To keep us calm and in synch as we dive into the scaling required for POPREBEL + NGI Forward, I’m going to begin documenting certain pieces of the puzzle as they come to form, and then begin to open up how they can fit together in corresponding posts. This is a collaborative process, and includes an open invitation for your feedback on how best to build this ship, while keeping in mind that I have to breathe deep while steering it There may be a little double up with what has been said and what will be said but at a time like this I think over communication is better than under to keep us feeling secure.
Hence, I want to talk about the Teams associated to our key H2020 project Tasks. Currently, they are as follows:
Community management lead by @noemi and @johncoate supported by fitting Edgeryders + country/language specific partners and collaborators
Outreach and engagement lead by @nadia mentoring a new recruit to lead supported by fitting Edgeryders + country/language/ field specific collaborators
Ethnography lead by @amelia supported by fitting Edgeryders + country/language/ medium specific partners and collaborators
Tech dev and support lead by @matthias supported by fitting Edgeryders
Project lead, coordination and strategy @anique.yael with the guidance of @alberto
I am having separate meetings with each team leader to discuss the work associated to them. However with the organisational scaling and associated operational changes, it is important that we are all clear on the process to get from here to Grant Agreement signing and on to project implementation.
To follow the overarching project process, review the wiki here. In terms of preparing for the actual delivery of our Tasks, Team Leaders please review the following carefully
timing
The remainder of 2018 will be focused on preparing operationally (and psychologically) for the scaling necessary to take on two projects double the size of OPENCARE each. The following subheadings are just introductions in consideration of Teams and will become their own elements for operational scaling, seeing further processes and posts unfold.
We are calm and confident that this time and space provides us with the resources and capacity to step into these projects with our best foot forward and do this well.
POPREBEL is slightly ahead of NGI Forward in timing in the pre-project process. POPREBEL will begin in January 2019 with the Grant Agreement signed around end September/ early October at this stage. I have my first meeting with the consortium next Wednesday 29 August.
NGI Forward will begin in early 2019, exactly when to be confirmed. Other Grant Agreement preparation timing is unclear with the summer break and I will keep the Teams informed.
needs
In order for us to do this healthily and well, I want to get clear on your needs as you get clear on the project’s. For example, @matthias requires a technical specification as the basis to begin discussion on his Team’s tasks, and @amelia is doing her Doctorate alongside these projects. What do you and your Team need for me to know so that we can make this easeful for all?
deliverables and milestones
It is essential that you review the Task/s that are allocated to your team (already flagged with you and highlighted in each project’s introductory post), and notify me immediately if there is anything standing out in the proposal as incongruous to what you can do and have in mind
This includes making note of the Deliverables and Milestones, as well as their timings and informing me if these aren’t feasible.
I’d like you to give me access to your own internal timelines. More on that in planning below.
budget allocation
@anique.yael am the so-called “keeper of the budget” in Edgeryders styles.
I have shared with each of you the submitted and working budgets for each project so you can be clear on what is allocated to your Task/s.
These have altered and are continuing to shift slightly and will be finalised prior to Grant Agreement.
Please do not make any adjustments in the budgets yourselves but rather inform me if you think any thing needs reconsidering and we can discuss.
team building and recruitment
Team building is one of the beautiful beasts of this situation. With both projects happening concurrently and partner roles interwoven into our community management and ethnography tasks, it’s important that we co-design this process and keep communication open.
Recruitment will require a whole separate strategy and one that @alberto I have begun to wrap our heads around. I propose a group call to discuss for those Team leaders interested on Friday 7 September at 17:00 CEST (to allow for John).
For now, for POPREBEL’s meeting next Wednesday 29 August on partner community managers and ethnographic coders, I am gathering
role description
recruitment process requests (eg. coding test, test post).
Please feel free to share here any other team building and recruitment elements which we can further discuss in our call.
planning and reporting
With two large projects it is vital that we have light and easy planning and reporting tools.
I am working with @matthias to adapt Dynalist to incorporate a calendar function, notifications and mindmapping interoperability for us visual thinkers.
As of 18/09/2018, an Edgeryders Major Milestones calendar has been created as per here.
While Teams can of course plan their implementation how they choose, I ask you to keep your key milestones in the calendar and Dynalist so that I can keep across project delivery.
As of 18/09/2018 I have consolidated Dynalist as per the Dynalist Manual, and created sub-category’s for each team leader to document both project wide planning at present. From it:
Task leaders, you are invited to document here your planning for both research projects and associated scaling.
For project specific planning, please feel free to create your own sub-category using the H3 format - for example:
POPREBEL multilingual community management and ethnographic coding with partners below
No matter what, please note major milestones in the Edgeryders major milestones calendar
We are working that your tasks are automatically synced to the calendar.
