Essay: On being engaged

“I had no idea that was happening!”  “I never heard that!”  “I wish I would have known about that.”

Do you find yourself saying those phrases a lot?  Perhaps you are disengaged.  Would you like to be more engaged in your school, a club, your church, your child’s school?  Here’s why you should and how you can.

If you are involved in something on a surface level, you don’t really feel a part of things.  In my work as an office manager of a school, I often hear that parents feel disengaged from what’s going on at school.  Becoming more connected to what’s going on in an organization gives you satisfaction because you know what is happening, but also because you feel more connected to the organization and thus you feel better about not only yourself, but also the organization.

How can you become engaged?  I guarantee you that the organization is probably trying desperately to communicate with you.  At my school we have a web site with new content updated frequently, a weekly email drawing attention to content on the website, weekly newsletters posted electronically and on paper, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed as well as individual emails.  You don’t need to follow all of those things, just pick the one that will give you the broadest coverage and keep up with it. 

Set aside time to keep up with things.  Yes, that means that you have to take the initiative.  If an email comes to your inbox about the organization’s activities and you have decided that reading the emails is the way you are going to keep up with the information then you need to actually open and read that email.  Remember, you want to be a part of this organization which means you need to put in some effort to learn about what’s going on.

If you still feel out of the information loop, ask someone how they know what’s going on.  They may tell you about how they get their news and their story may inspire you to follow their lead.  Or, if you can’t possibly follow what’s going on, ask an informed friend if they will keep you abreast of developments.  In doing this, you are depending on someone else to prompt you, but if they happen to be a person who enjoys disseminating information and you actually listen, then everyone is happy.

Once you get in the flow of information, make some friends.  If your only contact with the organization is reading the emails you might lose interest fast.  See if you can volunteer for a one-time event, serve on a committee or host a social of some sort.  When you meet others who are also interested in the organization introduce yourself and do your best to get to know them.  Having friends in the organization will make you feel like an insider.

If you are not going to do your part to be involved with the organization, don’t ask the staff to go out of their way to accommodate you.  Accept that you won’t ever know what is going on and it is not their fault that you didn’t hear of something in which you were interested.  There are many organizations in this world and you don’t have to be a member of any of them.  The organizations do welcome your interest and enthusiasm, but if you don’t bring those things, this organization might not be the right fit for you.

Both in my paid work and at my church I constantly hear people express surprise about information that has been made available to them in a variety of ways.  Being engaged is a part of being human.  Get yourself in sync with the flow of an organization you care about and feel more alive.