Now that the end of the school year is here, there are many decisions and meetings taking place related to ordering, curriculum, and summer work. Meetings have been planned and the discussions are made up of many voices. Sometimes there are so many voices and ideas, that efficiency and focus are at risk. Also, there's usually limited time for meeting face-to-face.
One solution to these decision making and collaborative challenges is crowdshare. Crowdshare occurs when a collaborative document is shared online to elicit feedback. Crowdshare is best done with guiding protocols at the top of the document to lead the sharing and feedback. To optimize the crowdshare, I recommend using protocols as color coding your response, adding your initials, guidance about the nature of the response including length and focus, a timeline, information about how the document will be used in the days to come (will the document be published and if so, to whom, and who will be credited with the ideas), and information about follow-up face-to-face meetings' agendas, focus, purpose, and planned result.
Crowdsharing as part of the decision making, collaborative process has many advantages including the following:
- There's a place for all voices.
- People can study the document and thoughtfully respond with the time and focus they need.
- There's a chance for individuals to respond to each other's comments and potentially change or refine their initial comments.
- A lot of the initial "talking" and thinking is done prior to the face-to-face meeting leaving that time for the most critical points in the discussion.
- Leadership has a chance to know their upcoming audience and plan for the potential debate points, strong comments, collaborative focus as well as plan the face-to-face meeting accordingly.
- Leadership has a chance to alter protocols, clarify focus, and communicate with all collaborators prior to the meeting.
Crowdsharing has the potential to optimize collaborative process which in turn may help us to target our discussion, collaboration, and action to teach children well.
