Networking and Collaboration Mechanisms

Presenters: Kathleen MacDonald, Consultant, TOPS Program; Maciej Chmielewski, Communications Specialist, USAID KDMD Project; Ashleigh Mullinax, Knowledge and Learning Portfolio Manager, USAID KDMD Project

Where do you turn for the technical information you need? What resources are available online? How can you better connect in order to collaborate with your colleagues around the globe? This session began with a presentation on the value of networking and collaboration. However, being a member of a global network it isn’t always realistic financially and logistically to meet face-to-face. With the technology available today there are more and more opportunities to connect with colleagues located at a distance. The presentation discussed reasons to connect, such as continuing a conversation after a meeting or working on a specific project with colleagues based in different locations. It also talked about best practices for coordinating with others at a distance such as: respect, making a clear timeline for what you plan to accomplish and keeping a record of what you talk about.

The presentation continued with sharing tools for knowledge sharing in this ever more connected global community. Web portals are among the tools that can help people make connections with colleagues around the world and have access to a plethora of technical resources. Kathleen shared the key features of the FSN Network’s portal (space for discussions as well as the resource library). Ashleigh and Maciej demonstrated resources available on the Agrilinks website, whose main goal is agriculture-led food security through knowledge sharing. Agrilinks hosts live events on their site. They have a resource library as well as a blog section that share news from the community.

The participants then broke into small groups where they shared their own knowledge about the collaboration mechanisms and information resources that have worked for them. They then had the opportunity to work with colleagues to brainstorm solutions to networking challenges that you face in your own work and discuss the strategies and the challenges that they face when collaborating at a distance.

View the Agrilinks presentation here.

 

The Way Forward: Participants made recommendations in the following areas:

Processes

A sustainability plan needs to be developed to ensure the continuation of resource libraries and knowledge management (KM) portals. Previous project that developed resources libraries and KM portals lost funding and these resources were lost. There was an assumption that members would eventually pay for these resources. However, there was never a requirement for members to pay for these mechanisms or cover costs.  Both FSN Network and Agrilinks should consider either selling memberships or obtaining funding from foundations or other donors or both. This strategy should start immediately as this takes time. Another critical point is to determine which organization will own the platform library at the end of the project.