“Social media is using the Internet to collaborate, share information, and have a conversation about ideas, and causes we care about, powered by web based tools.” – [We Media]

Background
From the learnings from the successful pilot (See blog posts about the event), and second  Social Media Online Workshop, the CGIAR through its ICT-KM Program, is pleased to offer a new online opportunity for social media explorations, this time with the specific objective to embed social media in participants’ contexts of international development work. This fully online workshop will run from September 7 to 25, 2009.

Social media offers development practitioners and organizations a move from “push” communications towards a place where we can interact with our constituents, listen and engage with them in ways we never could before. It enables us to network with colleagues and some stakeholders. If facilitates collaboration in the lab and in the field.

Social media also offers so many options that it can be overwhelming. This workshop focuses on exploration of social media from some specific development contexts. So instead of saying “there is a tool, how can we use it,” this workshop seeks to answer “we need to do this activity, how can social media support it and under what circumstances.”

If you ask yourself questions like these, you might consider joining the workshop:

• How can I support collaboration in wide-spread teams?
• How can I provide opportunities for open dialogue with my stakeholders?
• How do we support communities of practice and thematic networks, online and offline?
• How do we share our content and knowledge effectively online?
• How can we make use of social media under low-bandwidth constraints?

This online workshop is designed for researchers, research and development communications professionals and knowledge sharing practitioners.

Objectives of the workshop
This three week online workshop will provide a collaborative, peer based learning opportunity for you, as development practitioners, to address if and how social media can help address your needs, opportunities or challenges related to collaboration, participation, or communication. By the end of the workshop you should be able to understand and analyze the opportunities that social media can offer in the view of your specific research and development context, identify some potential tools and create a plan of action.

During this workshop you will:

• Identify possibles usages of social media through small group synchronous and full group asynchronous conversation, exploring opportunities and constraints related to your work.
• Obtain an understanding and appreciation of the role and value of social media.
• Explore 2-3 different social media tools which may be appropriate for your context.
• Start to plan the implementation of one or more social media tools that fit our work environment.
• Learn from participants of mixed professional and organizational backgrounds.

Outline of the 3-week event

• Week 1 to 2 – Context and Application of Social Media: Introductions, and telephone conversations in small groups to assess your research for/and development context and identify opportunities for social media practices.
• Week 2 to 3 – Testing Social Media Tools. Explore select social media tools in small groups.
• Finalizing week 3 – Reflection for Action. Reflect on individual and group learning of the past two weeks and  create an initial plan for social media implementation.

Maximum Number of participants: 18

Language: English

Participant Requirement/Dedicated time: This workshop offers an in-depth exploration of social media tools adapted to your specific context with personalized support and work in small groups. To do this, we ask the following of each participant:

• Organize your agenda to dedicate up to 1-1/2 hours per day during the three weeks. If you will be on travel and won’t have time in a particular week, save some time for “catch up.” If you will not be able to participate in more than one week, please consider taking a future workshop. It will become hard to catch up after missing significant time.
• Participate in weekly telecons of  60-90 minutes. These are scheduled for the afternoons for those in Europe and Africa, mornings for North and South American, and evenings for Asia. We will try to accomodate all time zones as best we can.
• Read and respond to blog posts
• Explore at least 2 tools
• Reflect and share your learnings on the workshop blog and wiki
• Complete a pre- and post-workshop survey.

Open to: CGIAR staff, not for profit partners, agricultural and development organizations. Individuals, consultants and members of for profit organizations may join on a space available basis as the unsubsidized rate. (See costs below)

Platform: Blog, Skype and/or telephone, email and wiki. Our teleconference platform allows you to call for free using Skype. If you choose to use a landline for the conference calls, you will be responsible for long-distance costs. You should have regular access to the Internet. Some tools may not be accessible for those with low bandwidths. You may need to check with your IT department, as some web-based services you wish to explore may be currently blocked in your organization and you may need to seek support to access them.

Facilitators: Nancy White (Full Circle Associates), Simone Staiger-Rivas (CGIAR-CIAT), Pete Shelton (IFPRI)

Cost: USD$ 850. Individuals who work for for-profits or consultants: USD$ 1050.

