How does it work?
When a project team has completed the plan for a big campaign or project, rather than just moving from planning to executing on that plan, they call an all-staff meeting to present the plan to the entire office. This forces the project team to develop their idea further that they might have otherwise. It also opens up the plan for valuable feedback and discussion.
The presentations are often creative and engaging, with the goal being to engage the rest of the staff up front – almost as a first phase in the campaign. Staff can ask questions and offer suggestions on how to improve the plan. They also start to identify areas they can offer help or get involved. For instance, maybe Fundraising sees a certain campaign as a great opportunity to raise money, or volunteer coordinators see a unique opportunity to engage volunteers.
“They have to motivate people. They prepare this presentation, divide up the different parts, and try to present it in an interesting way. They bring some of the materials, show us a preview, ask us to do something in that moment. They try to use that moment as something helpful for them. It’s like the first part of the campaign itself.”
– Eva Saldaña Buenache, Mobilisation Director
What is the impact?
Presenting their plan to the full staff gives the Project Team invaluable feedback. As Eva said, “it’s very important to receive the feedback, because they may be missing something or something might be wrong, and there’s no one in the team with a different point of view. It might only be 10 people. 10 people is a lot, but 60 ppl… imagine that. We can find something that they didn’t realize before. It’s a test that makes the campaign better.”
In addition, this process helps everyone else on staff realize that they play a meaningful role in mobilisation.
“Before we did that, some of the people didnt understand why we did a campaign. Some people couldn’t contribute to a project. For us it’s important that everyone can feel part of the project. In that moment we consult every question, realize we can take action together. We cant do that if we don’t have this presentation.”
– Eva Saldaña Buenache, Mobilisation Director
Finally, presenting the campaigns can be a fun opportunity for the project team. It gives them incentive to think through every aspect of the campaign, and a moment to show off the hard work they’ve already done.