CSCCE Mini-workshops are 90- to 120-minute sessions that introduce discrete ideas in community management or go deeper on a core framework.
Some Mini-workshops can be clustered thematically if you are interested in a specific area of community management (for example, planning and facilitating meetings and events or interpersonal dynamics and team culture).
There are three ways you might access these Mini-workshops:
GENERAL REGISTRATION
You can register for individual Mini-workshops via Eventbrite. Visit our events calendar to find and register for upcoming Mini-workshops. If the Mini-workshop you’re interested in is not being offered any time soon, please let us know by emailing training@cscce.org, and if there’s enough demand we may schedule additional sessions.
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
If you choose to participate in CSCCE’s Community Manager Certification Program you’re required to complete six of the Mini-workshop with a * after their title – these are included in your program fee. We repeat each Mini-workshop at least twice during the program. Some seats for these certification program instances may be made available for general registration.
CONSULTANCY
We can deliver any of these workshops, or a small collection, for private groups of up to 20 participants. Several of these workshops are ideal if you are hosting a champions program and wish to include some training for your champions. Please contact training@cscce.org for more information.
Creating core values statements*
Core values statements describe the values underpinning how community members would like to interact, and include a definition of each value as well as examples of what they look like in action. Core values statements are most effective when they are co-created with community members and are specific to the community, rather than re-using values statements that others have created. In this Mini-workshop, you will collaboratively draft core values statements as a cohort, a process that you can also adapt for use in your own community.
Related resource: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2020) Creating core values statements. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3906620
Giving and receiving feedback*
Providing useful and kind feedback to others and being open to receiving feedback ourselves is a critical skill for effective collaboration – including during other CSCCE activities! During this session, we’ll explore the functions of feedback, how to structure yours, and what can make receiving feedback easier.
Enacting culture change: The Four-Frame Model*
Many culture change projects are met with general enthusiasm at the conceptual level, but fall short during their implementation. In this Mini-workshop, participants will reflect on their own role as change agents and use Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model to assess and describe different types of barriers to culture change initiatives (structural, human resources, political, and symbolic). We will then use the model to identify where community managers might exert leverage – and what specific actions could help to overcome the identified barriers.
Related resource: Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (2017). Reframing organizations: artistry, choice, and leadership. Sixth edition. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass.
Making a PACT for engaging virtual meetings and events*
With virtual work increasingly the norm, community managers are often tasked with convening and facilitating virtual meetings. In this Mini-workshop, you will discuss the opportunities and challenges of virtual meetings and explore the “Making a PACT” framework (Purpose, Attendees, Community management, Tech tools) for effective meeting design. You will apply the framework directly to example scenarios so that you leave feeling empowered to use the framework in your own community management.
Related resource: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2021) Using virtual events to facilitate community building: Making a PACT for more engaging virtual meetings and events. Woodley, Pratt, and East doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4987666
Selecting supplementary tools for virtual meetings and events*
Community managers regularly use online tools to support the needs of community members in virtual meetings and events. With so many possible needs to solve for, and so many potential online tools to use – how can you quickly determine which tools to explore and then use? In this Mini-workshop, you will apply CSCCE’s BASICS framework and SCORE method to determine an appropriate tool for a provided use case scenario. You will also test two online tools in a “sandbox” setting to explore functionality and usability, preparing you to select and implement tools for your own virtual meetings and events.
Related resource: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2021) A guide to using virtual events to facilitate community-building: Selecting and testing online tools. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4521211
Designing for effective decision-making during virtual meetings*
Meetings and virtual events often involve asking attendees to make decisions. Decision-making invokes numerous considerations, including how to negotiate power dynamics, empower everyone to express their opinions, and actually reach the outcome(s) you desire. In this Mini-workshop, you will explore four broad decision-making modes (authority rule, consultation, voting, and consensus) and then use the PACT framework to plan a decision-making process. You will leave prepared to deploy decision-making processes in a way that invites all attendees at your meetings and events to contribute.
Being an effective meeting facilitator*
This workshop will cover different components of meetings (e.g., recapping context and purpose, icebreakers / welcomes, activities, debriefs, discussions, identifying next steps, and close out), and facilitation techniques to encourage participation during each component. We will also discuss how to set expectations, scaffold materials to promote engagement, and troubleshoot challenges that can emerge such as power imbalances and lack of engagement.
An introduction to project management for scientists
This two hour session provides an overview of the concepts and approaches scientists can use in managing their collaborative projects. You will leave the session able to describe what a project is and the relationship between projects and operations. We’ll also discuss the three types of project and their relationship to uncertainty and complexity. Finally, we will explore the competencies of an effective project leader, whatever their job title. Please note that we also offer a two-day Project Management for Scientists Bootcamp that significantly expands on the topics covered in this Mini-workshop, and sets you up to put many of these principles into practice using HBR’s Project Canvas.
Preparing for large-scale collaborations*
In this first of a two part series of two-hour workshops, you will explore dimensions of team readiness for large, multi-stakeholder collaborative initiatives and how a team readiness assessment can be used to identify which areas you need to address as a priority. By the end of this workshop, you will have drafted a survey for your project, ready to determine how to translate the survey responses into practical next steps in the second workshop.
Designing for large-scale collaborations*
In this second workshop of a two part series, you will debrief the team readiness surveys that you drafted in workshop one and completed for homework. You will explore how to report the results back to the team and determine next steps to take. Then, using a framework describing collaborative approaches, you will identify which combination of approaches or activities will be helpful for the next stage of your collaboration.
Working with volunteers*
Community managers are often trying to create spaces that support group learning and self-expression to build something members of the community couldn’t create alone – and this almost always includes incorporating volunteer contributions. In this Mini-workshop, we’ll explore common community manager concerns related to working with volunteers. We’ll discuss how to flip the narrative from self-doubt and scarcity to center volunteers in a way that empowers and supports them in working together and builds your confidence as a community organizer. We will discuss making contributor pathways visible so that work gets done, while being respectful of members’ different contexts. If you’ve ever found yourself thinking things such as “I feel really self-conscious about asking for contributions from our volunteers – are we being too demanding?” and “I know that different members in our community need different things, but I don’t know where to start,” then this discussion-based workshop is for you.
Who is your community for? Considering purpose, belonging, culture and power
Community is a term that’s been over-extended to refer to many things including users, customers, or groups where members are not meaningfully connected to one another. This workshop considers what “community” does (and doesn’t) mean. We will review important aspects of communities including purpose, belonging, culture and power. We will also begin to explore who interacts within and around our communities.
Considering pathways to engagement
During this workshop we’ll review the people and groups who are interacting within and around your project. You will compare and contrast how you view your projects in breakout groups with other participants. Next, we’ll focus on how we can support engagement and movement across the CSCCE Community Participation Model using scaffolding, “the supportive information, activities, and processes that address barriers to member participation and ensure that all members can access and engage in community programming.”
Related resource: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2020) The CSCCE Community Participation Model – A framework to describe member engagement and information flow in STEM communities. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3997802
Scaffolding and supporting member engagement
During this final workshop, we will review the Supporting engagement across the CSCCE Community Participation Model tables that we worked on in part two and discuss examples of scaffolding that can remove barriers to participation. We will then explore how community champions can help maintain, grow and evolve your communities (and help you with scaffolding!). We will end by revisiting purpose, belonging, culture and power in our communities and how your thinking may have shifted since beginning the workshop series.
Related resource: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2022) The CSCCE Community Participation Model – Scaffolding to lower barriers to participation in STEM communities. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.6078934