Organizational effectiveness/Tool/Support

This page has materials that can support your organization in using the organizational effectiveness tool.

Materials

Here are some materials (such as charts, worksheets, and presentations) that have been created to help organizations use the tool.

A diagram showing how organizations can use the tool: File:How_to_use_the_organizational_effectiveness_tool_for_Wikimedia_organizations_(image).png
A printable version of a diagram showing how organizations can use the tool: File:How_to_use_the_organizational_effectiveness_tool_for_Wikimedia_organizations_(printable).pdf
A presentation about how to use the tool to make a capacity building plan: File:Organizational effectiveness tool for Wikimedia organizations - how it works.pdf
Google spreadsheet templates for analysis using groups of questions: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dps6uwgj85veAIpzs0k7qmpgyWKK3MTCFYNm8NXxzK8/edit?usp=sharing. Grouping questions may help you make more meaning out of your results, especially if you are doing your own analysis and can't share the results with WMF.

Parts of the tool

Organizational effectiveness tool: This includes the questionnaire, the user guide, and the learning center.

1. Organizational effectiveness questionnaire: This is the set of questions 3-7 people in your organization respond to, which will be the basis for your results report.

2. Organizational effectiveness tool user guide: This is the document that helps your organization use each step of the tool. You can use it to prepare for taking the questionnaire, and to interpret your results report.

3. Organizational effectiveness learning center: This is a set of recommendations and resources for each strategy included in the organizational effectiveness tool. It is a knowledge hub that organizations can add to over time, and can be the basis for your capacity building plan.

Questions and answers

Here are some questions that have already been asked and answered. If your question is not included here, please contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org, or add it to the talk page so we can be sure to answer it.

General questions about the organizational effectiveness tool

How is this tool different from just another survey?: This tool includes a questionnaire, which will generate a results report for your organization to analyze. The end goal of the tool is to help your organization make a plan to become more effective in a way that makes sense in your organization's context. While the TCC group will use the initial round of responses from the tool to generate an aggregate report to help Wikimedia organizations learn more about how they are understanding their own effectiveness, the main goal of the questionnaire is to be used by organizations to take real steps toward addressing challenges and leveraging strengths.
Is the point of the tool to find out what organizations are "doing wrong"?: No! The point of the tool is to help organizations identify challenges and strengths. Leveraging strengths is just as important to building capacity as understanding and filling gaps.
Our organization is not sure how to use this tool in our context and would like some help figuring that out. What are our options?: Please contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org if you would like more advice about how to adapt the tool in your context.
What is the role of TCC group in this project?: Wikimedia Foundation has engaged the TCC group to help develop this tool with the input of many Wikimedia organizations. During the initial roll out of the tool, the TCC group will be running the questionnaire and compiling results reports, and will keep individual responses confidential from the Wikimedia Foundation and other stakeholders. The TCC group will help compile an initial report of the aggregate results. The TCC group is in charge of the technical side of running the questionnaire and making the results reports.
What is the role of the Wikimedia Foundation in this project?: The Wikimedia Foundation initiated this project by engaging with the TCC group and Wikimedia organizations, and is supporting Wikimedia organizations as they begin to use the tool. This project is supervised by the WMF's grantmaking team, and specifically by Anasuya Sengupta, Director of Grantmaking, and Winifred Olliff, Program Officer. Additionally, the Wikimedia Foundation at large can also benefit from the use of this tool to discuss its own effectiveness.
What is the role of Wikimedia organizations in this project?: This work has grown out of the work and experience of many volunteers and staff involved with Wikimedia organizations of all types. We started with a survey of Wikimedia organizations, and continued with rounds of interviews and case studies. Over time, we hope that Wikimedia organizations will take the lead in developing the tool and the accompanying learning center.

