Tools
For
Networks and Meetings
Paul Webster (Twitter : @watfordgap)
20th March 2013
• Background - What do you do now?
• What do you want to be able to do?
• Ways the tools can help – internal & external networks
• Websites to try* – not to bombard … some clearly stand out
• Tips
• Discussion
• What's next?
(*Disclaimer – Some are very new, I've not tried them all out!)
Topics
The 'problem' both physical and barriersTravel – is it the best way .. digital methods better
Time – capacity to attend
Cost – fuel and staff
Knowledge
Confidence / Fear
Capacity / Resources
Any more?
Don't forget to plan
• Know your objectives and what you want to say• Run an on line partnership meeting
• Research where your audience are – do you know?• Survey and find out, work in spaces where your target audience are
• Plan how to use the tools – have a strategy• One off consultation, Regular event, How do you want to achieve itd
• Choose tool to match audience and implement• Look at what other organisations have done, what works elsewhere?
• Sustain the conversation and say thank you• Encourage people to return, keep it new, links from websites
• Engage with people on line, be receptive, respond, react
• On-line Networking
– Planning, Collaborating
• Meetings
– Less time, travels and costs
• Development Surgeries
– New ways to reach clients and members
• Team Reporting and Building shared knowledge bank
– Collaborative tools and acceptance of media
• Banish Paper!
– Tablet computers for discussion documents & note taking
Ways that on line tools can help
• Focus on building communities of interested people around issues they care about.
• Small highly engaged networks & teams (Task & Finish Groups), better than loose uncontrolled mass of people (NAVCAboodle?)
• Reach people in a style & media where they are – even e-mail!
• Be provocative in posts and leave open questions … but have time and answers to complete the conversations.
• Don't make it a chore – an ever decreasing spiral
– to find .. log in to .. disappointing content .. drops off radar ..
• Make it a place feel at home and want to return to.
• Highly visible outcomes and noticeable changes
(Internal & External) On line networks work well ..
From Flickr – Claire Sutton and justinbaeder
Finding the right tool for the task
• Doodle
– Everyone loves Doodle! Everyone know what Doodle is?
• Google Calendar Sharing for availability
• Yammer
– All information for a dispersed team in one place
– Put up a 'critical' document (mileage claim) or make an announcement
• Ning is similar – but developed to be more public facing
– Your own social network
– Control all access and features
Websites to try - Planning
Dispersed CollaborationYammerPrivate discussion network
What it is- a closed internal network for teams- community for dispersed workers - chat, send open and direct messages- store & share documents - follow groups, people and files- discussion thread notifications online, by email, phone app or text
Free Version- Unlimited size secure, free network for an organisation or team- Discussions, Polls, Groups, Teams, File sharing, - Desktop tool and Smart phone app- Fully customisable notifications by device and frequency- Full control over network and group membership
Paid for Version – From £2.00 per user per month- Custom branding - Tools for bulk user management- Enterprise control over keyword blocking and stats downloads- Enhanced support via telephone and email
Other ones to look at- Ning, Facebook Groups, Google+ Communities
Dispersed CollaborationYammerPrivate discussion network
• Dropbox
– Great for sharing documents between team members
• Google Drive
– Banish paper from meetings!
– Collaborate in real time
– Not Microsoft, so some compatibility checks needed
• Facebook Groups – It's where many people are already
• Huddle
– Very secure team management & project planning site
• Instant public collaboration (Most free = public, paid = private)
– listhings.com, linolit.com - very easy 'corkboards'
– piratepad.net, scribblar.com instant 'wiki' - history playback
Websites to try – Collaborate & Share
CollaborationGoogle Tools (Drive)www.google.co.uk(was Google Docs)
What it is- Google Drive (My Drive offline)- Collaborative document sharing- Online version of Office Software- Documents, Spreadsheets, Forms- Also Presentations & Drawings- Need a (free) Google account- File level control for access / update- Have to be connected to Internet
Maybe consider Yammer or Dropbox
You need a (free)Google account
CollaborationGoogle Tools (Drive)
What it does- Similar editing features to Desktop based Office software - Upload files and share, gather information by Forms- Revisions & rollback changes – view list of revisions- Simultaneous live updating & chat while working together- Secure 'cloud' backup- Doesn't have all features of Office Software- Download .doc / .pdf to Format, Share, Print
Social NetworkingGoogle+
http://www.socialv2.com/google-howto/the-google-shortcuts-and-cheatsheet/
Integrate – With other Google services & Search services
Circles – A natural way to mimic relationships and group friends
Hangouts – Video chat-room, share docs, live stream to YouTube
Mobile App – Very intuitive
Not Just Document Sharing (Google Drive)- Browser (Chrome)- Mail (Very popular and versatile on-line e-mail system)- Reader (Keep up to date with RSS newsfeeds you subscribe to)- Maps and Streetview (Find an organisation and see the building)- Places (Enhanced search result listing & map integration)- Alerts (Instant e-mail notifications when search term mentioned)- Custom Search (Embeddable search for your site or selected range)- Wallet (Secure money transactions)- Adwords (Advertising and keyword promotion)- Sites (Build simple webpages)- Play (Google App store for Android phones)- Plus (Social network, share content in 'Circles' & video 'Hangouts')
