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Organisational development

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There is currently a gap in the provision of support, training and shared learning available to Wikimedia Movement organisations.

Running a Wikimedia movement organisation (chapter, user group, thematic organisation, and indeed the Foundation) is quite difficult. There are many challenges, and these challenges vary throughout the life of an organisation. Giving volunteers the skills and confidence to take on these challenges is important for the future health of the Wikimedia movement.

Principles

These are some principles about how to tackle these issues.

  • Doing this is everyone's job. There is no single body responsible for training and supporting movement organisations (the Wikimedia Chapters Association aimed to, but didn't work out). So, it is a responsibility that all movement entities have, in whatever form!
  • Encourage initiative. We should encourage people to set things up and experiment. No-one is able to "solve" the issue right away. So it's more important to take practical, concrete steps for part of the picture, than it is to try to work out a solution to the whole thing.
  • Use knowledge wherever it can be found. Different people and organisations, both inside and outside the movement, have different pieces of the picture. From within the movement, there are people with skills and experience who will be happy to share them. Outside the movement, there are national and international sector bodies and consultants who can advice.
  • Share plans, ideas and results. It will be important to learn from different organisational development initiatives.

Training and development needs

Part of the problem is that we don't have any systematic view of what the development needs of Wikimedia organisations are.

The WMF Grantmaking team surveyed a number of boards of movement organisations to get some data on what issues Boards face. The results can be found here.

Wikimedia organization board governance survey 2014
Wikimedia organization board governance survey 2014
  • Governance:
    • The role of a non-profit board; Board self-development.
  • Strategy development:
    • How to develop a strategy, effective goal-setting.
  • Hiring and working with staff:
    • Relationships between boards and EDs, defining boundaries, effective management.
  • Personal effectiveness:
    • Time management; Resolving conflict and disagreement; Negotiation skills; Managing stress.
  • Board effectiveness:
    • Effective teambuilding.
  • Dealing with annual plans & reporting.
  • Successfully planning multiday events while avoiding common pitfalls.
  • ++ please add more.

Methods and resources

Training workshops

Peer-review and mentoring

A small number of peer reviews have taken place:

Shared experience

Some Wikimedia movement entities have created records of their learning experiences to share with the movement:

Online learning

Strategy development

Conflict management

Who do we know in the movement who can help out with this stuff?

Name Languages Location Time zone Specialization
Benjamin Mako Hill en, am-1, fr-1 Seattle UTC-8 free knowledge/culture scientist/activist, assistant professor of communication at University of Washington
Dariusz Jemielniak (Pundit) pl, en-4, de-1, ru-1 Warsaw/Copenhagen UTC+2 professor of management interested in strategy and technology startups development
Aaron Shaw en Chicago UTC-6 assistant professor of communication at Northwestern studying mobilization and engagement in online systems
Piotr Konieczny pl, en-4 Seoul UTC+9 assistant professor of sociology in Seoul, studying peer-production governance

Please add more

To Do

  • How to hire your first staff member
    • strong focus on prerequisites e.g. your organisation's plans and impact; agreeing the management structure (one line manager not whole board!)
  • More structured materials on how to avoid burnout (based on notes/learnings from the 2 workshops)
    • personal effectiveness, communication methods; managing your own time and expectations
  • Risk management (?)