Collaborating with us

We would love to grow the co-op by working with more collaborators. The benefit for us includes everything from accessing new clients to learning new skills and discovering different ways of working. We also offer a variety of benefits for our collaborators:

Reputation We Are Open Co-op is a collective of respected technologists, thinkers and go-getters. Lots of our clients have said nice things about us, so instead of us tooting our own horns, check out our client pages!

Skills Words you might use for what we are good at: digital strategy, innovation, ethics, thought leadership, creativity, collaboration, community building, storytelling, remote work, synergistic narratives, empowerment, partnership, critical friend services, concept architecture, programme design, convening systems.

We work openly, so check out our blog posts

Infrastructure (tools) WAO has ways of getting things done. We also pay for some software, so we can manage our bizniz. When collaborating, we have a mess of infrastructure we can offer a project, pro accounts and whatnot.

Insurance We are an organised organisation full of adult people, so we have insurance and stuff like that. That means that we can respond to tenders big and small and can support others when project needs such an organisation behind it.

Invoicing As an organised organisation, we have infrastructure for invoicing, taxes, etc. We have a very cool spreadsheet for managing complex projects, and we're great at keeping track of budgets and payments and things. That's not to say it's our favourite part of the job, but we are adults about this.

The practicalities

We would hope that the benefits of working with WAO are manifold and obvious, but for the avoidance of doubt, it’s all about solidarity and building a world of cooperation, rather than one of competition. So how does this work?

1. You reach out to us (or we tap you on the shoulder).

2. You join our Slack channel.

3. We need to work together! Either you bring a project to us or the co-op invites you to get involved with an upcoming client project.

4. You work with us on the project. Hopefully, we all feel that the cooperation has been a success!

Main contact

We Are Open Co-op (WAO) will appoint one member as a the main contact for each client. This is to prevent any confusion or duplicated/mismatched info. Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, this main contact should be your first port of call. But, if your main contact is away, then WAO will be sure to appoint another member of the co-op to look after you while they're away.

In our experience, successful projects are based on trust, mutual understanding, and great communication. In order to enable that, this short document sets out our commitments to you, and we would ask that you reciprocate.

Guidelines

Email

When you email us we will respond promptly, usually within 24 hours. This may be a ‘holding’ response while we figure out how best to answer your question or get you the information you need. Either way, we won't keep you hanging, and we'll focus on how we can help you immediately. 

Bear in mind that the chances are we're working on several projects in any given week. If there is a genuine emergency then of course we will help you. Thanks in advance for your patience!

_Project management _

We use Trello to organise our projects and we'll invite you to a board using the template shown below:

Screenshot of Trello board

Should you not be familiar with the logistics of Trello then please check out their help section. In terms of the way we use it, then our expectations are:

1. Canonical link - this should be to the left-hand side of the board and provide a link to an overview of the project and to any shared spaces such as Google Drive folders.
2. Card titles - use verbs! So instead of ‘Project plan’ make things clearer by stating ‘Create project plan’ or ‘Update project plan’.
3. Card contents - other than a title, every card to the right of the ‘To do’ column should have three things:
   • A description to help explain what is required
   • At least one assignee to be responsible for the completion of actions described in the card
   • A due date by which time the actions described in the card should be complete

In addition, it would be helpful if you link to document required to complete the actions described in the card, and if you use the comments section to mention any updates. Bonus points for using the ‘checklist’ feature to break down cards into smaller more manageable chunks, and using the @mention feature to keep everyone up-to-date.

Keeping cards moving from left to right helps keep project momentum. When we meet for regular project management meetings, we can archive cards in the ‘Done’ column together.

Instant messaging

We use private Slack channels at WAO for internal communication and public channels for watercooler-style conversations with people in our network. We don't usually create shared channels with clients for projects, nor do we usually join workplace chat spaces owned and operated by clients. Of course, we do make exceptions. 

In our experience, intentional communication through email, scheduled meetings, and project management software like Trello allows us to spend more time (and more of your money!) on getting shit done rather than shooting the shit. We hope that makes sense.

Kick-off meeting

At the start of our time working together, we will run a kick-off meeting with you to figure out the answer to some questions. We find that getting the answer to these up front helps things further down the line:

• How often are we checking in?
• How many staff days is the client allocating to this project? Which days?
• How many member days per week is WAO allocating to this project? Which days?
• Are there any technology tools that WAO use that aren't accessible to the client? 
• In no more than five sentences, what is the desired outcome from the project we are working on together?

It's worth stating that there's different kinds of ambiguity when it comes to creative, innovative projects. Unhelpful ambiguity includes things such as who the project manager is from the client side, or which tools we're using to collaborate. 

There is such a thing as creative ambiguity, though. Sometimes, it's not clear until you get into a project the exact shape it will take. This is why we talk about the ‘desired outcome’ of the project, rather than a laundry list of deliverables.

How to podcast with WAO

The Tao of WAO is a podcast run by WAO members Doug & Laura. We often reach out to people in our networks who we'd like to talk to. We're pretty sure our best episodes are those in which we're joined by our amazing guests. Likely, if you're reading this page, it's because YOU have volunteered to be a guest on the Tao of WAO and that is just awesome. 

Here's how it works:

1. We'll arrange a time to record with you and send you a calendar invite for that time. We'll include a link to Zoom, where we'll meet for a little pre-chat. Then we'll switch to Zencastr, the tool we use to record the Tao of WAO. This tool records each participants audio locally, so that if there are any internet snafus, the audio stays clean.
2. We'll start planning some basic questions or statements to help us guide the conversation, but also, our conversations are organic. They go where they go. Our first question for guests is always a version of “What's your favourite book?"
3. Use Chrome, Brave or Edge to join the Zencastr (their system requirements are here). If you're anti-all these Browsers for any sort of ethical reasons, please do reach out, we'll figure something out!
4. We will have a short chat when you join, and then when everyone is ready, we'll switch to Zencastr and hit record. This chat can be used to tell us what you do want to talk about, any topics to avoid and anything else that might be on your mind. We'll record the audio, not the video, so you don't need to worry about how you look or what your background is :)
5. Our first question for guests is always “What is your favourite book?” You are very welcome to answer this question however you see fit (e.g. “favourite this week”, “favourite all time”, “most inspirational”, you understand). We will add your suggestion to our Tao of WAO Book Club here.
6. While recording, we can mark sections that should be edited by simply saying “I'd like to say that again” or whatever. Then Laura will do a loud “BEEP” into the microphone and after a pause, you can start saying whatever you were saying again. After the recording, we'll add our bumper content (the intro/outro music) and cut out any bits that need to go.
7. We'll publish the podcast and let you know when it's up.
8. We'll also share on our socials and tag you as much as possible.
9. That's it. We need one more point to make it to 10, though, so...
10. THANK YOU for being on our podcast!