Contact: Please write to Simone Staiger-Rivas (s.staiger[at]cgiar.org) for questions and subscription by August, 10 at the latest.

Three CGIAR-related blogs we’ve come across recently:

Rural Climate Exchange: Connecting agricultural and environmental science to the climate change agenda

“The Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and their partners generate a wealth of knowledge that can better enable rural people in developing countries to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts. The purpose of this blog is to help bring such knowledge to light, so it can better serve global efforts to cope with climate change.“

Crop Genebank Knowledge Base Blog: this is the blog of the Crop Genebank Knowledge Base promoted by the Systemwide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP).

The Regional Plan in Eastern and Southern Africa Blog: last but not least, the blog of the CGIAR Regional Plan for Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Regional Plan in eastern and southern Africa, is the evolving, collaborative program of a network of the fifteen CGIAR Centers with Sub-Regional Organizations, FARA, regional networks and voluntary partners primarily from national agricultural institutes and universities that aims to add value to ongoing agricultural research in eastern and southern Africa.

Our colleagues at the ESA Regional Plan have recently published two reports based on the data collected in the CGIAR Research Map in Africa, powered by CGMap and based on the Google engine behind the system:

• An Analysis of the Agricultural Components That CGIAR Centers Deal In (ILRI, IITA and CIAT)
• It is estimated that 70 % of the CGIAR Centers are partnering with NARS partners – Myth or Fact!

By the way, the CGIAR Research Map in Africa was selected as one of the top ten entries in the 2009 Science Forum Poster Competition on the theme “ICTs:  Enabling Agricultural Science to Be a Social Endeavour”. Check the announcement on the GFAR Website.

Special thanks to Simone Staiger and Evelyn Katingi for sharing the good news.

What else is out there? Post a comment and let us all know!

Stories in the latest newsletter:

• Reinventing Agricultural Science
• Finding the Right Pathway
• Rice Science in the Digital Age
• Social Media Kick-off at CIAT
• Knowledge Sharing: Chapter Two Comes to a Close
• Social Media Workshop 2: Don’t Get Left Behind
• Social Media Tools Blog Series: And Then There Were Ten…
• Hackers in the House

Enjoy and let us know what you like the most.

Today it was an insightful day in the structures of an organization. The delivery of the class was interesting…it was like going to a film club.

We watched scenes from “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” where to avoid prison McMurphy pretends to be insane and serves time in an asylum ward controlled by Nurse Ratched who rules the asylum with an iron fist, controlling every aspect until the inmates form coalitions to counter her will. We looked at the nature of organizational politics. It is a jungle, where might is right, the big animals eat the small ones, Where 3 is 2 against 1! So coalition is the recipe for survival, especially in time of scarce resources. The leaders sharpen a competitive spirit, followers act in solidarity. It can be quite a depressing environment…especially if you do not how to survive in the lion’s den!

How many “Nurses Ratched” can you count in your organization?

Hint! A coping strategy: “EVLN”: If you have trouble to fit in this frame here are your choices:
E for Exit, get out!
V for Voice: speak up, ask for help, build coalitions.
L for loyalty, work with the system.
N for Neglect, psychologically check-out while remaining in position.

The choice is yours!

Ghandi’s life was the inspiration for the next film clip. The 1982 Oscar grand slam featured Ghandi when he decides to challenge the Royal monopoly on salt-making in India through civil disobedience. The movie was full of symbols – compelling signs with a significance. Salt as independence, the white clothing as solidarity, the sunset as the end of the British empire, the lighthouse as symbol of hope …..

Ghandi an inspiration for all, representing a compelling value system, embodying justice and shared beliefs. He brings inspiration and a sense of authenticity. Ghandi’s equivalent in an organization is the “fearless leader” one who inspires confidence, one that we would follow blindly, who provides the glue that holds the organization together. Quite compelling….who in your organization inspires you?

“Five Easy Pieces” features a brilliant Jack Nicholson, a lapsed pianist on his way to see his ailing father who stops with a group of friends at a roadside café to have a meal…. Things quickly go wrong when he demands a toast…. not on the menu. The waitress refuses to “break the rules” and Nicholson shows the best of his acting! Should the waitress have been more flexible, and Nicholson willing to meet half way?

