Research Community Management 101 Workshops for Software Sustainability Institute Fellows

RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Research Community Management 101 Training & Community Clinic Workshops I & II About us Dr. Cassandra Gould Van Praag Executive Director & Co-Founder - RCM Cooperative Dr. Malvika Sharan Co-Founder - RCM Cooperative, SSI Fellow 2019 Dr. Emma Karoune Co-Founder - RCM Cooperative, SSI Fellow 2021 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 www.rcmcooperative.com We work with and for communities to develop and refine their capacity for equitable, resilient and collaborative research. www.rcmcooperative.com Communities we have managed and supported Modelling and high-precision forecasting of complex environmental systems to make leaps in weather prediction and sustainable energy SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 SSI RCM 101 Workshop I RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 MEETING PRACTICE 1. Follow the participant briefing for all information and links needed 2. You can use Written (W) or Spoken (S) options to interact - please edit your username to indicate your preference by adding W or S in front of your name 3. We’d love to see you, so please turn on your camera if you can - take a break if needed. 4. All questions are welcome through chat and by raising virtual hand (Zoom ✋) 5. You can take notes for future reference - we have shared notes. Please credit contributions! 6. Cass, Malvika, Emma are your trainers - they will keep things moving for time! 7. Connect with them and others on Slack #ssi-rcm101. We will share resources there. SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Start time Activity 14:00 - 14:30 Welcome and icebreaker 14:25 - 14:55Workshop 1 starts 14:55 - 15:05Break 15:05 - 15:50 Workshop continues 15:50 - 16:00Wrap up, next steps and questions AGENDA SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 Icebreaker Workshop 1 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Let’s get to know each other and exchange ideas You will be assigned to two rounds of breakout discussions ●Round 1: Prompt 1 & 2 ●Round 2: Prompt 3 & 4 Icebreaker prompts: 🔔 2 X 8 minutes tenor.com/view/north-pole-winter-cold-penguin-cute-gif-16328159 SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 An open science project and community-driven project on data science and research practices. ● 5 guides, 1 community handbook, 350+ chapters; ● 500+ co-authors; 6000+ monthly users, ● collaboration with 50+ organisations; ● citations in 100+ peer reviewed papers, reports, policies and online resources; ● HiddenREF and OpenUK awards; influenced and inspired many resources & community projects. The Turing Way : Global Community Project CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 TRAINING GOALS 1. Learn about community management through RCM roles 2. Explore RCM skills, knowledge and behaviours and Identify what is needed in your community 3. Identify where your community can be supported better and plan for it 4. Build strategies for community management https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2409.00108 Consider a community you think needs managing throughout the exercises! SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 What is RCM? Our definition: RCMs foster a collaborative environment where a diverse community can access the socio-technical infrastructure and participatory processes they need to actively engage, gain recognition and build shared agency over their work. SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 What is RCM? Our definition: RCMs foster a collaborative environment where a diverse community can access the socio-technical infrastructure and participatory processes they need to actively engage, gain recognition and build shared agency over their work. RCMs bring experience in research and data and embed community interests while working in the interface of leadership, project management, research/data science team and wider community. SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Reflection: 2-3 Mins What is the purpose of your community? Share in Zoom Chat SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 PURPOSE OF COMMUNITY A market tool ●Creating a loyal customer base ●Feeling connected to the brand ●Boost product adoption and brand loyalty Community consumes the brand and advocates for it! A collaborative ecosystem ●Emphasises innovation and problem-solving ●Contributing to each others success ●Platform for co-creation, feedback, exchange Community shapes the offering itself, and builds a sense of agency SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 COMMUNITY AS A MARKET TOOL ●Creating a loyal customer base ●Feeling connected to the brand ●Boost product adoption and brand loyalty “Build it and they will come” SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Brian Nosek (COS) “Research Culture Change” COMMUNITY AS A MARKET TOOL “Build it and they will come” SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Adapted by Kirstie Whitaker, UKRN #Repro2020, Jan 2020 SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 COMMUNITY OF COLLABORATION “Build it with them” RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Flipping the Market Funnel for Community Leadership SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 Mountain of engagement, Chad Sansing, Abigail Cabunoc Mayes - Mozilla Open Leadership and OLS - Open Seeds, adapted by Cass Gould Van Praag How do we reach the right people? Why would people come back? How do we make it sustainable and resilient? RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Make it discoverable and understandable Make it accessible and inclusive Prioritise community benefits and interests Clarity and progress through governance and management Integrate and demonstrate good practice https://doi.org/10.48550/ arXiv.2409.00108 Engagement Strategic Development Technical Expertise Peripheral Accountability Core Communication s Participation guidelines and process Content development Technical documentation Open communication Community documentation Resource curation Internal communication platforms External communication management Best practices Community events Community-level governance Impact and reporting Engaging non-specialist users Stakeholder mapping & engagement Onboarding Roadmap for engagement Knowledge and skill workshop Integrate feedback in strategy