Lessons Learned

A Pilot Project is a learning experience and the lessons learned during the E-Growth Community Project will assist us in the future as we move into new programs and projects. If your organization is considering running a similar project, these lessons may help you in your planning.

 

Be Flexible:

Participants have various schedules and needs and sign up and participation had to be flexible.

 

Realize that Success is not Dependant upon Duration of Involvement:

Some participants stayed with the project and increased their abilities over the full three years and some were only been involved for a few months. Both types of participants received the support they needed.

 

Participants can be Teachers Too:

Newcomers often feel more comfortable when “senior” participants encourage and mentor them.

 

Be Open to New Methods:

Several options were explored before we chose CustomGuide online training. This decision led to an increase in the number of participants and has offered solid, measurable outcomes for those participants.

 

Be Available

Some of our most successful participants needed dedicated blocks of one-on-one assistance before they were confident enough to learn on their own.

 

Keep Track

Names, contact information, statistics, attendance, photos etc… all are necessary to keep the project running smoothly, to evaluate your progress and to be properly accountable to your funding partners.

 

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Listen

Even though you have a battery of courses and workshops available, listen to what the participant is telling you so you can offer them what they need.

 

Get the Word Out

The best services in the world are no use if no one knows about them. Promote your offerings wherever you can IN ADVANCE!

 

Make the Media Your Friends

Find out where you can promote your project for free or inexpensively. Ask your media representatives about deadlines, word counts, and photo types/sizes and stick to them.

 

Teamwork

Work together towards a common goal by depending on each other’s strengths.

 

Learn

You can’t teach what you don’t know.

 

Learn by Doing

If you use the skills you will remember the skills.

 

Network

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the strengths of your partners and other community organizations. (e.g. having the Chamber of Commerce email out workshop notices instead of trying to compile a similar database)

 

Look Within your Organization for Expertise

Sometimes you have the facilitators on staff, support and encourage them to facilitate workshops instead of relying on outside contractors.

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