Fitting 4 days of content into 16 hours: The Oxfam Project
How do organisations take collective action on issues that matter?
The most pressing issues in the world can only be tackled when people work together to achieve a common objective. In theory, it’s simple; identify a shared goal and work towards it, as a collective.
In practice? Well. Let’s just say that ‘simple’ doesn’t mean ‘easy’.
There’s all manner of factors that can throw a spanner in the works and prevent people from seeing eye to eye. The bigger the project, the harder it can be to make progress. These problems typically boil down to coordination, cooperation, and assurance.
That’s where facilitation comes into play. As facilitators, we join the dots between where you are and where you want to be by ensuring that everyone’s on the same page.
But how? Let me set the scene.
It’s 2019 and I’ve got a sizable project on my hands: to facilitate a large group of multi-industry, multi-lingual, multi-location participants, comprising companies, NGOs, governments, unions, civic groups and media.
The project was spearheaded by a shining bastion of collective action: Oxfam.
But there was an additional challenge to contend with. The event in question had to be hosted online, across two different time zones, with global participants, during a pandemic.
Challenge accepted.
Designed to Achieve
‘Global Goals to Local Impact’ was a three-year project hosted by Oxfam. The aim was to bring international organisations together to discuss emerging legal and policy frameworks on business operations across supply and value chains.
They needed to pinpoint the associated challenges and opportunities, as well as identify the next steps in a collaborative space. The top priority was to work towards a common goal of ensuring human rights are protected at all times.
Oxfam wanted to help shape the participants’ perception of their role in achieving sustainable and inclusive development through specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Namely:
SDG 5: Gender Equality
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
The last year of the From Global Goals to Local Impact project was affected by the pandemic. There were plans to wrap the project up with an in-person panel event in the UK. However, this was changed and reorganised at relatively short notice.
A four-day, in-person workshop had to be condensed into online workshops (“The Virtual Learning Lab”) that would engage participants in the UK and India, across different time zones.
I was asked to conduct the online events and fulfil the following objectives:
To engage participants with atmospheric, engaging, and interactive online workshops
To emulate the same level of connection and collaborative action as an in-person event
To shape positive perceptions of the role that business/the private sector plays in achieving sustainable and inclusive development
Learning to Achieve
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
- Aristotle
The workshops had to fit four days’ worth of content into four, 8 am - 12 pm workshops.
Above all, the content had to be concise and efficient. It needed to hold attention spans and engage global participants.
Events of this nature can easily descend into disarray, which is why structure and an understanding of effective online learning are essential.
Here’s what Learning to Achieve did:
The workshops were hosted on the online collaboration platform, Miro.
In the weeks leading up to the workshops, I offered taster sessions to teach participants how to use the software to get the most out of it. The Miro board link was sent out in advance, along with teach-yourself landing exercises.
Before the workshops kicked off, I allocated time for lighthearted exercises to create a connection between the participants and get a feel for the software in real time. This ‘learn by doing’ approach eliminated potential tech hiccups and communication breakdowns.
Once participants had gotten to grips with the software, they were able to use it on autopilot to collaborate and communicate with ease.
The Miro board was accessible for the entire week - like an open journal - where people could share their thoughts and reflections during and after the live sessions. This meant that everyone got the chance to share their input and get involved, irrespective of time zone.
The Achievements
Despite the restrictions that the pandemic enforced upon us, the Miro platform allowed participants to approach exercises with flexibility and creative licence. Rather than force them to follow a rigid corporate-style agenda, participants had the autonomy to dip in and out of exercises, chat, and solve their own problems, as they saw fit.
Here’s what Ruth Mhlanga, Head of Private Sector Team at Oxfam, had to say about Learning to Achieve’s involvement:
“We’re a lot more comfortable with hybrid meetings and also comfortable with having both offline and online meetings. After working with Phil, we now have enough experience to be flexible based on what works for participants.”
The Takeaways
After attending the Virtual Learning Lab, 87% of the participants that shared responses acknowledged a positive change in their perception of the role that business/the private sector plays in achieving sustainable and inclusive development through SDG 5, 8, 10 and 16.
Remember what I said about joining the dots so everyone’s on the same page? Yeah. That.
Thanks to the success of the Virtual Learning Lab, I had the pleasure of being invited back to work with Ruth’s internal team. I co-created an agenda for a hybrid event that would engage and serve both online and offline participants.
Let’s chat if your organisation has grand plans to make a difference in the world but joining the dots is easier said than done. Together, we’ll roll out a plan of action that keeps everyone on the same page.
