Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers
DataKind’s project management practices are embedded throughout the project process, and are therefore discussed throughout the playbook. This article focuses specifically on additional tips and best practices from volunteers, and recommendations for addressing common challenges.
Project management best practices
- For DataCorps projects, DataKind recommends two-week sprints aligned with the agile methodology. Use this project management cheat sheet as a template for planning these sprints.
- Throughout project execution, share progress with partners and have presentations regularly to share updates on the work you have generated. Generally, you don’t want to go more than two months without a presentation.
- Be very wary of “scope creep,” or including extra deliverables or functionalities - it can extend the project duration and sap volunteer momentum and engagement. Instead, keep track of a wishlist of project deliverables that will not be part of the project that the team thought of along the way - one of them could form a future project!
- The Project Manager should maintain detailed documentation in the project plan, including a running summary of progress. They should be sure to document challenges and insights throughout the lifecycle of the project, not just at the end.
- Use Slack regularly and maintain a culture of being comfortable sharing challenges and failures. Lead by example here, sharing an example of how you made a mistake and corrected it or adjusted a plan based on the feedback you received.
- If you find it useful, pick a project management software to keep track of work. We don’t require the use of any specific project management software, but most DataKinders find Asana useful.
- Keep the whole team in the loop on communication with partner organizations.
- Make sure everyone knows what to do if/when the project goes off track, so your team or the project partner doesn’t feel like they have to pull out of the project entirely if there is an unexpected problem.
- When creating a timeline or project plan, make it together with the partner organization instead of just having them agree to something you created - they will take more ownership of working on the plan if you collaborate on creating it together.
Maintaining volunteer commitment
Proactively taking on strategies to maintain volunteer commitment is crucial in minimizing attrition and empowering the team to raise any concerns. Tips for maintaining volunteer commitment include:
- Facilitating fun, casual conversations, and opportunities for the team to get to know each other on a personal level.
- Creating a culture of regular communication, even if it’s just sending a fun meme.
- Ask the volunteers in advance what they are motivated by and what they are hoping to get out of this experience. Regularly bring up these motivations during meetings to remind volunteers why it’s worth it.
- Work with the Project Champion to keep the volunteers inspired and compelled by the importance of the work they are doing and the impact they are making.
- Celebrate even the smallest wins. It is important to remind volunteers that any contribution is helping the needle move forward, and offering shout-outs or congrats to volunteers shows them that you think what they are doing is important.
Addressing volunteer attrition
Despite our best efforts, volunteers sometimes leave projects. What should you do when a volunteer leaves?
- If possible, request that the volunteer document everything they know and have done. Receive any feedback you can about why the volunteer left. This can be difficult if they are unresponsive, but those learnings can tell you whether something needs to change in your approach or whether it was just something personal that the volunteer was dealing with.
- If not, ask the other volunteers to document anything they remember hearing from the dropped volunteer that might not exist in the project documentation. Capture as much knowledge as you can as soon as possible to prevent losing key information.
- Work with your core team or DataKind staff support to replace departed volunteers with experienced volunteers, so that you don’t have to onboard them to DataKind values or ways of working. Veteran volunteers just need to be caught up to speed on the project, not on all of DataKind’s processes, so are a great fit for filling in for volunteers at the last minute.
- When someone departs, keep implementing your strategies for maintaining volunteer commitment, in an effort to prevent the loss of any other volunteers!
Scope creep
Scope creep refers to any change or growth that departs from the project’s original scope. This can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, the project may not have been properly defined, documented, or managed with the deliverables in mind. It could also result from poor communication between the partner organization and volunteer team, or a change in resources or needs. In some cases, something new might have been found in the data that could be used to build a more impactful product for the partner organization. Of course, projects don’t always progress exactly as they were defined in the project plan. In most cases, you’ll need to make adjustments to the schedule and scope of the project, which is okay! However, be thoughtful with any changes, and regularly communicate with your team and project partner to gather their feedback. Be wary of scope creep that might overburden your volunteers and force them to work beyond the commitment that they made.
The team isn’t hitting deadlines/The project is off-track
Sometimes volunteers have a lot going on. If you are noticing that a volunteer or the team isn’t hitting multiple deadlines in a row, it may be time to have more frequent check-ins. Before your weekly meeting, ask volunteers individually if they need help with anything. Volunteers will appreciate the support and it will help move the needle on the project.
This may also be a great moment to start getting feedback from volunteers. Schedule time with each volunteer, if possible, and try to understand where and what blockers are happening. Then, at the next weekly meeting, show how you are learning from their experiences and will adjust moving forward. Using that meeting to discuss issues and generate solutions with volunteers is a great idea too!
Due diligence and ethical risks
Be wary of introducing new ethical risks that require additional due diligence. For example, similar to scope creep, be cautious of “PII creep” - that is, requests for more personally identifiable information, among other data, which had not been initially required in the project scope. It is good practice to routinely check to make sure there are no new sensitive or high-risk elements, and come up with a plan to address any that arise.
Contributer(s): Benjamin Kinsella, Daud Sikander, Beatrice Francesco, Jade Tabony, Jen A, Jeremy Osborn, Jeshua Bratman, Kate Mulroney, Ben Lewis, Maja Ferle, Manu Sharma, Ran Mao, Matthew Zhou, Smit Mehta, Shanshan Wang, A Sindhar, Stefan Hilts, Tahir Mahmood, Danielle Taneyo Saa, Terence Tam, Ada Tong, Tina Toni, Rachel Wells, Martijn Wieriks, Jony Zambrano
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, visit our website or email community@datakind.org.
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