Group items tagged

blog post by Samantha Whitehorne, April 1, 2014, on crowdsourcing convention/conference agenda development to members. Interesting concept in several ways, not least of which is the tool they used to keep track of submission of ideas in real time and votes. Led to greater member engagement, no word yet on quality of conference agenda.

Good article on why decisions may or even should not be made in meetings. "Further advantages of turning agenda items into questions include: Clarifying expected outcomes and thus avoiding discussions that run on because there is no defined end; Keeping participants alert during presentations because they're expected to respond; Helping presenters focus on what is essential and leave out unnecessary detail that waste everyone's time; Ensuring a given topic is necessary. "

Quotes from the eLearning Africa conference plenary sessions as reported by eLearning Africa News. "Under the general conference theme 'Opening Frontiers to the Future', the esteemed panel of speakers in the opening plenary addressed a number of vital issues that formed the core of the agenda for eLearning Africa 2014. Chaired by the Honourable John Nasasira, Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Uganda, speakers highlighted, amongst other things, the need to develop productive partnerships between the government and private sectors, as well as to create an environment that rewards entrepreneurship and encourages African-born innovation". Thought of our conversation with Susan about being an online leader, and incorporating eLearning into any leadership program.

Quotes from the eLearning Africa conference plenary sessions as reported by eLearning Africa News. "Under the general conference theme 'Opening Frontiers to the Future', the esteemed panel of speakers in the opening plenary addressed a number of vital issues that formed the core of the agenda for eLearning Africa 2014. Chaired by the Honourable John Nasasira, Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Uganda, speakers highlighted, amongst other things, the need to develop productive partnerships between the government and private sectors, as well as to create an environment that rewards entrepreneurship and encourages African-born innovation". Thought of our conversation with Susan about being an online leader, and incorporating eLearning into any leadership program.

Blog post by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner on leadership groups within communities as act of service to lead group process. September 14, 2012 Need to do something like this in setting up Studio leadership roles that could be period specific, event specific, etc. See excerpt: The practice goes like this: everyone at a meeting belongs to a leadership group - and each group stewards one part of the learning process of the whole group. In this way leadership of the community meeting is distributed over the entire event. Leadership here is seen as an act of service, that is, not leadership in terms of telling others what to do, but helping the group develop itself as a learning partnership. We've seen these groups lead to some transformational turn-arounds in group dynamics and the learning potential. (Notwithstanding the times they flopped - which led us to learn a great deal!) We gave playful names to the groups in the spirit of making it a fun and inventive way of leading the process: agenda activists, community keepers, critical friends, social reporters, external messengers, value detectives. Over the years we've come to see that these groups can work well in lots of different contexts including group meetings, conferences, and long-term community development. Anywhere, that is, where there is an intention for collective learning.

Interesting blog post bu Elizabeth MacBride, April 5, 2013, on virtual partnerships, 5 secrets 1. must have the same agenda 2. you actually like the person 3. complementary skill sets or traits 4. open lines of communications 5. good legal underpinnings Excerpt "Our number-one rule - and the glue that holds our partnership together - is keeping the workload manageable. We don't take on too many clients, and we don't hold ourselves to unrealistic standards for production. "Our business is focused on helping people navigate a big, ongoing trend-the shift from traditional jobs to an economy built around freelance, contract and temporary work. Pulling all-nighters at the business and cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, as we might at a venture-capital backed startup, doesn't seem like the right way for us," Pofeldt says. "Why not enjoy one of the best parts of freelancing: the freedom to have an active life outside of work without apologizing for it?" Barry "CB" Martin and Larry Gaian are food writers and marketers-for-hire who met via their common networks. "This year I started several new ventures," Martin wrote via email. "I asked him to be a sounding board. On one of the ideas, he was thinking along the same lines so we decided to combine forces." They're working together under the moniker Guys In Aprons, asking food companies to hire them to write recipe posts and interview expert chefs."

by Andrew Vest from July 28, 2014 in Forbes/Entrepreneurs. Although geared to f2f encounters, these tips work for online networking as well. Start networking before you need it; Have a plan; Forget your personal agenda; Never dismiss anyone as unimportant; Connect the dots.

