.\u00a0 I know this may sound antithetical to the process\u00a0that is so important in sustainable, quality community engagement, but when there are detractors around you who may be looking for this work to fail, it\u2019s important to deliver quick wins to begin to paint a picture of what the future of our work in the community might look like.\u00a0 Photos and video from these quick wins are critical.\u00a0 Combined, these assets help the drum beat begin.\u00a0 Now maybe we can wrap our brains about who this mysterious \u2018community\u2019 is and what working with them might FEEL like.<\/em><\/p>\n Small wins are not too dissimilar from quick wins but they can happen\u00a0later\u00a0in the journey.\u00a0 I have recently had a small win while working with a community organization with whom I needed to build trust and invest time.\u00a0 In our first year together they weren\u2019t quite ready to activate any program or events together.\u00a0 No problem!\u00a0 But this year I just kept checking back and making sure they knew we were here and ready to work when they needed us.\u00a0 Low and behold, they came knocking on our door with an idea they wanted our help with. We were happy to roll up our sleeves and pitch in.\u00a0 Our pilot effort was small \u2013 a \u201cone off\u201d \u2013 but critical in demonstrating that we were there to support their goals and that we would uphold our end of the work.\u00a0 After that small win with them, ideas and excitement began swirling around the next steps together.\u00a0 I can see that we will be doing more together later this year and that was only possible after that small win gave us all a shared success on which to build!<\/em><\/p>\n By definition, small wins (and quick wins) are inexpensive and low risk. They won’t all be wildly successful but even the ones that are not provide experience in working with communities, lessons about what worked and what didn’t, and put the organization on record as serious about working with communities.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0 In community engagement, initially, small is beautiful, small is doable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Small Wins: Initially, small is beautiful, small is 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2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you have to have funding before you can begin community engagement work you are not prepared for it.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Money-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4997,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/08\/the-boards-role-in-community-engagement-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":5444,"position":1},"title":"The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The board of directors can and should be a supportive resource for community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of 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<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Some rights reserved<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Banana Custard<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"