The Get Ready stage may have felt at times long and arduous, but the reality is that your Action Team is likely now to be singing from the same song-sheet, and this is key to getting ahead. It gives you the best chance of agreeing next steps whilst also ensuring that external stakeholders understand what Problem you are trying to solve or the Opportunity you are trying to attain.
Remember what you have identified In the Getting Ready stage:
- Your Problem or Opportunity.
- A clear definition of your Community.
- Drivers and Resisters for this change.
- A Backbone Organisation and potential Community Stewards.
- An Action Team with a Collaborative Leader.
- A better understanding of Change.
- The Key Issues you need to address.
- A better understanding of the Assets and Strengths within your community.
So now we can Get Started! As Mark Twain once said, there is no better way to get ahead than to get started, and that means turning the big picture into small manageable tasks.
It is vital, therefore, as a first step in Getting Started to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. This is your Vision. This will become the beacon that you aim for when you are wondering why you took on this crazy project or contemplating what tasks to take next.
Vision alone is not enough. You also need a damn good Plan to guide your action too. Otherwise the dream will never make it to reality. Now the real work begins!
This chapter will guide you through defining your Vision, setting goals (outcomes and outputs/measures), selecting action projects, choosing an appropriate methodology and facilitator (if needed), drafting your Action Plan, setting in place how you will work as project teams, and finally turning the plans into action on the ground.