It could be said the greatest predictor of a team’s future success is how people feel about each other.

I’ve been volunteering on various committees lately, some of which are unbelievably cohesive and where all members respond to the workload and prepare for their meetings and tasks involved, and then I’ve had contact or involvement with other committees where there is either too much control by one or two members causing a lack of cohesion, or almost a complete lack of functioning of the committee, or people who are too busy or stressed to be able to perform the required tasks. In the groups that work the best, the people involved feel good about each other, have trust and respect, and most often a strong commonality. As I see it, egos are one significant thing that get in the way of a well-functioning committee, as well as a lack of vision and common goals, but it can also be obstructed by membership that allows people who do not have the commonality of the wider group. When a committee is made up completely of volunteers, and is formed to advocate for or manage a group or community of people who are bereaved or marginalised in some way, the ability of the members to manage their own grief or personal hurdles can get in the way. People who are bereaved can find healing through involvement in helping others, and so it is with support groups. The real power of a grief support group is that the people offering the support have been through the same type of bereavement. From a marketing perspective, they can offer a unique service not possible from professional counsellors or doctors, simply because they share a common experience, and have healed enough to support others experiencing the same loss.

Woody Allen once said; I failed to make the chess team because of my height!

This is quite a funny quip, but insightful in some ways, as grief support groups or other advocacy groups and committees are no different to recreational clubs. For example, short people, tall people, various cultural groups, people who like to knit or sew, or people who are interested in a specific type of car like a jaguar, often hang out in clubs, sharing their commonality. If someone who drove a Holden car, tried to join the jaguar club, it would be seen as unusual, and likely they would not be offered membership. If a Holden enthusiast wanted to run the jaguar club, it would be seen in the same way. I have recently become an honorary member of the Adelaide Cosy Club, because I want to learn to knit and share time with a group of women. I’m pretty sure membership would not have been offered to me if I wanted to learn to paint. Support groups are a way of bringing people together in a safe space to share common experiences. They provide a forum for members to communicate in a mutual understanding of shared grief. The strength of support groups lies in their shared stories and the ability to provide empathy, rather than sympathy, as a support. In this way, as it is for any committee, it is important a shared vision and commonality is at the forefront for a committee or group to have it best impact on the lives of the membership or group it is representing. The shared vision of a group of people around the world who are living with the diagnosis of dementia, or living with or supporting someone who has this diagnosis, to improve the services and outcomes for this group, is starting to have an impact, and I am thrilled to be a member of various committees and groups to ensure our voices are being heard.