@matthias and I are also developing a suite of streamlined reporting tools that all Team members will use to log time and budget spent. He/we will be doing a separate post about co-designing these shortly.
Once again, this is a little dipping our toes in the water so that we can feel secure and let the excitement of these extraordinary projects drive us. I am open to your reflections.
Hei thanks for the update dear.
I’m back, reading carefully the proposal and will come up with a list of observations and planning points for myself, with @johncoate.
Not sure I can do Sept 7th, will know in a week if I will be in Brussels.
Do you need me in the meeting or is it higher level and only small team of consortium partners?
Thank you for the offer. As this isn’t yet a kick off or formal consortium meeting but rather initially addressing POPREBEL off the back off a FATIGUE meeting, @alberto and I saw it as sufficient to just have myself in attendance. I will be flagging various relevant points about community management partner roles in a separate meeting and as per the POPREBEL post in the workspace, am compiling your and @johncoate’s points to address (please review). It’s possible for you to call into that meeting if you’d like just let me know. It’ll be around 18:30 GMT ish/ possibly over dinner after the bigger consortium meeting.
As per riot, I’d like to have another meeting with @johncoate and you this Friday 17:00 CEST and we are both available - does that suit you @noemi?
No worries at all. Monday-Tuesday next week I’m at Oxford and Wednesday I already have meetings scheduled at the suitable time but what about Thursday 6 September 17:00 CEST 8:00 John’s time? @noemi@johncoate
Hi,
I will be off the grid completely starting Wednesday afternoon for 10 days, be back Sept 16th.
If it cannot wait I will talk to John before and he will have my point of view too…
Ok I’ve locked it in for Tuesday 18 September, 16:00 Brussels / 10pm Singapore, 7am California and have sent relevant folks calendar invites with zoom link
Annotated Model Grant Agreement Article 32: Recruitment and working conditions for researchers; including best effort towards the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers
"Personnel" types
Recruitment approaches and a Clear policy for recruiting (article 32)
all research vacancies and funding opportunities are publically advertised
vacancies and funding opportunities are also published in English
vacancy announcements include a clear job description
vacancy announcements include the requirements for the position or the funding opportunity, and the selection criteria
there is an appropriate time period left between publication and the deadline for applications
there are clear rules for the composition of the selection panels (e.g. number and role of members, inclusion of experts from other (foreign) institutions, gender balance)
adequate feedback is given to applicants
there is a complaint mechanism
the selection criteria adequately value mobility, qualifications and experience, including qualifications and experience obtained in non-standard or informal ways.
Timeline and steps
Capacity and time
Deliverables and milestones
Code of Conduct/ Policies equivalent
Contract drafting and review
Working conditions - eg. List of principles relating to working conditions (Article 32)
Research freedom
Accountability
Non-discrimination
Working conditions
Research environment
Funding and salaries (in particular, adequate social security) Stability and permanence of employment
Even though both POPREBEL and NGI both start officially in January, the tasks and milestones are different as we raced with Poprebel to get stuff before the elections. Training happening in January, platform going live in March; in NGI, platform is live in May.
Certain work can begin before the projects’ official start, but that doesnt mean our work will. We just need to get organised a bit before, particularly community management.
Resources related to our work:
Personnel costs/ Staff costs can only be spent on (independent) consultants, they cannot go to another business.
No subcontracting to companies; the cost category for work which we outsource to companies or community organisation is Direct goods and services ().
For POPREBEL, the roles are almost assigned. DLab are covering the cost of a community manager too. The roles will not be advertised as it would not be ethical, given that we already have the people. It;s written in the project, so Article 32 is just consultative here. Each partner pays for their community managers.
Team recruitment is only relevant for NGI forward:
in NGI, we are responsible for the Task on community management and have full ownership and responsibility. It is Edgeryders that recruits and pays the community managers.
Comm managers currently resourced at 4 hrs a week/ language; if that;s not an attractive enough job, then we might consider bilingual ones for 1 day a week to make it into an actual job for someone.
The more time and attention we can buy, the higher the chance that they will perform.
Amelia asked a million dollar question: how do you detect and predict flakiness in a person you interview for the job?
It turns out we don’t need a suite of tools. Simply, everyone logs their data in FreeAgent: expenses and invoices as usual, and now also worktime. We’ll have one custom tool (“Financial Reporting Utility”) that helps the project manager fill the reporting form based on that FreeAgent data. Everyone else only needs to deal with FreeAgent, though.
The whole process is documented here and ready for general use:
There may be a little double up with what has been said and what will be said but at a time like this I think over communication is better than under to keep us feeling secure.
