This document provides an agenda and materials for a retreat on building a "connected congregation" presented by Lisa Colton. The plan includes introductions, exploring what it means to be connected, designing for social engagement, discussions on change processes and values. Breakout groups will discuss deepening community and operationalizing connectedness. The afternoon focuses on empathy, designing social experiences, and reflections. The overall goal is for the congregation to strengthen relationships and shared responsibility through social networking and alignment with Jewish values.

1. Congregation Beth Israel
“Connected” Retreat
Presented by Lisa Colton
August 17, 2014

2. Our Plan Today
• Introductions – me, you & the day
• Exploring what it means to be a “connected
congregation”
• Community, engagement & operationalizing It
• LUNCH!
• The process of change
• Designing for social
• Reflections & wrap up

3. A Little About Me
Lisa Colton
Chief Learning Officer, See3 Communications
Founder and President, Darim Online
lisa@see3.com
@lisacolton @darimonline
434.260.0177

4. Now it’s about YOU
BRIEFLY:
•Share your name,
•Your role at CBI, and
•One of your earliest childhood
memories about money.

5. Your Role
• Think big
• Take risks, push yourself
• Challenge each other (and me!)
• Be ACTIVE!
• Question your assumptions
• Yes, AND… (not yes, but…)

6. I ndividual Relationships
Small Group I dentity
Community
Congregation
Synagogue
SYNAGOGUE STRENGTH & SUSTAI NABI LI TY
To strengthen the synagogue, we must invest in individual relationships, support
collective identity and responsibility, grounded in Jewish values and action.
The foundation of this is designing for social engagement with each other.
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego
Lisa Colton, August 2014

7. Traditional Mindset: Hub & Spokes

8. Connected Mindset: Social & Networked

9. What is a Connected Congregation?
A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the
meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong,
meaningful and engaged Jewish community.
Connected congregations prioritize relationships and shared
values, and align all aspects of institutional management in
service of the community.
Those within connected congregations feel a sense of shared
ownership and responsibility for each other and the
collective, and are empowered to contribute their ideas,
energy and resources.

10. Steps to Till Your Soil
1. Clarification of
organizational values
2. Leadership alignment
of vision
3. Deep understanding
‘community’
4. Transparency and
openness
5. Comfort with risk
6. Psychology of money
7. Meaningful spaces
8. Communications and
social media
9. Designing for social
10. Staffing, job
descriptions and
expertise

11. VALUES ARE YOUR DNA
MOVING FROM
TRANSACTIONAL TO RELATIONAL
Temple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown, NY:
“Our board had to discuss our approach to financial relief. The question
posed was this: When families ask for special relief are we having a
conversation about the pain that family is in or the state of their
finances? In other words, are we acting as agents of Acts of Loving
Kindness or the IRS?”
-From “Tilling the Soil”, a case study on the Darim Online blog
By Allison Fine, Immediate Synagogue Past President

12. Where are you now, and where do you want to be?
Complete on your own, then compare with others at your table.
You can download the blank worksheet for your own use at
http://connectedcongregations.org/organizational-values-worksheet/
Organizational Values Worksheet

14. DEEP UNDERSTANDING
OF “COMMUNITY”
A connected congregation is one that deeply
understands the meaning of community, and
works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful
and engaged Jewish community.

15. MATTERNESS
“Matterness” is the deep desire we all have to count, to be heard, to
be considered important as individuals and not just donors or
customers…
“Matterness” means that someone is really listening to your interests
and concerns, that you are being cared for not just cared about, and
that you have opportunities to help strengthen the institution.
In return, institutions get the best kind of participant, a “sticky” one
who is a repeat donor or volunteer and ambassador who recommends
the organization to other people.”
- Allison Fine, past president, Temple Beth Abraham,
Tarrytown, New York

16. WHAT IS COMMUNITY?
Collectivity is not a binding, but a bundling together; individuals packed together…
Community… is the being no longer side by side but with one another of a
multitude of persons.… [While] collectivity is based on an organized atrophy of
personal existence, community [is based] on its increase and confirmation in life
lived toward one another
The purpose of community is community.
-- Martin Buber, 2002

17. WHAT IS COMMUNITY?
Text Study
Post Its
Discussion

18. What does your
Community
Look Like?

19. “Engagement” is the Process of
Evolving the Network Map
• What IS engagement?
• What’s the goal of engagement?
• Who or what are we designing for?
• What does it feel like to be engaged?
• Who’s job is engagement?
• What kinds of cultural, programmatic or other
shifts are needed to enrich a culture of
engagement?

20. “Engagement” is the Process of
Evolving the Network Map
Look back at your organizational values
worksheet.
What axes would you prioritize for attention in
order to develop the culture of engagement you
envision?
What could that look like?

21. At each step of design and decision making,
we can ask ourselves
“is this in service of the community or the institution?”

22. OPERATIONALIZING
CONNECTEDNESS

23. WALK THE WALK
Culture
Process
Program
Measurement
Resource Allocation

24. Ask
Questions!

26. • Values based
• Nuanced protocols
• Personal touch
• Infused the DNA
• Paying it forward
CARING
COMMUNITY

28. Mike Moxness with Debbie Echt-Moxness
On Living On After a Diagnosis of Cancer

29. Informational -> Relational

30. SHUFFLE & LUNCH!
Count off by 4’s and we’re going to shuffle for
lunch and the afternoon activities.
(Adjust as needed for well mixed groups)

31. DESIGN
THINKING

32. EMPATHY
• The ability to share someone else's feelings
• The action of understanding, being aware of,
being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing
the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another
of either the past or present

33. WITHOUT EMPATHY,
YOU MAY MISS THE MARK
“We had tried social programming in the past but never got the turnout we hoped
for, which led us to conclude (wrongly) that people did not want to make social
connections through the Religious School. Measuring Success helped us develop
a targeted follow-up survey to probe deeper about social connections. That led to
an “aha moment” when we learned that people do want to make social
connections, they just do not want us to add new events to their calendars. When
we realized that, we took steps to build socializing and community-building into
existing events.”
—Barri Waltcher
Vice President and Chair of Religious School Committee
Temple Shaaray Tefila
From the 2012 SYNERGY paper Vision and Data: Essential Building Blocks for
Successful Synagogue Change

34. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS.
WELCOME TO DESIGN THINKING.

35. DESIGN THINKING
What did you notice?

36. CONSIDERATIONS WHEN
DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:
1.EMOTIONS
a. Helping people feel safe/having a buddy
b. Remove awkwardness/structure/ice-breaking
c. Intimacy / transparency
d. Inviting/modeling vulnerability

37. CONSIDERATIONS WHEN
DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:
2. WEAVING THE NETWORK
a. Design with empathy – understand your
audience
b. Get to know interests/skills in the room;
invite/empower others to lead/teach
c. Scaffolding for shared interests/needs (get
outside comfort zone)

38. CONSIDERATIONS WHEN
DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL:
3. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
a. Think on multiple social levels: 1:1; group;
person to community
b. Space design – where, what, how. Vibe and
structure!
c. How to continue connections after. How are
you planning for the long term results?

39. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL
• 4 scenarios
• Tight time constraints
• EMPATHY EMPATHY EMPATHY
• Be bold and outlandish!
• Make up your own rules
• All hypothetical!

40. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL
WHAT DID YOU COME UP WITH?

41. REFLECTION
SHEETS

42. GROUP
REFLECTION

43. WHAT’S
NEXT?