This clip was meant to show us the importance of human development, should the waitress have been better trained? But also I wonder: Should Nicholson learn some manners? Do we think we can fix all with some training?

“Twelve O’Clock High” a 1949 film about a military operation during world War II showed the importance of firm leadership in an organizational structure.

Every organizations has in some measure all of these aspects, the question is do we know how to balance? How to adjust according to organizational need? Do we have too much of a jungle? Too little inspirational culture?

And if so….what are we going to do about it?

Lately, we’ve been receiving many requests from people who would like to write documents collaboratively.

This is not the first time we write about this topic: Meena published a general overview of collaborative writing approaches, and Silvia Renn shared tips on writing proposals with Google Docs.

Having been involved in the Google Apps Case Study and currently in CGXchange 2.0, I’d like to share my experience with Google Docs and Google Sites since I’ve found these tools are helping me and the ICT-KM team improve the way we work.  In particular, I’m sharing tips for organizing comments and edits so that every collaborator feels comfortable with the tools and the collaborative writing process.

Enjoy and share your experience and feedback!

Google Docs

Google Docs is a hosted (online) service where you can create, store and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and online forms. You can also import documents from MS Office and Open Office: Google Docs will convert them to HTML and make them available for you to work on them on your own or share for viewing or editing by selected people or  the world.

With Google Docs you can:

• Share your project documents and other useful resource materials with collaborators in different parts of the world;
• Allow your collaborators to view and edit  online documents; this eliminates the problem of having several edited draft versions that arise out of email-based collaboration;
• Organize your project information in one online location with the added benefits of search and chat;
• Collaborators can access it from any computer with Internet access. They won’t lose work because it saves automatically. Users can also access the Google documents offline if they install Google Gears and synchronize them (this is a great option for low-bandwidth users that cannot be connected all the time).

Tips for smooth collaboration with Google Docs

Google Docs is a great tool to write documents collaboratively because it’s online so anyone with an Internet connection (even low-bandwidth users) can easily reach the document. Plus, it’s got version history: you can have up to 10 people editing at the same time and you can see their names at the bottom of the page.

Working with so many people at a time can be confusing and someone may easily remove what others have written. In this case, a good practice is to agree with the collaborators that they should not delete content, but instead add comments to something that in their opinion should be removed. Anyway, the version history function will help you keep track of the changes in the document.

Remember that with your Google account you also have GTalk, Google instant messenger, enabled: this allows you to chat with your colleagues as you are editing in real-time so you can easily avoid overlaps.

If your goal is to publish the final document, you should consider that writing styles can vary, and all the ideas your collaborators provide may not be relevant for the final document. It could then be a good idea to identify a moderator who is in charge of capturing the edits/comments and finalizing the document.

Note that while Google Docs is excellent for basic editing and collaborative writing, you still need support from other tools for final formatting and presentation, once the collaborative input has come to an end (E.g: MS Word, Adobe InDesign).

If you have already started a document in Word, you can upload it to Google Docs (with .doc extension – maximum 500k). It will be converted to the Google Doc format and be available for you to start sharing it with collaborators.

Google Docs also allows you to upload these other file types:

• Microsoft Word 2007 (with .docx extension), Rich Text (.rtf), OpenDocument Text (.odt) and StarOffice (.sxw).
• Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps).
• Spreadsheets: Comma Separated Vale (.csv), Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx) files and OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods)
• PDF (that you would be able to view only)

How to insert comments on Google Docs

Place your cursor next to the area on which you would like to comment. Then, select Insert> Comment, and a highlighted line will appear.

Add a comment

You can have as many comments as you like. You can also discard comments, add to them, and change their color by right-clicking on them.

Using a different color for each participant

Version History

Go to Tools > Revision History and you will see the different versions available: click on any one version to display it. You can revert to the one you’re viewing by clicking on Revert to this version .

Google Docs Revision History

Google Sites

While Google Docs is a great tool to collaboratively write documents, I found that Google Sites is a great alternative when you have more than one document to edit and when you want to share additional information at the same time.