Mentoring and upskilling members Aligning with EDIA principles Recognition and visibility Onboarding diverse community leaders Community events Open collaboration Community survey and reporting Reproducibility and knowledge sharing License types, version control Infrastructure, technical skills open science strategy Data practice (w/ Data Wranglers) Technical training (w/ Skills team) Supporting code(w/ RSE/RDS) Maintaining code (w/ RSE/RDS) Data analysis (w/ RSE/RDS) Awareness of timeline, budget, risks Share community plans Team and community meetings Task prioritisation Build/follow internal process Ethics documentation (w/ researchers) Event logistics (event teams) Budget planning (accounting) Project meetings (w/ RPM) Community engagement (w/ RPM) Legal requirements ( w/ RPM) Internal project reporting (w/ RPM) Records for references (w/ RPM) Horizon scanning, Identify opportunities Vision and priorities (w/ Leadership) Ways of working Implement policies (W/ RPM) Community assessment Community/project collaboration Community advocacy Incentive and rewards (w/ Leadership) Identify growth opportunity Promote/demo open leadership Sustainability plans (w/ Leadership) Strategic partnerships (w/ Leadership) Sustaining/sunsetting (w/ leadership) SKILLS & COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK Product management (w/ RAM) Technical Support (w/ RSE/RDS) Web/UI/UX design (w/ UX specialist) Reproducible workflows Data management (w/ Data Stewards) Sharan, Malvika, Emma Karoune, Vicky Hellon, Cassandra Gould Van Praag, Gabin Kayumbi, Arielle Bennett, Alexandra Araujo Alvarez et al. "Professionalising Community Management Roles in Interdisciplinary Research Projects." arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.00108 (2024). RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Make it discoverable and understandable Make it accessible and inclusive Prioritise community benefits and interests RCMs have varied career paths! Where can you draw from the community? Where can you collaborate and develop? ✍ What skills and resources do you have? ✍ What skills and resources does your community have? ✍ Who / what infrastructure from outside can be brought in to fill the gaps? ✍ What upskilling or resources need to be developed within your community? SKILLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SKILLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SKILLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: What’s next? RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Please complete the feedback form! RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 Community Clinic Workshop 1 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Please share a critical situation/problem from your community or specific implementation of RCM approaches that is/was particularly challenging for you to deal with in your project. We as a team will diagnose the issue, share insights and identify some potential next steps/solutions. If you have already identified a solution, please don't write them down, you will have an opportunity to share that at the end of the clinic. We will +1 the issue we want to discuss first, this would mean that we may use our next clinic to discuss some challenge that we can't get through at this meeting. WHAT TO EXPECT SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 ●Community-related challenge that I am currently encountering in my project ●What are the indicators that this issue is particularly challenging? ●Who in your project is involved in addressing it? ●How solving this issue affects your community? SHARE THE FOLLOWING AHEAD OF THE CLINIC SSI Fellows Training 23rd July 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Welcome back! We are so delighted you are here. You will be grouped in breakout rooms: 1. Share how your community started and where you are in the planning or strategy development? 2. Share a joyful moment and a pain point of community management? Icebreaker prompts: 🔔 1 X 8 minutes tenor.com/view/north-pole-winter-cold-penguin-cute-gif-16328159 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 1. What is RCM? 2. Skills and responsibilities 3. Community maturation 4. Managing your community RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 PURPOSE DEFINES PARTICIPATION Every community should have a purpose (mission/vision) ●Purpose defines how you would like community members to interact with you and each other = “Participation” ●Interactions between community members will happen whether you intend for them or not ●The RCMs role is to scaffold, facilitate and empower for the desired level of participation Communities with more complex participation can do more! RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 COMMUNITY MATURATION INDICATOR https://doi.org/10.48550/ arXiv.2409.00108 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Levels of Community Participation Stages of Community Building 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 Initiation Planning & Design Implementation Growth & Scaling Monitoring & Evaluation Sustainability / Sunsetting Inform community Invite Feedback Engage & Involve Mobilise & Connect Empower Groups Decentralise Power LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION 1 Inform community 2 Invite Feedback 3 Engage & Involve 4 Mobilise & Connect 5 Empower Groups 6 Decentralise Power RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION ●Complexity of potential problems and community members involved in solving problems increases ●Scope of participation, diversity of perspectives and collaboration to solve problems improves ●Channels for engagement, infrastructure requirement and need for resourcing increases ●Peoples’ involvement in community building, maintenance and sustainability increases ●Levels of participation can be used to establish and improve objectives (example: Y1, Y2, Y5) 1 Inform community 2 Invite Feedback 3 Engage & Involve 4 Mobilise & Connect 5 Empower Groups 6 Decentralise Power RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION ●Inform: The community is a communications channel ●Invite feedback: The community is invited to share opinions and perspectives ●Engage & Involve: Community is supported to collaborate, share practices and combine ideas ●Mobilise & Connect: Different groups undertake activities aligned with the community purpose ●Empower groups: Groups are connected to support each other and share solutions ●Decentralise