Interesting article published 1/6/2014 on Second Acts for baby boomers. Quotes Marc Freedman, Elizabeth Isele (who lived in ME for a long time), and mentions Bevan Rogel. The Boomerworks online service for matching BBs with work opportunities is very interesting--wonder how they are doing? And whether we should try to ally with them? "In 1998, living in Maine, Isele created CyberSeniors, a multilingual nonprofit computer training company that eventually trained more than 28,000 seniors in 24 states. She's led numerous nonprofits over the decades and is now pushing public policy changes and forging connections between organizations to create an "entrepreneur ecosystem." That ecosystem is flourishing in Sarasota. Sarasota's Institute for the Ages, established in 2009 to change the conversation about aging as one of deficit and decline to one about enhancing lives, is a lab for companies and services that want to tap into the needs of older adults. In late 2013, the Institute launched Boomerswork.com, a web-based network to connect freelancers with companies seeking seasoned professionals for project-based work. The program started in Canada and the Institute is the first organization to bring it to the U.S. When the Institute convenes a national convention here in February, entrepreneurship and encore careers will be a large part of the agenda. In addition to a keynote address by Freedman, Isele is leading a workshop on entrepreneurship with Bevon Rogel, who runs a Freedman-related Encore Academy in St. Petersburg to help seniors find meaningful work. For Southwest Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of seniors in the nation, the idea of an "encore" seems natural. As the rest of the country and world grays, branding this life stage as one that brings years, or potentially decades, more productivity and meaning to life has become an imperative."

Bob Marshall on what an effective group workshop looks like--September 30, 2014, quite demanding yet doable. he above story illustrates a range of features of an effective workshop: Certain shared proficiencies in e.g. Skilled Dialogue, Lean Coffee, etc.. Pre-reading (shared), including "standard" texts - here including Nancy Kline and Chris Argyris. Clarity of purpose "just why are we here?". Shared purpose "we're all here for the same things". Folks tweeting and googling continuously during the workshop. Amanuensis / cybrarian to facilitate shared learning in the workshops. Democratic agenda-setting. Mutual exploration of topics. Active curiosity. "Essentiality" - avoidance of rabbit-holes and extraneous discussion of details. Focus on impacts (as compared to busyness, or outputs, or even outcomes). Post-reading - following up new references. Follow-up conversations, actions. Feedback. - Bob Afterword In writing this story, it seemed to me that a video of a workshop in action would be a great addition to the resources available to BaCo staff to help them appreciate the nature of an effective workshop. Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to write and/or direct such a video. Further Reading What is Dialogue? ~ Susan Taylor (pdf) Share this: inShare10 Email Print More

May 23, 2012 by Leadership Freak Dan Rockwell "8 ways to run great meetings: Short agendas are better than long. Allow ample time to discuss substantive issues. Rush through trivial items at the end. Press for decisions. Create immediate, short-term action items. Set short-term incremental deadlines. If it's due in six months it won't be started for five unless you set clear, impending milestones. Identify champions - people who own action items. Follow-up with participants in between meetings. Ask, "How's your project coming?""

"We're all personal brands. Our agendas may differ, but we seek the same things: recognition, respect, influence and success. Personal branding is no trend. It's social media, publishing, marketing, sales, work, play, passion and everything you read about all rolled into one. With that in mind, I submit to you personal branding is something you need to understand. It's something you need to develop deliberately - even if what you've been doing and saying to this day has been largely accidental."

blog by Mitch Shepard, September 30, 2014 on 4 trends troubling women's networks 1. Unclear goals and objectives 2. Lack of skilled leadership 3. Unstructured and directionless agendas 4. Lack of consistent, relevant, and meaningful content

Great article on the top 16 foundational literacy skills, competencies, and personal characteristics students need for 21st century skills. Good graphics and video. Also has a section on how to teach these skills. The skills apply to everyone, not just students.

Written by Yuhyun Park , the chair of infollutionZero Foundation. Great graphic of the digital literacies children must learn as "they spend, on average, 7 hours a day in front of screens from television and computers to mobile phones and various digital devices." He defines these skills as Digital Intelligence, or DQ: Digital Safety (behavior risks, content risks, contact risks), Digital Security (password protection, internet security, mobile security), Digital Emotional Intelligence (empathy, emotional awareness/regulation, social and emotional awareness), Digital Communication (online collaboration, online communication, digital footprint), digital literacy (computational thinking, content curation, critical thinking), digital rights (privacy, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech), digital identity (digital citizen, digital co-creator, digital entrepreneur), and Digital Use (screen time, digital health, community participation).

Great article by Carol Kinsey Goman on the impact of business silos and how to tear them down. No date. Actions to take: Reward collaboration; focus on innovation; communicate transparently; encourage networks,create alignment, mix it up in teams; focus on the customer; get personal;

article by Gail Sessoms, Demand Media good definition of where silos may exist--one department, similar worker types, geographic,

roll back on affirmative action practices