Google Sites is a wiki-based solution that allows you to quickly gather a variety of information in one place – including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and text- and easily share it for viewing or editing bya small group, the entire organization, or the world.

In the CGIAR we experimented the collaborative writing of 6 documents using a collaborative Google Site with more than 25 people distributed worldwide and I must admit this was quite a successful experience…

We started from a base document in Word.  We created a page for each document and sub-pages for each section of the document, so that the invited collaborators could write their comments or edit online. Then, we appointed a moderator to keep track of the changes and provide the final document based on the comments posted on the site. When the document was final, it was uploaded again to the site for another round of comments, wherever necessary.

Tips for managing comments and edits on Google Sites

If you already have a Word version of the document, upload the document on the page and ask people to download and print the document.

Create a page for each section of the document to facilitate the edits and comments per section, and copy and paste the content to the page. (Note: if the document is very long and you don’t want to create a page per section, you may want to consider Google Docs instead). In our case, the initial document was uploaded as an attachment, then the content was copied and pasted to each page and collaborators made general comments.

How to organize commenting on a Google Site page (click to enlarge)

If collaborators have comments on the section in general, they can use the Comments area at the bottom of the page to post their comments.

Comment box

Another way to comment on the site is to click on Edit Page and add the comment directly in the page itself using a different color and writing name or initials to easily distinguish the collaborators.

In-line comments in a Google Site page (click to enlarge)

Want to get started with Docs and Sites?

For CGIAR Users: CGIAR users can request an account at cgxchange.org Google Apps Education Edition. Browse the Get Started guides to Collaboration Tools, in particular Documents, but also Spreadsheets and Presentations.

For users outside of the CGIAR: To set up an account, go to http://docs.google.com or http://sites.google.com and find there the instructions. You can either set up a Gmail account or create a Google Account with your existing email address. For a Google account, you can just enter your current email address and select a password. This would allow you to take advantage of all the free Google services.

How to get started with Google Sites

1. Create the Google Site. For CGIAR users: follow these instructions and watch How to create a Google Sites video. You can also watch an introduction to Google Sites and browse examples

2. Create pages. Start creating your wiki pages: each page allows users to upload documents and comments. Watch How to edit a Google Site video or read this tutorial on CGXchange 2.0

3. Share the site. When your site is ready, make sure that the people you need to invite to edit and comment have a Gmail or Google account.

Conclusions

Usually when I need to write a document, I start with a Google Doc, and then invite the people that I need to collaborate with. If I have additional content to share in relation to the same topic or project, usually I consider a Google Site which allows me to add and share web pages, documents, videos, calendars, Google gadgets and more. Actually, you can even embed the Google document you started on a Google Site as well (just remember to share the Doc with all the people that have permissions on the Site).

Note that while Google Docs and Google Sites are great tools for collaborative text processing, they are not so efficient for final document layout (at least for now);  in order to provide a final document layout, you still have to use other specific word processing or desktop publishing tools (E.g. Word, Adobe tools). Remember that you can decide which tool to use depending on your situation; but if you ask me, I would suggest you try them both so you can understand which tool is best depending on your particular situation.

If you have any other collaborative writing experiences, we would be pleased to hear about them, so until the next time…happy writing!

Today while a group was being coached by media professionals, others played a team building game where a group of us seating around a table was given a set of shapes – two pieces were missing from the set and we had to identify the missing pieces in 30 minutes. Piece of cake you would say…yeah, right… the only caveat…we were blindfolded. It was a horrific experience. We had to wear the blindfold from the very beginning, even when we were given instructions – for me this was the first moment of frustration….. I realized I cannot follow instructions if I cannot see – some may argue I cannot follow instructions period, but that’s not the point here.

Three teams were playing. At the end of the period, and despite an extension of 10 minutes nobody could identify the missing pieces. Frustrated, we took a break to re-gather a few minutes later to debrief on what we could have done differently…on what we could have done as a team to get to success. Bear in mind, the groups were extremely diverse, we never worked together before, we came from different countries, different background, very few were English mother tongue…. This is an occasion where diversity did not help. We did not have a common understanding, we did not have common grounds, we had different ways to express ourselves, referring to a piece in our hands as “This” does not help when you cannot see. We did not identify a leader….we did not spend any time agreeing on what the task at hand was…we all started from our understandings and the assumptions others understood the same, we did not spend enough time checking on progress as time was passing, we just concentrated on the task at hand, we set to work immediately, trying to get the job done without planning, without agreeing on roles, on responsibilities..just charging ahead…. A big lesson, learned at the expense of a frustrating afternoon.

Working with blindfold made me think of working with colleagues virtually….when you cannot see a person everything seems so much more difficult!

MBTI

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument was developed by Isabel Myers and Katharina Briggs as an application of Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types.

This theory suggests that we have opposite ways of
- gaining energy (Extraversion and Introversion),
- gathering or becoming aware of information (Sensing or Intuition)
- deciding or coming to a conclusion about information (Thinking or Feeling) and
- dealing with the world around us (Judging or Perceiving).

If you prefer Extraversion you focus on the outside world to get energy through interacting with other people. You are gregarious, expressive, active…
If you prefer Introversion, you focus on the inner world and get energy through reflecting on information, ideas, concepts. You may like spending time alone, to reflect, decompress, there is so much of the external environment you can take in at once.
—-
If you prefer Sensing, you notice and trust facts, details, and present realities. You are realistic, practical…

If you prefer Intuition, you trust interrelationships, theories and future possibilities. You are abstract, conceptual, original..
—-
If you prefer Thinking, you make decisions using logical, objective analysis. You are reasonable, critical…

If you prefer Feeling, you make decisions to create harmony by applying person-centered values. You are empathetic, accommodating, accepting…
—-
If you prefer Judging, you tend to be organized and orderly and to make decisions quickly. You are systematic, planful, methodical….and probably you can tell by looking at your closet or your desk at work! A typical Judging type will look for the 5 basic steps to becoming more flexible 

If you prefer Perceiving you tend to be flexible and adaptable and to keep your options open as long as possible. You are spontaneous, open-ended…. You do not need to plan a holiday in advance…. You just go with the flow!

It is assumed that each of us has, in one measure or another, all 8 types, but we have a natural preference for 4 of them, just like we have a natural preference to use the right or the left hand. There is no right or wrong…this is not an instrument to measure your skills, but rather a way to help you identify your style and to appreciate other people’s style so you may better understand why they act in a certain way.

I first took the MBTI about 10 years ago I was in a very different job, very different circumstances (not last I was 10 years younger!)…but was really surprised to see my preferences had changed quite dramatically. I will not dwell on what type I am now, all I will say is that the trait “Original” is the most dominant among my sub-traits, the typical trait of someone who looks for what could be better, new or different. Who always strives to improve, who likes being original, often seen as both creative and practical and may occasionally surprise others by going off in a new direction.

My type was summarized with the following adjectives: Original, Reasonable, Questioning, Critical, Tough, Early Starting….Yes, I can see myself there.

Fun bit: ‘TJs” types seem to be over-represented in the management ranks.
The only ‘preference’ that has a gender bias: Feeling (well – we kind of suspected that!)
Remember: While preferences stay the same Behaviours CAN change! No excuses!
Try out http://www.keirsey.com – they offer a similar test you can do for free on the web.

When we began our blog series on Social Medial Tools two months ago, we had no idea how successful it would be. Feedback from readers has been positive and encouraging, so much so that Meena Arivananthan (who has written the series with input from Antonella Pastore and Simone Staiger-Rivas) finished the tenth post on these tools a few days ago. And there’s no stopping her.

For easy reference, we have assembled the various links to these mini tutorials below, so you can now tell at a glance where to get help on newsfeeds, wikis, microblogging, and much, much more:

1. Microblogging
Looks at microblogging tools like Twitter and Yammer

2. Blogging for impact
Blogging and agricultural research

3. Social Media: how do you know it’s working?
Incorporating social media into your communications strategy

4. Social Networks: friend or foe?
Using social networking sites to your advantage

5. Social Media: Are You Listening?
Practicing social media listening

6. Social Bookmarking: storm-a-brewing
Social bookmarking and the CGIAR

7. Wikis, sites, docs and pads: the many flavours of collaborative writing
Tools for collaborative writing

8. Are newsletters a dying breed?
How effective are e-newsletters today?

9. Newsfeeds: delivering the latest news to your virtual doorstep; and ways to share it!
Taking advantage of newsfeeds

10. Put it out there! Tools for photo, video and slideshow sharing
How to share photos, videos and slideshows

Phil Collin’s “You can’t hurry love” is one of my favourite songs of the ’80s. And it is a song that came to mind as I woke up thinking abour organizational change. Well…read on, they do have something in common.

Phil Collins says

“My mama said
You cant hurry love
No, youll just have to wait
She said love dont come easy
But its a game of give and take
You cant hurry love
No, youll just have to wait
Just trust in a good time
No matter how long it takes

How many heartaches must I stand
Before I find the love to let me live again
Right now the only thing that keeps me hanging on
When I feel my strength, ooh, its almost gone

I remember mama said
You cant hurry love
No youll just have to wait
She said love dont come easy
Its a game of give and take
How long must I wait
How much more must I take
Before loneliness
Will cause my heart, heart to break”

Well, think about it in organizational terms. How long are we willing to stay true to our commitment to change? how many heartaches, difficulties, moments when you feel “why am I doing this” are we willing to live through before we give up, how long are we willing to nurture the people around us and help them go through it? How may seeds are we willing to spread in the hope one of them will blossom? How many times are we willing to take the punch, fall, but get up and start walking again? How many projects we are not willing to see through to success because we just cannot stand the course? How many good ideas are we willing to be responsible to see fail because we just do not have the courage to carry on?

In the case we looked at the other day here at IMD, we saw that for change to really “stick”, for culture to change deeply, for change to be adopted so that there is not relapse, it takes on average 10 years. Basic a generational change. Ten years of commitment, to ensure that just superficial changes in the “observable artifacts” trickle all the way down to the soul of an organization, to its DNA, to change those basic assumptions that are its foundations.

Ten years is a long time one may argue…. but if we know this is what it takes, we should have the honesty to only start those changes that we are willing to see through to success, otherwise just do not even start.

PS: thanks Simone for sharing with me today an example of how one of the pilots we started with our program is now bearing fruits…. yes, change can happen… just stay the course!

We were given the task of designing a communication plan to convince a group of (very stubborn) leaders and managers of a company to implement a new system in their company. It was a computer simulated exercise, we were given an organigram, some clues about the individuals, a credit of 120 days to convince all 24 top managers to adopt the new system (and be happy at the end of it, and try to keep our job!). We were split in groups of 4 and told them we had a few tools, no time limit (the test was the only thing between us and lunch though!) and we were wished good luck…..Easy (thought some if us)….well…. it was quite challenging, no matter what we tried, some simply refused to “just do it”. So we had to find out about internal politics, about influence networks, who the early adopters are, who goes for lunch with whom, who are the “passive aggressive” who is willing to spend his “goodwill account” (or I prefer calling it his brownie-point bag) to help you, whether hierarchical relationships are more important than the informal networks….3 hours later and with zero credit we had convinced 95% of the group, not the whole group, but we were pretty happy with the results and learned a lot of do’s and don’ts along the way and the 4 in the team happily went for lunch together (I mean we were still talking to each other despite the radically divergent opinions on whether sending a decree was more effective than having a one-to-one meetings).

What are some of the take-home messages from this exercise about using communication to manage a transition?
Find out early who is committed to the change, target early the Innovators, the opinion leaders, the gatekeepers, the network leaders (they help you influence others)…lave the resistors to the end, create and maintain momentum, use small group meetings to “seed” and large events to “harvest”, do not abuse people’s time, do not over-communicate (face-to-face are at the top of the media richness scale, mass e-mail at the bottom!), respect people’s view, ensure the change is fair (both in process and outcome…which means make sure people are heard, decisions are applied with consistency, feedback is given in a timely fashion, decisions are based on facts, communication is sincere and personal, you need to understand early what drives people..so you can better influence them….we learned the lesson during the exercise…we started having more success when we realised who was going for lunch with whom…