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School / Practice example

When a commitment is missed

Ask what happened in private. Talk through how it affects the group and agree on what can happen next.

The situation

Someone in your school group hasn’t finished a task they agreed to do. The deadline has passed and people are frustrated, but no one has asked them what happened.

Your decision

Talk about how the missed task affects the group, and give the person a chance to explain.

Before you respond

  • What did they agree to do, and what’s affected right now?
  • What do you need to ask them before drawing conclusions?
  • What can everyone realistically agree to do next?

Work through it

  1. Talk in private. Be specific about what was agreed and what hasn’t happened.
  2. Listen to what happened and ask what support would help.
  3. Agree on any changes to the task or who’s doing it, then set a time to check in.
Consider a possible response

“We were expecting the draft yesterday, and we need it for the next task. What happened? Let’s work out what you can finish and whether we need to change the plan.”

This is one way to respond. Adapt it to your group, your responsibilities and the people involved.