WORKING TOGETHER TO REACH THE GOAL

The purpose of a Circle of Support is to help a person reach his or her stated goals. To achieve goals, a team must be strong and work well together. Once members of a Circle of Support are identified, the Support Broker will need to maintain and strengthen the group as a team. To build a strong and effective Circle of Support, consider the following:

• Identify ways to assure that communication among the circle members is effective and includes everyone;
• Identify ways to provide ongoing support to the Circle so that they are an active decision-making unit;
• In the event that conflicts arise, identify strategies that will keep the Circle focused on the dreams of the employer.

To accomplish effective communication, trust and support, and to maintain the focus (helping a person meet his goal), Support Brokers will need to examine their own styles of interacting with others and review past meeting experiences.  The activity below provides some questions to consider about previous meeting experiences and then provides a table that outlines different meeting styles.

Open the activity and answer the questions about previous meeting experiences. Then go to the table and rate your self on what kind of meeting you fill the most comfortable with. If you did not rate yourself as comfortable with the "Circle of Support" meeting style, brainstorm ways to increase your success with supporting a circle meeting format.  

Here is the activity.

Listen as Lia Haile describes her feelings about one of the questions raised above. 

Click for article Building Circles is about Necessity, not Social Niceties

This article was written by Helen Henderson.  It often accompanies the first reading of this section and looks similar because the same picture is used in both articles.  Support Brokers can learn how to create dynamic Circles from Judith Snow's example.

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