Questions about the questionnaire

We think some stakeholders in our organization have useful information to offer through the questionnaire, but will not be able to answer every question. Should we ask people in our organization to use the questionnaire even if they cannot complete every section?: Yes, respondents are free to skip different sections. Not everyone in your organization needs to complete the same exact sections for the tool to work.
We read in the user guide that three to seven people in our organization should take the questionnaire, but we only have two people available to take the questionnaire. Will we be able to use the tool with just two respondents?: Yes, you can still use the tool with two respondents, although your results will be more accurate with more respondents. You can consider asking some people to complete some parts of the questionnaire, even if they can't answer every question that is relevant to your organization. This might help you find more people to respond, and make your results more useful.
People in our organization with the most relevant insights into our work do not all speak English. How can we use the tool?: Some organizations have worked to translate a version of the questionnaire and user guide on Meta-Wiki. Another approach is to offer respondents a workshop or individualized coaching, where English-speaking members of your organization can help them take the questionnaire. If translation is a big challenge or barrier for your organization, please contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org, so we can work on finding a solution that works for your organization.
Can respondents reply in a language other than English?: Yes! It will help TCC to translate and compile your results if you let them know about this in advance and can volunteer someone from your group to help out with translation.
The link to the questionnaire won't work! Is it broken?: The link to the questionnaire only allows one response from each IP address and may not allow you to respond again from the same IP address. Please contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org, so we can put you in touch with the TCC group, who is running this survey.
Will Wikimedia Foundation see my organization's individual results?: No, individual results are kept private and will be processed by the TCC group, who will compile an aggregrate report. The Wikimedia Foundation will not see your organization's results unless you choose to share them.
Will my responses to the questionnaire affect funding decisions about my organization?: No, responses to the questionnaire for each organization will be kept private unless each organization wishes to share that information with the Wikimedia Foundation, or with other funders.
Why is this questionnaire so long?: This questionnaire is lengthy because it applies to many different types of organizations engaged in many different strategies. We do not expect every strategy listed in the questionnaire to be relevant to every organization, which is why the questionnaire includes an option to skip each question when it is not relevant to your organization.
Is there an option for our organization to receive a more detailed report that shows individual responses?: Your organization may have the option to receive a more detailed report, if you need one. The report will not identify individual respondents.
Our organization has staff. Should our organization ask staff complete the questionnaire, or volunteers?: It’s really about who is in the best position to answer the questions, so that should be your guiding rule. Ideally, if your organization has staff you would ask a mix of staff and volunteers to take the questionnaire so that your organization can get a richer perspective, especially on issues that may affect staff and volunteers differently.
The User Guide recommends that 3-7 people in our organization take the questionnaire, but we think our organization would benefit from having more people respond or we have more than 7 people interested in responding. Can we request that more than 7 people take the questionnaire?: Yes! While our guidelines recommend a group of 3-7 respondents, your organization may know that more than 7 respondents will work better in your context. For example, your organization may have some people with expertise in different work areas / strategies, or may be looking for a specific balance of board members vs. other volunteers on your panel of respondent. Especially for larger organizations, having more than 7 people respond could make good sense.
What is the ideal ratio of board members, volunteers who are not board members, and staff, who should respond to the questionnaire?: For organizations with staff, the User Guide recommends that more volunteers than staff respond. For all organizations, the User Guide recommends that more volunteers who are not on the board respond than volunteers who are on the board. The reason for this recommendation is to get a more balanced response from your organization that includes many perspectives. This may not make sense for every single organization with staff, so organizations should feel free to adapt these ratios to their own contexts.. For example, your organization may have many board members who are very interested in responding, or who have diverse points of view that need to be included. A good general principle, is to make sure there is healthy representation from each group.

Questions about the user guide

What is the role of the "point person" mentioned in the User Guide?: The User Guide and Learning Center have some suggestions for the role of the point-person. That person may take on the role of deciding whom to invite to take the questionnaire from your organization and asking people to follow up by a certain date. This person may also be in charge of making sure your results report is shared with the relevant stakeholders and discussed. If it makes sense for your organization, you may have a group of people fill this role with the "point person" or several "point people" as the lead. The point person may also be the one responsible for coordinating communication between your organization and WMF, or your organization and the TCC group.

Questions about the learning center

Our organization uses a strategy that is not included in the tool or the learning center. Can we add it?: Absolutely! There is a section on the learning center's main page where you can suggest strategies to develop together.
Our organization already does a lot of the recommendations listed. Is there more we can do?: Yes! Check out the community resources added in your area, or contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org to talk more about your organization's specific situation.

People who can help!

You can contact orgeffectiveness at wikimedia dot org if you need additional support in using this tool. This address will reach Winifred Olliff, Program Officer at Wikimedia Foundation.
If you need support but prefer not to contact WMF, or have a technical concern around the questionnaire, the TCC group is also available to help out right now. You can contact Rika at rgorn at TCCgrp dot com.
As the tool gets rolling and Wiimedia organizations and members of AffCom are more familiar with the tool, we can also list volunteers from those groups who can help out here.