While each of the four IBM CSC teams have been working with four different NGO clients on various projects, we all decided to dedicate one day (weekend) to community service where we will be directly interacting with the people whose lives may get directly impacted by the projects we are doing. VSO proposed two community service activities and asked us to choose one:
- Teaching how to use digital cashless technology to a group of people from Indore slum areas impacted heavily with HIV.
- Teaching Indore based NGOs how to use social media and other online technology for increasing efficiency and impact
After internal discussion, IBM CSC team agreed to work on both service activities. We spend our evenings and weekend time to plan the both activities and prepare the documentation:
Afternoon Session: Digital enablement for NGOs
Location: Jan Vikas Society campus
Time: 3-5pm
Agenda:
- Introduction (20 minutes)
- Workshops (15 mins in each table + 5 min for table rotation: 80 minutes)
- Table #1: Social Media Marketing: Danilo & Bill
- Table #2: Survey tool, Google Calendar & Hangouts: Davinder & Amanda
- Table #3: YouTube; Bruna & Elizabeth
- Table #4: Google suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides): Martin & Keiko
- Support team (ensure everything is going well + live demonstration of Facebook Live, Google Drive, surveys etc.): Marta & Juliana
- Closing comments, Questions & Post-session Tea (20 minutes)
Methodology: Four tables were set up with two people from IBM sitting around each table. Participants were assigned to 4 groups, which rotated every 15 minutes in a clock-wise method, until they were able to visit all tables. This method allowed for participants to interact more closely with the presenters, and made their learning experience more personal.
The IBM team reached the Jan Vikas Society campus at 2:00 PM to check the site and plan tasks. It had a large hall with audio-visual equipment and furniture to allow large gatherings. Soon, the members from VSO team, partner and other NGOs for whom the training was intended, started to arrive. After having about 30-40 people, who were working for different NGOs in Indore, we started our training session around 3:15 PM. After a brief introduction of IBM team, we explained that we would run the training in a workshop-style to make it more interactive and interesting for them. We had already setup four different tables to showcase different technologies and divided the participants into four groups (7/8 members in each group).
The first table explained and demonstrated the tools commonly used for social media marketing such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Table 1: Social Media Marketing Workshop
The second table focused on Survey tools – Google Forms & SurveyMonkey, Google Calendar & Hangouts. Amanda explained Google Calendar and Hangouts on how they can be used for business and I showed a live session on creating a survey and summarizing the results using Google Forms and also explained SurveyMonkey.
Table 2: Surveys and Google Calendar, Hangout Workshop
The third demonstrated how YouTube can be used to search and access for educational and other information relevant to their day-to-day work.
Table 3: YouTube for NGOs Workshop
The last table demonstrated the most commonly used tools in the Google Suite – Forms, Sheets, and Slides.
Table 4: Google Suite Workshop
Each workshop last 15 minutes and the IBM Support Team kept tight control over the clock.
The Super Strict Workshop Coordinators!
In the end, we asked all participants to complete a survey on the SurveyMonkey regarding what they had learned in the day. We also uploaded pictures taken during the workshops to Google Drive. In less than a minute after they submitted the surveys, we were able to show them the survey results, summary and shared pictures (Google Drive) on a projector connected to the live website on the laptop.
The overall training was very much liked by the NGO partners and they said they had learned useful tools and plan to use them in future. VSO team planned for tea and snacks in the end, after which we came back the hotel.
Davinder Singh Garcha Blogs 