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Planning an Online Interaction
"He who fails to plan, plans to fail"
Anonymous Proverb
Why Plan?
• To achieve your goals
• To make it easier for you
• To make it easier to have others help you by having a clear plan
• To make good choices along the way
"Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"
Anonymous Proverb
When to Plan?
• For partnerships, 4-8 weeks prior to start of online activity
• For events, 4-12 weeks prior to start of event, depending on size and complexity
Who Plans?
• Project leader(s)
• Should include key partners/collaborators
• One person should be ultimately responsible
• Should be written out with sufficient detail for others to carry out tasks
Planning and Leadership
• Good leaders have a plan.
• Plans allow you to share tasks with others and establish clear roles – people appreciate this.
• Plans show you are organized and people will trust you more!
Sharing the Plan – Gaining Commitment
"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans."
Peter F. Drucker
• Get the commitment of your partners
• Make adjustments as needed.
Level of Detail
• Defines key tasks
• Attaches a date to each task/milestone
• Attaches a lead person responsible to each task
• Articulates “why we are doing this task” as much as possible
Purpose
• Purpose must be established first. (See Purpose Checklist)
• Each element of the plan should reflect and support the purpose.
• If it doesn’t serve the purpose, ask if the task should be done at all!
Target Audience
• What do they know?
• What tech skills do they have?
• What motivates them/what do they want?
• Demographic information
• Contact information
Time Frame – Timeline
• Events: 2-4 weeks
• Projects: cycle of group formation, work, review, evaluation and celebration (1-9 months)
• Mix of online and offline components
• Synchronous “punctuation points”
• Create a calendar and share
Types of Interactions
Ongoing discussions or question & answer? Focused or wide-ranging? Topics defined in advance or ongoing by
participants? Intellectual? Social? Sensitive? Controversial? Will they generate content/knowledge that needs
to be captured? Synchronous (same time) and/or asynchronous
(different time) interactions? Is there a potential language barrier?
Pre-Assessment
• Besides audience assessment, what else do you need to know?
• Resources needed?
• Tech support?
• Translation?
• Offline logistics for F2F meetings?
Guidelines, Rules & Governance
• Keep them simple and clear
• Make sure they align with organizational/partner/school requirements
• Know who makes final decisions if disagreement occurs
• Decide how to communicate the rules to participants
Example: Participation Expectations
• Leaders and facilitators will check online space daily
• Participants will log on at least 2x per week
• Everyone will actively participate in discussions by posting at least once per week
RolesYou Don’t Have to Do It All Alone
• Potential Roles– Leader/Project Manager– Technical Support– Facilitator(s)– Translator– Cybrarian– Logistics– Subject Matter Expert(s)
Content and Experts
• Does your purpose require supporting materials online? (papers, reports, data)
• Do you require subject matter experts to lead specific events or discussions?
• Do you require experts to be “on call” to answer questions?
Technology
• Who will design/structure the online space?
• Who will handle registration of participants?
• Who will help those with difficulties?
Orientation
• How will you introduce the project/event to the participants?
• How will you show them how to use the online tool?
• How will you orient them to the project agenda/plan and online space?
• Offline? Online? Both?
Facilitation
• Do you have someone who has familiarity with online facilitation?
• If not, plan to get training from Project Harmony trainers.
Materials
• What might you need?– Project overview sheet (Purpose)– Participant list– Invitation– Orientation documents– Pre/Post surveys– Other?
Evaluation
• Make sure pre and post evaluation plans complement each other
• Know and include any evaluation requirements of partners/funders
• Have a way to USE the data you gain from evaluation (don’t evaluate just to have done the steps of evaluation)
Reporting
• Capture participant and leader stories throughout the project
• Publish useful and relevant reports and stories to constituents, sponsors and the public
• Combine data, text and picture for an engaging report
Lessons Learned for “Next Time”
• After Action Review
• What did you do that you would do again because it went well?
• What would you not do/change next time?
• How will you share these lessons with others to build capacity and sustainability over time?
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