Introduction
A semester-long collaboration among more than twenty individual scholars requires careful planning to guarantee exceptional attentiveness to each other’s ideas and exemplary and equitable communication. The crafting of a management plan allows you, as a group, to establish the best procedures possible to facilitate your interactions as researchers throughout the semester.
Thus your plan needs to consider three critical elements of your collaboration:
- guidelines for interaction
- individual or small-group roles within the overarching research project
- procedures for fluid communication and the resolution of any conflicts that might arise.
The Plan
As you develop your plan, you should address the following questions:
- How will the group promote dialogue and ensure civility?
- How, specifically, will the group go about making decisions?
- How will the group create space for considering minority/dissenting views?
- How will the group assign and document completion of tasks?
- How will work that isn’t completed by assigned individuals be completed?
- How will group members hold each other accountable for their assigned tasks and the ethics of the research?
- How will group members share information (i.e., blog, group, forum, wiki, email list, etc.)?
Evaluation
Faculty will evaluate the management plan and provide feedback using the following criteria:
- The clarity and practicality of the decision-making process outlined in the management plan
- The appropriateness of the group members’ allocated roles and responsibilities to the scope and nature of the assignment requirements
- The thoughtfulness and maturity with which the plan addresses key interaction issues such as accountability, tolerance of dissenting views, civility, acceptable research ethics, etc.
- The clarity and thoroughness of the procedures outlined to guarantee the completion of research tasks
Due Date
Each group should submit its RING management plan electronically to its RING facilitator by noon on 12th February. To achieve the level of detail required to facilitate such complex research collaboration, your RING management plan will require at least 750 words. In addition, you may integrate additional material which will clarify your plans, such as tables, relevant images, links, etc.
In order to make sure each group has sufficient dedicated time to complete the management plan successfully, we shall be using our seminar session on 11th February to help you finalize your plan. If you have any questions about the research project, the management plan, or your potential within the research teams, do let your RING facilitator know as soon as possible.
– We are looking forward very much to working with you – ask us questions soon and often –