So Now What?: Turning the Page – Week Six

Six weeks have passed and by now you should have a relatively well-formed (or close to it) advocacy work plan developed. The purpose of this, the final in the series of posts will be used to

  1. Review key concepts and ideas discussed over the past five (5) weeks
  2. Determine how to achieve your goal

Increase your chance of being successful

  • Establish key milestones and find ways to measure your progress: Milestones help track your progress towards incremental goals. These incremental goals make up different points along the larger advocacy goal–road map. In addition to helping you to identify problems, milestones allow you to see when you’re getting off track, so you can start heading in the right direction again. Measuring also allows you to evaluate how effectively a particular segment was executed.
  • Expect the unexpected. Assume Nothing!: Your success depends on your ability to execute each advocacy campaign with precision. Just because you were able to successfully solicit funds in the past doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it again. Take all the necessary precautions and approach each scenario as if it were your first advocacy plan. This will help reduce the chances that you’ll overlook anything or neglect to dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s”.
    • Always assemble a team
    • Regularly track your progress
    • Be flexible
  • Communicate: If people misunderstand the advocacy goal, or are unable to follow the timeline, there is a problem and it is the project manager’s job to convey this. Keep in mind communication is not one way. This means that as project manager, you must listen to everyone. Those involved need to know what they are expected to contribute. Let them know what you need from them otherwise tasks will not get done.

Project Teams: Things to look for in creating a good project team

  • People who don’t have political baggage
  • People who can dedicate time
  • People who can make an equal contribution
  • People who “fit” in with the specific advocacy team
  • People who have unique strengths and can make one cohesive whole
  • Make sure the team is best for the goal even if the personalities may be a unique fit

Biggest challenges: What are potential Challenges?

  • Ensuring all tasks are completed
  • Communicating (staying in touch with the group)
  • Keeping the team focused on the goal

Biggest challenges: Ways to work around the challenges

  • Tech tools to keep everyone in touch (wiki or cloud);
    • Doodle
    • Freeconference pro.com
    • Skype
    • Google Docs
  • Minimizing challenges (work around them)
  • Prioritize: if you don’t think your goal is priority, your partners won’t either

Removing the Training Wheels

Over the past six (6) weeks I have shared with you my opinions &  learning’s on assembling and carrying it out an advocacy plan. As you have probably figured out it requires organization and effort. Rest assure that if you follow the advice and insights outlined in this series, you will not be disappointed.

Feel free to share your advocacy success and failure stories with the community. If you ever lose your way or just need a reminder, remember we’ll be here. Just bookmark the page and you’ll be one click away.