“Preparations for the Advent celebrations and the Christmas party are currently underway again. The problem is that hardly anyone wants to get involved in the planning and organisation. It’s always the same three or four people who organise the celebrations for everyone. I’d like to see more people taking the initiative so that the celebrations become more varied and colourful.”
Conventional approaches and proposed solutions to this problem would be:
- Ask all colleagues personally whether and how they would like to get involved, and draw up a list of tasks.
- Create a shared vision.
- Fill the celebration with content so that people can connect. What is the significance of Advent?
These are expert advices that makes sense on a theoretical and abstract level.
But how can this be translated into concrete action? How do you tackle the problem using the Inclutrain method?
- What do people who don’t participate do? They sit quietly in the morning circle, as if they were on the outside and had nothing to do with it.
- In which profession or situation is ‘sitting on the sidelines’ a virtue? As a spectator at a theatre performance.
- What does your spectator do? What is the underlying impulse for action? ‘Participating while watching’ or ‘applauding while watching’.
- Which gesture is equivalent to applauding? What comes to mind from your own experience? When you give a present to Father Christmas or the Christ Child.
- Based on these thoughts, what ideas do you have for the Advent celebration? How can we involve the audience?
People could bring something with them to place in the Advent circle. This would mean they are already involved from the outside and could contribute in their own way. You remain outside yet are also inside. It is important not just to convey to people in general terms: “I need you”, but to explain exactly why you need them. This makes it immediately clear when someone can step back again. The other person is therefore not “trapped (held)”.
A successful example of participation
Someone else reported at the trainers’ meeting on a situation in which making the necessity visible, as described above, proved fruitful for him and led him to take part in the Epiphany celebration.
An half hour before I set off for the Epiphany celebration, I received the following message: “We can clearly picture you welcoming the visitors today. I’m sure you can come up with something on the theme of the celebration: ‘giving’.” In the 30 minutes before I left, I was able to ask a few people in my circle for ideas. Then, during the journey, I had a good hour to reflect. In the end, I gave a short welcome speech at the celebration. And I did it with pleasure. The performance that followed largely confirmed what I had said, except on one point, that being I’ll be involved in the direction next year.”
If someone had asked me, without explaining why it was necessary: “Will you give the opening speech at the Epiphany celebration?”, I would certainly have replied: “No, I don’t have time to prepare.”