power: Groups retain certain level of autonomy, while sharing responsibility to maintain and sustain community overall (shared values, goals, directions) RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 1 Initiation 2 Planning & Design 3 Implementation 4 Growth & Scaling 5 Monitoring & Evaluation 6 Sustainability / Sunsetting STAGES OF COMMUNITY BUILDING RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th July 2025 1 Initiation 2 Planning & Design 3 Implementation 4 Growth & Scaling 5 Monitoring & Evaluation 6 Sustainability / Sunsetting STAGES OF COMMUNITY BUILDING ●Establish your desired level of participation and plan appropriate activities to achieve that ●Identify metrics of progress/success (design stage) and monitor/evaluate those to plan next stage ●Stay flexible and adaptive - know when you need to revisit your plans: when things are not working or when you are ready to move to the next stage? RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 ●Initiation: Establish infrastructure, share information and communicate project goals ●Planning & Design: Build stakeholder awareness plans and prioritise specific objectives ●Implementation: Provide collaborative opportunities and engage all actors appropriately ●Growth & Scaling: Facilitate knowledge exchange, skill building ●Monitoring & Evaluation: Assesses success and refine strategy ●Sustainability / Sunsetting: Review sustainability, close or future iterations STAGES OF COMMUNITY BUILDING RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 1. What is RCM? 2. Skills and responsibilities 3. Community maturation 4. Managing your community “Stakeholder” as a term has a colonial history. When possible, explicitly name groups. Or use other terms, such as “interest holders”. RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 MANAGING YOUR COMMUNITY You are designing for people – you need to know who they are so you can: ●anticipate and respond to their needs ●understand who is supporting and has influence ●design inclusively ●know who to speak to when ●know who to connect to whom RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 WHO ARE IN YOUR COMMUNITY? Users Contributors Project team RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Example: Environment and Sustainability Research Teams Example: Data Science Without Borders - white board / sticky note exercise Mapping on Miro or other similar boards: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLgVaxak=/ Example: Data Science Without Borders - Table (more diverse use of this format) RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Users Contributors Project team Exchange feedback, propose solutions and address them in the project How do you want to engage and involve them? How can you prioritise their engagement? RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Example: Data Science Without Borders - Influence vs Interest/readiness In Miro: Move your card across different axes: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLgVaxak=/ Example: Data Science Without Borders - Influence vs Interest/readiness In Miro: Move your card across different axes: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLgVaxak=/ In table format: Additional columns to analyse their influence/involvement RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Break RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Next Steps for your Communities RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Next Steps: Applying it to your communities ●Key take-homes from these workshops ●What could you do next => prioritisation ●Goals for September, December, March 2026 ●Prompts for thinking about delivery ○What resources (including training) will you require to deliver each goal? ○Who will be accountable for delivery? ○How will I communicate this goal? ○How will I know when I’ve been successful? ○Does delivery require changes to existing workflows, policies, or organisational structures? ○What are the biggest risks to failure? ○How can these risks be mitigated? RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 WRAP UP WRAP UP 1. What RCM is: Formal activities to facilitate collaborative problem solving (also, vibes and visibility 😉) 2. What skills are needed: A diverse role! Communication, engagement, strategic development, technical research expertise, significant accountability 3. What can be achieved in a community: Complex participation requires resourcing, but can solve more complex problems 4. Think strategically about your community: Your power is in what you know about people, and how you plan to work with them RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 GET IN TOUCH ●RCM Cooperative ○[email protected] ○You can reach out to Emma and Malvika too :) ○RCM Cooperative Slack ● The Turing Way ○http://book.the-turing-way.org/ ○Slack ○Regular community calls and training Please complete the feedback form! RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 We have stickers! SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 13th August 2025 Close RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: SSI Fellows Training 15th August 2025 Community Clinic Workshop 2 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 Please share a critical situation/problem from your community or specific implementation of RCM approaches that is/was particularly challenging for you to deal with in your project. Let us know what feedback you’d like to receive (can be more than one type!) 1. Solutions/Advice: "I'm actively looking for ideas on how to solve this." 2. Validation/Empathy: "I just need to vent and feel like my frustration is understood." 3. Unpacking: "Ask me some question to help me understand the challenge" 4. Alternative perspectives: "What am I missing here?" We will +1 the issue we want to discuss first, this would mean that we may use our next clinic to discuss some challenge that we can't get through at this meeting. WHAT TO EXPECT SSI Fellows Training 15th August 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 ●Community-related challenge that I am currently encountering in my project ●What are the indicators that this issue is particularly challenging? ●Who in your project is involved in addressing it? ●How solving this issue affects your community? ●What feedback would you like to receive? SHARE THE FOLLOWING AHEAD OF THE CLINIC SSI Fellows Training 15th August 2025 RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0