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Planning an Online Interaction

Discover the importance of planning for online interactions to achieve your goals, make it easier for yourself and others, and make good choices along the way. Gain insight into when to plan, who should be involved, and how to effectively share and gain commitment to the plan. Learn about key elements such as purpose, target audience, timeline, types of interactions, pre-assessment, guidelines and governance, roles, content and experts, technology, orientation, facilitation, materials, evaluation, reporting, and lessons learned.

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Planning an Online Interaction

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  1. Planning an Online Interaction "He who fails to plan, plans to fail" Anonymous Proverb  

  2. 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  

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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!

  6. 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.

  7. 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

  8. 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!

  9. Target Audience • What do they know? • What tech skills do they have? • What motivates them/what do they want? • Demographic information • Contact information

  10. 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

  11. 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?

  12. Pre-Assessment • Besides audience assessment, what else do you need to know? • Resources needed? • Tech support? • Translation? • Offline logistics for F2F meetings?

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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)

  16. 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?

  17. Technology • Who will design/structure the online space? • Who will handle registration of participants? • Who will help those with difficulties?

  18. 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?

  19. Facilitation • Do you have someone who has familiarity with online facilitation? • If not, plan to get training from Project Harmony trainers.

  20. Materials • What might you need? • Project overview sheet (Purpose) • Participant list • Invitation • Orientation documents • Pre/Post surveys • Other?

  21. 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)

  22. 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

  23. 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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