Working together on strategies for Marist life and mission
As has now become the norm, during one week of the plenary session of the General Council, 10 – 14 June, the directors of the Secretariats and Departments of the General Administration participated in meetings of the Council in order to increase collaboration in implementing the initiatives of the del General Administration’s Strategic Plan for Animation, Leadership and Government.
In the final session, Br Ernesto Sánchez, Superior General, recalled one of the guiding principles for the work of the General Administration, “We have to create synergy. If we do things together, the result will be much better”. He went on to ask all present to reflect on whether every action being undertaken is helping us realise the overall vision of the Strategic Plan leading up to 2025:
As Marists of Champagnat, we are a global charismatic family, living an integrated spirituality and are passionately committed to an innovative mission without borders, at the service of children and young people, especially the most vulnerable and excluded.
The process used in the week consisted in moments of input from Br Luis Carlos, Vicar General, and especially, meetings of the secretariats with their link Councillors and others in their respective areas of Marist life and mission.
The main purpose of these days of work, ever aware of the need for the different groups to collaborate more, was to get to know what each group is working on, develop as a team, evaluate tasks completed so far, and determine next steps in the short to medium term.
The following questions helped to frame discussions during the week:
- Did we seek an evaluation of our projects/initiatives? How was it? What are our indicators of “success” or “real impact” for these projects/initiatives?
- What is the S.W.O.T. analysis for our projects/initiatives, and their regional (or global) implementation?
- How can we best work collaboratively in our area during 2019-2020?
- What initiatives can we work on together in the short term?
The next “Collaboration week” will be from 9 to 13 September.