Once a plan has been developed, and people trust it, it needs to be followed. Educators cannot take this for granted, especially in pressurised situations such as elections. They must ensure commitment by creating a programme book, holding programme conferences, and communicating with everyone who is involved.
If the plan has been developed through a consultative process involving a range of stakeholders, there will still be many who have been excluded from its design. Even those who were involved in the initial data collection or in the determination of educational objectives are likely to have been excluded from the more technical detailed design work that follows.
So it is essential to get commitment to the plan and to its various component parts from those who must implement or support it. This commitment cannot be taken for granted over the full period of the programme. People, including staff, come and go and it is essential that a mechanism is created for integrating new arrivals and orienting them to the plan as soon as possible after they arrive on the scene.
Sticking to the Plan with Flexibility in Implementation
Because such a programme has been constructed at substantial cost, and because it is likely that there will be a crisis of confidence at some point during the implementation, there will also be a need to work on maintaining commitment to the plan. This last is a particular art as it requires a balance between asserting trust in the original plan against the potential need for change as a result of flaws in the plan or changes in the conditions within which the plan is being implemented.
Creating a Programme Book
The first activity must be the creation of a programme book that can be given to stakeholders and can be used by programme staff for introducing themselves and explaining their programme to potential partners and participants.
Such a book need not be a full text of the programme design, although it might have that as an appendix for those who require it. It should be a well-laid out summary of the context, objectives, strategy, outline, implementation staff, and organisations. It may even be appropriately prepared in the form of slides that can be used for posters or flip charts, overhead projector presentations, or digital projector shows.
It is likely that such a presentation will be used regularly to recruit new members of the network, raise money for the programme and obtain publicity, and so on. As a result, it should be prepared in such a way that it lasts, and has the flexibility to provide an overview for those who need it as well as a detailed plan for those who must follow it.
Conducting Programme Conferences
There are a range of different programme conferences that are needed.
Initial stakeholders events will make sure that everybody who needs to be apprised of the programme before it is implemented are brought on board. Staff conferences will orient new staff to the programme as quickly as possible.
During the implementation phase, conferences might be held at particular moments to assess the programme, build support for the next phase, introduce new materials, or advertise new staff and components of the programme.
Such conferences should be a mix of good communication and proper consultation. Staff conferences should include training, staff development, and personal review; stakeholder conferences should have an aspect of reporting and accountability.
Circulating a Newsletter
Even with conferences, a large programme cannot keep everybody apprised of what is happening on a regular basis, especially if they are spread throughout the country. In addition to encouraging coverage of the programme by the national and community media, and by the organisation that are part of the programme network, the programme itself should consider a newsletter.
This can be expensive if the temptation is to prepare a glossy and widely distributed newsletter. This may be necessary in circumstances where the programme requires substantial marketing. However, it is more important to produce a newsletter that comes out regularly and that covers the programme adequately.
New technology makes even the well-edited and laid out colour newsletter easier to produce, but. distribution must be considered before production. It is better to establish a letter that can be faxed, e-mailed, or obtained on a fax/voice mail system by someone dialling in when they can.
Such a newsletter can be broadcast without much cost in production and printing. Even when some recipients are without fax, telephone, or computers, it may be possible for a nodal organisation to print out a single hard copy and photocopy this for the few other organisations and individuals with whom it has contact.
Setting up a Website
Linked to the newsletter is the need for a web site that can do the twin tasks of providing public access to educational materials and information, and the more technical user information that might be required by educators and partners involved in implementing the programme.
In particular, such a web site can ensure that rapidly changing information and large documents (such as electoral legislations) are available when required and do not have to be stored or alternatively searched for in offices around the country.
Identifying Public Moments
Finally, maintaining commitment to the plan means taking the public into one's confidence and maintaining this confidence over time. To do this, people must see that something is happening, even if the programme is presently not reaching them particularly. In addition, obtaining media coverage of events multiplies their impact.
So the programme will identify specific moments and capitalize on these by holding media events, celebrations, larger public events, and by advertising these.
A programme cannot exist on these, and cannot rely on public moments in place of a serious educational programme that reaches people where they are. Indeed, setting up public events without having prepared for these fully, including face-to-face events and community organising, is likely to backfire. Gatherings happen as a result of programmatic activity, not in advance of it or in place of it.