Even- Hardware (Chromebook)- Augmented Reality (Glass)
CollaborationGoogle Tools
• Skype
– Free for one to one sessions, premium version for groups
• Google+ Hangouts (10 people)
– Easy to use, can live stream and save to You Tube
– Share whiteboards and files
• Go to Meeting (Robust scalable conferencing)
– Available for charities through CTXchange
• Yammer
– Not as easy to follow along, but key points can be posted
• Other free systems
– WebEx (3 people), ooVoo (12 people)
Websites to try - Meetings
Group CommunicationsSkype – www.skype.com
What it is- voice & video calls over internet- text chat- desktop sharing- distance meetings- reduces travel- one to one only on free version- owned by Microsoft
Group CommunicationsSkype
Free Version- Your Skyple Account and software updates- One to one video and voice calls to anyone else on Skype- Instant messaging and file sharing
Paid for Version – £2.99 introductory fee, normally £5.99 per month- Calls to mobiles and landlines- SMS text messages- Group video chat for up to 10 people- Group screen sharing
Other similar sites to look at- ooVoo, Google+ Hangouts, WebEx
• Surgeries using Skype or Google+
– @cllrharrington – bookable, topic related each week
• Community / Partnership Story Telling
– Share good news & project successes – Com-Phone (Android App)
• Other ways to convey your message – Jing, ScreenR, even Vine
– Short video tutorials
• Live stream (video or audio) events in a community page
– Get an on-line debate started whilst the event is happening
• Have a '#tamesidehour' – Tameside 4 Good open tweetchat
– Public (on Twitter) ways to canvass community views
– Award winning #yorkshirehour
• Traditional forums can work (Sheffield Forum) or can become echo chambers or full of ranting trolls. Need careful management.
Involving Wider Groups and Communities
Events often expensive & time consuming to attend, but great for learning & sharing. Participate online or catch-up on tweets, speaker talks, video interviews and event pictures. Mange in :Hootsuite & Tweetdeck
Following online chat or an topic #hashtag
#chat2lrn
4pm Thur
#nptalk
8pm Wed
#yorkshirehour
8pm Wed
#vcssupportnw
#bigtif etc.
Conversations in :
Twitterfall
Tweetchat
• Recording feedback from sessions
– Video (Bambuser) & Audio (Audioboo) as comfortable
– Better than case studies – volunteer management
• Collaborative documents
– Build shared documents and policies – do live in meetings
• Shared 'social bookmarking' – Digg, Del.ico.us – private or public
• Capturing intelligence and building shared learning environment. Formal system, Google Drive or a Wiki
– LMSs are building this in, snippets Person A has, if recorded and classified correctly can help Person B... or Person C in 12 months time
– Wiki (pbWiki, WikiSpaces) or a Google Doc (less searchable)
Partner feedback to build knowledge bank
• Ticks all the boxes
– Saves time, lower cost, reduces travel
– Instant updates can be rolled out to all learners / volunteers
• Build on line learning programme for new starters & track this
• Direct groups to on demand e-learning as need identified (now), not when next course is being run (6 months)
• Allows network partners to collaborate and build courses
• Systems available from
– Learning Pool – Interactive with Learner Management
– KnowHow NonProfit – Video tutorial based
On-line learning
• Batchgeo – Instant Google Maps pinpoints from spreadsheets
• Doo.net – Advanced 'tagged' cloud file sharing
• Evernote – Fantastically easy way to share files across devices
• Join.me – Screen sharing, chat by text & voice (10 people free)
• Mind Meister – On line collaborative mind mapping
• Speak Pipe – Let your website visitors leave audio feedback
• Text Local – Send SMS messages to team (need to buy credits)
• Trello – Project Mgmt – Team idea sharing & progress tracking
• The App Builder – Build free smartphone apps
• Volunteer Spot – Volunteer scheduling & management software
Various Other Tools
A DriverDedication from the people who want to share
Independent & TransparentMore willing to open up & share if parameters are clear
Jigsaw in it's placeContributing to other networks & feeding from resources
TopicsInteresting, relevant, presented well for the local sector
Energy to keep goingHard work when everyone else has gone back to their day jobs
TimeAssign someone & give them responsibility to manage and feed it
CommunityPeople lead full & busy lives, need clear value
ChangeResponsive and can shift if the landscape or direction changes
Fun & Human Interest Light hearted, birthdays etc. Not always just dry meeting notes!
Tips for Sustaining the Network
• Have a clearly defined purpose and aims for the community
• Give people a reason to visit (share file, announcements, chat)
• Get all participants happily on board with chosen tools
• Make sure the technology works & bandwidth (upload) is good
• Appoint 'champions' – develop step-by-step guide sheets
• Demonstrate the value of contributions by using them
• Treat on line meeting with same importance as one face to face
– Dedicate time & headspace, Privacy, Facilitate, Record notes
• See the strategy through – Sustain, Listen & Revise if needed
On line Networks - Summary
Will they work? Yes / No / Why / Why not?
Which are easy to 'give it a go'?
Which will 'take more effort'?
Which one things will you try out this week?
Summary - Discussion
Links http://www.feverbee.com http://nptechuk.wordpress.com/ https://socialsourcecommons.org/toolbox/show/1006http://agilecomplexificationinverter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/collaboration-tools-list.html http://www.communityhowto.com
Thank You – My Email & Twitter contacts
Paul Webster
paul @ watfordgapservices.org.uk
@watfordgap