Activity # 4. Norms, Guidelines and Agreements

The Purpose of the Group is Information Sharing and Communication, hence the norms and guidelines would be focused on the area of "communicationa and shared information", and will be reviewed with input from the Group every Month in the first instance.


Members Would Be Asked to Agree to the Following in Order to Particpate in the Online Community (Note: The Guidelines are not ranked in any particular order or priority):

1. No Explicit or Foul Language Will Be Tolerated. Members Using Such Foul Language Will Be Removed From the Community Group.
2. Respect the Opinions and Views of Community Members.
3. Keep Post Focused on the Discussion topics.
4. Respect Must Be Given To All Members of the Community.
5. Information Disclosed in This Community Group Can be Used By Members To Further Develop Their Organisations.
6. Harmful or Malicious Use of the Information By Community Members Presented in the Community is Prohibited.
7. The Facilitator of The Group Cannot be Held Liable for Any Loss Or Damage Incurred By Any Community Member As A Result Of Being Part of The Community or Its Use.
8. Persons Joining The Community Do So Voluntarily.


Please Confirm That You have Read The Above Statements and Agree With The Terms.

Learning Log - Self Assessment Log/ Blog Entry

FACILITATION SKILLS

Personal Skills

Good :
Clariying (asking questions and making clear the point)
Reading People (although a bit difficult online at times)
Listening
Enquiring Mind
Focusing on the point
Positive approach
Presenter using non- verbal techniques e.g. writing, PPT, ICT
Interpersonal Communication Skills

Need Improving
Synthesising skills
Summarizing Skills
Presenting in FTF public speaking

Michael's Purpose Checklist

Purpose Checklist

Purpose/ Outcome

The purpose of the group is to build capacity of group members to facilitate the formation and strengthening of national fisherfolk organizations through improved communication and increased sharing of relevant information. The benefits to the group will be measurable in terms of output which would be the formation of a Regional Network of Caribbean Fisherfolk Organizations. The group would use online communication during intersessional meetings to communicate and share information, thus a combination of online and face to face meetings will be used.


Target Audience

The target audience will be members of Fisherfolk Organisations from the CRFM’s 18 Member States in the short term, and to be joined by NGO’s, Government Agencies/ Departments, Universities and other related institutions in the long term. Participants would be motivated by gaining information from other members on ways to improve the efficiency of their organizations and share ideas on getting a competitive advantage using a regional approach to engage in business on the international markets. There will be a minimum of 18 members and a limit has not yet been envisaged. The community would be built from an existing pool of participants that have been involved in the CRFM’s organizational strengthening and capacity building programs from the inception (1991).


Types of Member Interactions

Discussions would be focused and would be initiated by the facilitator. They would be a combination of intellectual, social, sensitive and controversial and will be focused on issues affecting the organisations that the community members are part of. The content and knowledge generated would need to be captured as it would provide a way forward to the members. The interactions would be determined by the needs of the individual members. Some may organize synchronous interactions and other may opt for asynchronous interactions. The majority of interactions would be assumed to be asynchronous.


Time Frame

The online interaction would be a method of communication between members of the Regional Network and would be indefinite.




Guidelines, Rules and Governance

Due to the cultural diversity of the group members, strong defined rules will be put in place and this would be communicated through a list of “netiquette” rules which would users/ members would have to agree to follow prior to joining. The Rules would be reviewed periodically as different cultures would bring various challenges. Members would be allowed to contribute to the setting of the rules which could be changed at the discretion of other members, however the final decision would be made by the facilitator. Members would have to agree to a Terms of Service prior to becoming a member.


The online interaction space will be hosted by individual member organizations. Facilitators will be trained on how to facilitate an on online group and will be supported by the CRFM in the short term until they are able to support themselves.

Finally Got the Blog Set Up!!!!!

It took a while for me to set my blog up from the office as the computer i was working on was preventing me from accessing my blog because the Java/ Cookie "thing" had to be disabled, so after days of failure i decided to set it up from my home CPU!

I am a bit behind and need to catch up.

One question regarding blogs which i am sure that others may have been thinking the same thing. Is there a blog facility where only persons with a password can read blogs e.g. should a group be set up and I only wanted group members to read the blogs. This issue wold probably present itself later eapecially if the groups wanted to discuss sensitive issues pertaining to a specific project.

The question is open for discussion!