Incubator week THREE

Hey everyone!!

This week we have been looking at relationship building and building effective structures for starting your project. We are going to start taking your full idea, and design it into a manageable and suitable chunk for this Incubator. Something you will be able to start, and get done within the timeline of the Incubator and support on offer.

Basically, the key take away, is to design a project plan that can actually happen in the timeframe we have for the Incubator. So after this 6 week Incubator there will be:

• An opportunity to pitch for the SEED funding you need to make this plan happen
• APRIL ONWARDS – a timeline between April – June in which you will put your idea into action, and use the seed funding to help you start, while being supported by a project mentor.
• JUNE – Delivery of your project, or the start of it, with an opportunity to reflect on what you haev learnt, and plan again for the future

POWER

Power relationships in your projects, might feel like a complicated concept, or even something that you might not experience as a face to face experience with your audience or groups. Thinking about your relationship between the community your are aiming to work with, and your own position is so important!

Power over: One party has more control, can win over another, eg political systems – party in power or not and the impact this can have on everyone. A power over dynamic, whether someone has power over you or you have power over others, is something we want to avoid.

Power With: often the type of power we wnat to build, its a connection action, building a bridge between things, working in a way together with other that is collebaortive.

Power to: the idea that every individual has the power to make a difference and has the power to act. The word empower can be useful here, its the idea that anyone has the potential to enact power and develop feelings of power.

Building Trust in Relationships

Trustworthiness = Credibility Reliability Intimacy OVER self interest/orientation

Is your project about yourself, is it a self orientated idea? Because this can mean that during relationship building, if you are not working for the collective good, or for them, you might not be able to build strong and reliable relationship, if people feel you are serving yourself. HOWEVER, if you are working in your interest, for example you do want to make profit, or this idea would serve someone like you, maybe it comes from your experience, how can you be transparent about this, to still build relationships that have trust and are functional for everyone.

• Risks
• Purpose
• pros/cons or risks/benefits of the relationship

Acknowledging this stuff in your project pitch is going to be essential.

Curiosity and Opportunity

There’s a tendency to enter network conversations with a one track mind, focused on your goals and expectations.

But it’s worth remembering that it takes two people to have a conversation! The other person will be bringing their own goals and expectations to the conversation too, and it’s important to stay curious and think about what they may be. If the other person wasn’t open to discussing opportunities, they would not be there or giving you their time. So if you’ve agreed to chat with someone, think about why they are there?

Why not try having a network conversation with no objective? Mimi shared her experiences scheduling meetings / coffees with previous clients simply to catch up. These conversations may end in nothing, but sometimes they end up in the beginnings on a new project. These catch-ups can be an opportunity to explore new projects and ideas in a less hierarchical, organic way.

The Bridge Builders Handbook:

Laura Hamilton’s Powerpoint: