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Reports

Thoughts on Chapter planning and implementation

Chapter planning is going well but the difficulty is in implementation and implementation is important both for the satisfaction that success and productivity brings to members and for accounting to donors. Since it is critical to be able to implement, monitor and report, we need to make it easy to do. Here are some thoughts about how to relate our goals to our programs and our programs to our projects so that we can both plan in advance as well as adapt to opportunities and also document our results.

Planning - Programs and Projects

The Chapter is involved in both programs and projects. The former are ongoing while the latter are sometimes planned in advance and sometimes emerge (as opportunities) as the year progresses. Thus, a key difference between the program and the project is that programs tend to continue during the life of the plan, whereas projects definitely finish. Obviously the main purpose of the planning process (of which a call for input is a component) and of the plan itself, is to maximise the likelihood that both programs and projects will deliver the outcomes and the benefits that we seek. Its other purposes are to make everything easier for us to contribute to, monitor and report on. The Committee is responsible for the direction and support of the programs; individual members are responsible for the projects they sponsor or propose.

Programs

Chapter Programs need to be aligned with principles and strategic goals - both their own and the Foundation's. The programs are overarching things that focus on benefits and outcomes - achieving one of our goals, for instance. They are made up of a range of activities or projects. Programs represent a path, which is sometimes known but is to some extent unknown (that is, emergent).

Examples

1) If a known and clear goal is to “Create the capacity and credibility needed for a successful FDC application”, a range of projects/activities would have to be undertaken to achieve it. Some of them would be known and eminently plannable, such as, perhaps, the project to achieve charitable status, which we have just done. Others, such as to "demonstrate a range of successful projects", would require that we were able to assess and support appropriate, as-yet-unknown projects when they come up, without causing damage to the overall plan.

2) If a goal is to "Develop relationships with Australian GLAMs", the Program will consist of all the projects and activities that contribute to reaching that goal, some of which would be clear and built on previous achievements, such as those we already have with the State Library of Queensland and the State Library of New South Wales. It would make sense to give them priority. However, it is likely that many of the projects that help to achieve the GLAM relationship goal will emerge as opportunities arise. The Committee is responsible for setting, monitoring and reporting on our programs insofar as they show the general direction, efforts and expenditure of the Chapter.

Projects

Chapter projects, on the other hand, are activities by which the program achieves the goal. They need to be very specific, easily manageable things that contribute to the success of the programs. Individual members need to be able both to propose and carry out a small project with little or no funding, or seek support from other members for a bigger one. Opportunities for such things emerge so any planning we do needs to accommodate this unpredictability. Also, as we are a group of volunteers, our enthusiasms wax and wane and our time is limited, so projects need to be small in scope so as to be manageable by the proposers and have clear finishing points. The Committee can assist the members with how their project relates.

Examples

1) Editathons at a GLAM, for example, are projects that would support the goal of developing relationships with GLAMs. As such, they would become part of a program.

2) If, say, a Wiki Loves Monuments project is proposed by a member, such a project's scope could be reduced to something achievable that would also function as a pilot (that is, a training ground and opportunity for learning). The pilot would be part of the program in support of the goal.

Suggestions

The Chapter Planning process regularly produces a Chapter Plan. The Plan should set out and prioritise a small number of programs under which are a collection of supported projects, both planned and emergent, as proposed by members. Hence, we should:

1) Reconstitute the plan as a framework that documents:
- the main goals for the plan's duration (along with the mission, values and principles);
- only a small number of programs (a collection of projects or activities designed to achieve one or more goals);
- various planned and emergent projects grouped under their natural program.
Such a structure would mean that if one project is not doing well, the program as a whole is not compromised. Flexibility and control can be more easily achieved by adjusting, terminating or continuing a small project rather than a whole program.

2) Show in the plan who is responsible for what processes. For example, the Committee might be responsible for:
- the planning process (consultation, facilitation, publication);
- the prioritised programs that come out of the planning process (ensuring that projects proposed are aligned);
- the communication with WMF on behalf of the Chapter;
- the disbursement of funds to successful project proposals by members;
- the reporting to WMF for the use of funds the Chapter receives.

The members are responsible for:
- implementing and reporting on the projects in which they are involved;
- conscientiously using any funds applied for and allocated to their projects.

Of course, any distribution of responsibility needs to be agreed by the members, but it is most important that everyone knows who is responsible for any ongoing process or any specific project. Otherwise, success is unlikely and communication, especially with the outside world, is unreliable.

3) Program reports and project reports should be in findable lists so that it is easy to know where to put them and in what form and of course, so that we can identify lessons learned and accumulate a record of success.

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