Cohesiveness

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Cohesiveness

• Motivating your Organization Through Relatedness

Start the Training
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• Thank you for your interest in this training.
  Lets begin!

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Relatedness and SDT

• Relatedness is 1 of the 3 universal needs
  according to Self Determination Theory (SDT).
• Relatedness the need to be connected to or
  interact with others

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Interconnected Needs

• The 3 needs (autonomy, competence, and
  relatedness) must work in conjunction with each
  other to foster individual growth and well-being.

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Importance of Relatedness

• People who are satisfied with their interpersonal
  connections to others are happier and healthier

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Satisfaction of Relatedness

• People strive to satisfy their need for
  relatedness in different ways.
• Interacting with many or just a few
• Interacting in-person or from a distance
  (internet, etc.)

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Opportunities to Interact

• Therefore, it is important for self-determination
  that members are given the freedom to choose how
  to satisfy their need for relatedness.

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Options for Interaction

• Give choice of when and how to interact
• Provide a variety of opportunities for
  interaction
• Large gatherings (whole org paired with another
  org)
• Smaller gatherings (committee activities pledge
  class)
• One-on-one interaction (mentors big
  brother/sister)

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Why do students join your organization?

• People often join organizations for the purpose
  of connecting with others through
• Communicating about personally relevant topics
• Participating in shared activities
• Increased possibility of developing closer
  friendships
• Feeling understood and appreciated
• Participating in enjoyable activities
• Feeling of belonging to avoid self-conscious
  feelings

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Communication and Feeling Understood

• Participating in meaningful conversations and
  feeling understood and appreciated are important
  to daily feelings of relatedness.
• How can your organization provide more
  opportunities for members to engage in
  discussions and meaningful conversations?

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Which of the following ways that people need to
connect does your organization already provide to
members? Please check all that apply.
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Now jot down some ways the organization could
expand these opportunities to provide members
more options for satisfying their need for
relatedness.
Brainstorming Exercise
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Communication and Feeling Understood

• You can also add opportunities by
• Providing members time to discuss current events,
  issues on campus or in the organization
• Formal discussions that have guidelines and
  follow specific agendas.
• Informal discussions that have few guidelines and
  are more free-flowing.

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Communication and Feeling Understood

• You can also add opportunities by
• Facilitating new discussion about topics of
  common interest
• Select a topic and ask members to offer their
  opinions and comment on others opinions in a
  respectful way.

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Communication and Feeling Understood

• You can also add opportunities by
• Set rules that encourage respect for others
  opinions
• When can people talk? After they are called on
  or whenever they want to add something?
• Is there a time limit per person?
• Emphasize appropriate language and tone when
  speaking to others.

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Participating in Activities

• Shared activity, whether just for fun or other
  purposes, brings people together and makes them
  feel connected. You can
• Schedule regular activities in a variety of
  settings
• Allow for social time before or after meetings
• Set up informal gatherings and stick with them
  even if few people show up at first
• Put a new spin on mandatory events to make them
  more interesting or to inspire teamwork.

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Fringe Members

• There are some members who are not as involved as
  others because of self-conscious reasons.
  Organizations can take steps to make these people
  feel connected.

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Reaching out to Fringe Members

• Opportunities for one-on-one or small group
  interaction (mentors, committees, panels, etc.)
• Acknowledgement that not everyone seeks
  connection with others in the same way
• Avoid making all social activities mandatory
• Developing an organizational culture where all
  members are accepted and welcomed to participate

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Take a moment to brainstorm at least 2 specific
goals to support the need for relatedness for
members of your organization. Write them down if
you have paper with you.
Goal-Setting Exercise
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For each goal, think of the steps that need to be
taken to implement this goal in your
organization. Who needs to be involved in the
change? When should it be implemented? How are
you going to make the change?
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Think of possible setbacks that you might face
when trying to reach this goals. (Budget?,
Time?, Member Resistance?, Other obstacles?)
Obstacles to Goals
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Think of some strategies you could use to
overcome each of these setbacks or obstacles in
order to reach your goals.
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Make Change

• Start right away!
• Bring these changes up in your next meeting.

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Thank you for your participation in this on-line
training!

• For more information on Self-Determination
  Theory, please access an additional training
  module at the I/O Club website or more research
  on this theory at the official SDT website.
• If you have any questions about this study,
  please contact Samantha Curry at
  curry515_at_missouristate.edu.
• Now that the training is complete, please
  continue by clicking the arrow to the right.