Community Building Practice LOG#017: Readjusting the Housework Support Project

2026/8/10

Stop once, and start over. Readjusting the Housework Support Forum

1. Actually, I was supposed to be on summer vacation starting today

Actually, I had planned to start my summer vacation with my children today. I wanted to put work aside for a bit and spend time with them. However, there was one thing I absolutely had to move forward with today. It was the readjustment of the housework support forum that was scheduled for August 26th. There were only about two weeks left until the event. Although the flyer design was finished, printing and announcements hadn't been done yet, and I hadn't sufficiently reached out to the people I wanted to invite as speakers. Perhaps I could have forced it to happen on August 26th as planned. But, is it okay to make 'holding the event' the only goal? I stopped and thought about it for a moment.

2. Sharing the current situation with the Prefectural Bureau

First, I shared the current situation with the person in charge at the Prefectural Bureau who is overseeing this project. The forum was originally scheduled to be held much earlier. From there, the date shifted, and now it would be adjusted once more. Honestly, I was concerned about how changing the date multiple times would look. However, rather than forcing it to happen just to keep the schedule, I want to explain the circumstances properly in an interim report and hold it again as a meaningful event. Thinking this way, I decided to readjust it. I believe that more than the postponement itself, it is important to be able to properly explain 'why we are postponing' and 'what we will improve by postponing'.

3. Once decided, move to the next step immediately

After deciding to readjust, I immediately went to greet the potential guest in person. I conveyed what I wanted them to talk about at this forum and the intention behind holding it, and asked them to speak. The result was a yes! One big step forward. The flyer design is already done. All that's left is to do the following after the Obon holiday: * Confirm the event date * Revise the flyer * Officially release it * Inform the relevant parties * Reach out directly to the necessary people. I will push all of this forward at once.

What I felt today

This time, I had some hesitation in the decision to 'postpone.' If you only look at the fact that it couldn't be held as scheduled, you could say it didn't go well. But I think what is truly important in a project is not whether it was held as scheduled, but whether we were able to create a space where the objectives can be achieved. It is possible to hold it while underprepared and create a track record of 'we held the forum for now.' But that is different from what I want to do this time. I want to create a space where people who feel burdened by housework, people involved in support, and people who are already practicing housework support can gather and think together about 'what kind of housework support is needed in this region,' and lead to a subsequent model project. If I think that far, I could see that postponement is also a decision to move the project forward.

Today's learning

* Proceeding according to the planned schedule and protecting the purpose of the project are not the same thing. * It is necessary to check during the preparation process whether 'holding the event' has become the goal itself. * Especially when a schedule change is necessary, it is important to share the situation with stakeholders quickly and frankly. * If you are going to postpone, clarify 'what you will improve by postponing.' * By moving to the next action immediately after making a decision, you prevent the postponement from becoming just a delay. * You just need to gather the necessary pieces one by one, such as guests, flyers, and reaching out to stakeholders.

Future questions

* How can I connect this to a subsequent housework support model without ending it with just 'we were able to hold the forum'? * How can I place the voices of the people who feel burdened by housework at the center of the space? * When the project progress is delayed, can I set up points where I can judge 'is it okay to continue like this' at an earlier stage? * Where are the roles that I can hand over to others, such as public relations or guest coordination?

Researcher's Memo

Looking at the logs for 8/9 and 8/10 in succession, there is an interesting commonality. In the multicultural coexistence project on 8/9, when it almost became the goal to 'gather people and make the event a success,' I was able to return to the question, 'What was this for in the first place?' And 8/10 is the same. Rather than holding the forum as scheduled on August 26th, I prioritized 'what is this forum for' and chose to postpone it. I feel like this is becoming a pattern in my recent practice. Plan -> Start moving -> Means start to become the goal -> Return to the original purpose -> Change the plan if necessary. I think that project management is not just about proceeding according to plan, but also the ability to accompany the project and correct the course when it deviates from the purpose. And this time, it didn't end with the decision to postpone; I went to see the potential guest that same day and even got their agreement to speak. The 'decision to stop' and the 'action to move forward' are set together. I think this is a point I want to keep from this practice.