H2020 Biweekly team calls - new structure

Research Network
1

2020-09-30T15:00:00Z

So far, our biweekly calls were mostly very informal check-ins in which the team leaders would share news. It was functioning well for some time, but now there is a need for a structure - as we grow as a team, and as the ongoing projects demand alignment and better overview of what is happening across teams in NGI and POPREBEL.

From now on, these calls will be facilitated conversations based on the agenda. We are going to have the facilitator, the note taker and the time keeper. @IvanC and @bojanbobic we can switch between these roles for every call if you’re interested in trying it out.

The calls are going to be limited to max 1h30. It can also be much shorter, depending on the period. This is how it’s going to look like:

  • on Mondays before the call, a provisional agenda is shared on riot and people are asked to add items on the list. The agenda is concluded by the end of that day and posted on the platform.

  • all team leaders should attend. Everyone else is welcome (also depending on the agenda, at times it might be useful to invite for example other community managers to listen-in. The team leaders decide on that).

  • If the leaders are not able to attend (and if no one can replace them from their team), they comment under the agenda and post a short summary of their updates, in a few sentences. This is then read by the facilitator during the call, in the timeslot dedicated for that team, the questions are noted.

  • proposed structure:

    • welcome by the facilitator, quick walk through the agenda + “tour de table” (max 10 mins): to check-in, participants share one news from their personal life in one simple sentence. For example, “I am currently enjoying reading this book”, or “I started practicing new sport activity” or “I’m feeling tired because it’s raining” etc. This is not obligatory, if you don’t want to share no problem. The aim? To connect a bit better on a personal level. I find this connection important, especially for the newcomers.
    • team updates (max 15mins per team including Q&A): what are you currently working on or what is coming up? What are you struggling with or what do you need help with? Please be as concise as possible.
      The teams are:
      community management (@noemi / @MariaEuler / @johncoate)
      outreach and engagement (@nadia)
      research (@alberto / @amelia)
      tech (@matthias / @hugi)
      admin and coordination (@marina)
    • ending the call with the summary of action points by the facilitator (max 5 mins).

  • notes are then posted under the agenda on the platform by the note taker and action points added on Todoist.

Maybe this seems too structured right now, but I’m keen on trying it out. :slight_smile:

Also, we are switching back to zoom to assure the quality of the call. The link is added in the calendar.

Talk to you on Wednesday at 17h!

All suggestions are of course welcome.

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I would propose to do it only on the platform to avoid doubles. This way, the thread could be edited until the beginning of the meeting.

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I think you are right. Invest on key coordination institutions, drop everything else.

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I agree!

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Can we get it down to 1hr please?

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yes! the timing in the post is the max. I suppose it will happen only in extreme cases that we take 1h30. For example, I will never take the full 15 mins to talk about admin :slight_smile:

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Thanks for this, very clear and I think more efficient…!

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