Strategy/Wikimedia movement/2017/Cycle 2/Organize/Groups

Welcome! edit

If you are a board or staff member or any other form of representative of an Organized Group, this is the place for you to start and get involved in the movement strategy process.

The whole process has been designed to meet the needs of different audience groups, and to encourage broad and diverse participation from all parts of the world. Together with you, we would like to find answers to the question “What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15 years?” Please make yourself familiar with the five goals of the process.

Understand the process edit

The overall strategy process is divided into 3 phases:

  • Phase 1, before October 2017: What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15 years? – this phase is divided into 3 cycles. The purpose of these cycles is to allow time for individual contributors and organized groups that support the movement to discuss the future direction, generate ideas, and then come to consensus. The outcome of this work will be the shared movement-wide strategic direction, and a draft of this direction has been posted for review before Wikimania 2017.
    • The Wikimedia Conference in Berlin (31 March - 2 April) was one important platform for Cycle 1 Organized Groups (and some Individual Contributors) to convene and discuss the main question – What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15 years? – and create strategic themes. Details of the program that ran in Berlin and its outcomes have been published.
    • At Wikimania in Montreal, the Strategy Team invited Wikimedians to join them in the dedicated Strategy Space to discuss the draft strategic direction and the next steps and also learn more about the insights from New Voices research.
    • In August and September, the draft Strategic Direction has been reviewed and finalized.
    • In October, all constituents of the Wikimedia Movement are invited to endorse the Strategic Direction.
  • Phase 2, after October 2017: Movement roles, resources and responsibilities as well as 3-5-year goals
  • Phase 3, 2018 and beyond: Organizations’ strategic and annual planning

Endorse the Strategic Direction edit

From October 26, 2017 on, all constituents of the Wikimedia movement (affiliates, groups, Wikimedia Foundation and individual contributors) are invited to express their support and commitment to the strategic direction. By adding your signature to the endorsement page, you declare your intent to work together towards this future.

Get ready to participate edit

Organized Groups are a strong voice in the movement and their participation is essential for the success of this process. To make sure that we reach every corner of the movement, we ask each group to appoint one or more Discussion Coordinators to liaise between their group and the strategy process. Sign up here to become a Discussion Coordinator!

Before you enter the conversation, we encourage you and your peers to make yourself familiar with the premises and to read the research which provides a high-level overview of what we know about the future and about our movement today.

Start the conversation edit

As an Organized Group, you can invite all your stakeholders to join your conversation: Board and staff members, members, external partners and allies, as well as members of your communities. Organized Groups, Track A, is closely connected to Track B (Individual Editors), as many Organized Groups have close bonds with their local or thematic communities. Therefore, many conversations will be coordinated and happen simultaneously. Discussion Coordinators (Track A) and Strategy Language Coordinators (Track B) are encouraged to sync on their plans.

Conversations can happen on- and offline. Please also explore ways to involve a diverse audience and encourage people to participate who usually tend to be more quiet in movement conversations.

Report back edit

All conversation summaries are considered as sources that will be used for the synthesis during the sense-making phases. To inform the ongoing process, we also encourage people to monitor the conversations that are taking place in their sister organizations or allied groups. The Source pages provide an overview of planned and ongoing conversations as well as summaries of the results. Create a new summary to add your conversation!

See the Organize page for a step-by-step guide for the overall process.

Track lead edit

Working group edit

Advisory Group edit

To help ensure participation and perspective from groups that are often underrepresented, we are in the process of convening an Advisory Group with members from different regions, genders, languages, projects, and types and sizes of affiliates and groups. The “Strategy Advisory Group Organized Groups” will work with Movement Strategy Track Lead Nicole Ebber to help steadily review and iterate the ongoing process, to be a sounding board for the design, implementation and sense-making as well as a linker to as many diverse groups as possible.


Discussion Coordinators edit

We are asking for at least one person from each organized group to volunteer to become a Discussion Coordinator. This person will receive an invitation to a Discussion Coordinator training and is responsible for inviting people to the discussion, hosting the discussion and summarizing the results. All organized groups should have received an email with more information and the link to sign up for becoming a Discussion Coordinator.