Breakout group structure
Derek Eder
Public
Seen by 293
Every week after the presentation, we break out into topic-specific working and learning groups led by regular facilitators to guide conversations, answer questions, and build teams for civic apps. The groups are split into two types: working groups and learning groups.
Want to start your own breakout group? Just mention it at the next hack night and people will vote with their feet!
Let's discuss ways we can make the breakout groups more productive, inclusive and fun!
Poll Created Wed 25 May 2016 1:56AM
Add more structure to breakout group announcements Closed Wed 15 Jun 2016 3:02AM
We will go with the proposed format for breakout group announcements.
Currently, when we announce the different breakout groups, we breakout leaders pitch their project in a free-form manner.
How about we suggest a structure that involves the following:
- a short, concise overview of the project and why it's important
- what the group is currently working on, along with a tangible goal they hope to accomplish tonight
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Agree | 100.0% | 8 |
|
| Abstain | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Disagree | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Block | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Undecided | 0% | 37 |
|
8 of 45 people have participated (17%)
Eric Sherman
Tue 14 Jun 2016 12:11AM
FIRST
Steve Ediger (ChiCommons)
Tue 14 Jun 2016 1:24AM
I agree with the proposal, and, like Kristi, I am not in favor of using GitHub for this. A google doc, site bases on a CMS, or some other tool would be better for this purpose.
Derek Eder
Tue 14 Jun 2016 6:17PM
agreed, and we should also direct breakout group leaders to to create overview documents like the one Joel shared for the Nursing Home Search
Kevin Pujanauski
Tue 14 Jun 2016 8:57PM
Can be very, very long!
I'll say on the flipside as a breakout group, when people show up without the clear expectation that they will be rolling up their sleeves, it's challenging for me.
Ethan Heppner Tue 31 May 2016 2:07PM
Thinking more about this-- what if instead of running through the list of all the breakout groups, we had each of them "opt in" beforehand if they want to make an announcement? That way, if a group had all of the people they needed, or was absent, they could just not announce. This reduces overall time spent on announcements, and allows more emphasis to be put on groups who need more people.
If we were to keep track of breakout groups as issues in GitHub like this: https://github.com/ethanheppner/join-a-breakout/issues
we could mark all issues as closed at the end of every hack night and groups who want to announce could reopen them and add labels for the skillsets they're looking for (and could even have a label for beginner-friendly-- maybe those could all be announced first).
Eric Sherman Wed 1 Jun 2016 2:19AM
I second this, I've suggested it in the past. It also puts the onus on the breakout group leader to follow a suggested format if they do opt in. I also think it looks 'bad' when we go through the list and (sometimes) several groups aren't actually there. However, someone would have to set up and maintain whatever system we use.
Emily Zvolanek Wed 1 Jun 2016 4:28PM
I like Ethan's idea, but could there be a quick training on how to use whatever system is chosen? Personally, I don't use GitHub a lot, so I have no idea how to do what he described. But I like the concept!
Steve Ediger (ChiCommons) Wed 1 Jun 2016 6:29PM
I like the opt-in for breakout groups. As a fail fast proponent, I like the emphasis on anybody can create a group and also that it takes some time for them to appear on the 'permanent' list. Perhaps we could formalize that last bit. Then an opt-in for this group is meeting tonight and has an active agenda would take less time and mean more.
Kristi Leach · Wed 25 May 2016 11:34AM
I like this idea. You might mention a time limit of 30-60 seconds, if that's part of the goal. I know I would love that part of the night to move more quickly.