Fellows have always been at the heart of the RSA - from the original 11 members sitting round a table in a coffee shop in Covent Garden 260 years ago, to the 27,000 we have today all over the world. One area we’re working hard at is to ensure Fellows are at the heart of the projects we undertake.
While we have always done this to some extent, we are currently attempting to do so in a much more comprehensive way. If we can make more of the extraordinary skills and experience within our Fellowship, we will be able to achieve far more than we currently do. We are still at the early stages of working out how to achieve this in practice, but we’ve made good progress lately that we thought we’d share.
We have been clearer on our major themes of work. Hopefully this is helpful for Fellows to understand the areas we are focusing on. Within those themes we have two areas we’re developing; how to support Fellow-led projects and how to involve Fellows more in work undertaken by staff. I’ll talk more about our support for Fellows’ projects in another post.
When it comes to involving Fellows in our work, our starting point is to look at every stage of a project, from initial conception through research to dissemination, and think through how we can work with Fellows to improve what we do. To give a few examples of what we have tried recently;
- We sent early recommendations from our report on self-employment to Fellows who we identified as likely to be self-employed (no easy task) for their feedback.
- We have brought together Fellows in leading positions in higher education and health to look at what the current problems are and where we should be focusing our efforts to solve them.
- Fellows have become mentors for social enterprises we are working with.
- We have used knowledge from Fellows to contribute to our research on City Growth.
- We are developing a strong network of school governors to help implement the changes we want to see in schools. If you’re a governor and want to be part of our network, email Tom, who is leading this area of work.
We’re still at an early stage, trying different ways to involve Fellows, obtaining feedback on what works well and evolving what we do. It can be frustrating at times, as our research work is largely externally funded and we have to follow the timelines of projects, waiting for the appropriate time to implement the various options. As such it will take quite a while to build up a comprehensive picture, though we’re already a lot further on than even a few months ago.
It may be that you’d like to be involved in this type of activity and are wondering why you haven’t been called upon. One of the difficulties we face is thinking of ways to engage meaningfully when we have so many Fellows. With the self-employment report mentioned above for example, we identified about 4,000 Fellows who were likely to be self-employed and therefore may have had something to contribute (let alone those not self-employed who could also contribute). If we had contacted them all we wouldn’t have been able to handle the response, and it would have meant we did not pay due attention to everyone’s contributions. We preferred to keep things manageable, so that everyone who did contribute would feel confident that their effort was valued.
Another practical challenge we have is that involving Fellows depends on the timing of projects, as mentioned above. We may have periods where a lot is going on, and others where there is less activity. However as we continue more opportunities will undoubtedly arise.
If you do want to be involved then the best way is to ensure your profile on our website is up to date and that you select any of the interests on our list that are applicable to you. This is one of the main ways we find Fellows who might have an interest in a particular area of work.
We’re at an early stage of ensuring our Fellows are embedded throughout our research work, but it’s exciting to already see the positive impact of doing so. I look forward to updating you as we continue to do so and if you have any ideas on how we can engage more effectively with Fellows around projects, do let me know.
Oliver Reichardt is the Director of Fellowship at the RSA
Follow him @OliverReichardt
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The regional co-ordinators should respond to requests from fellows for engagement with other fellows or what is the point of the co ordinator? After frequent attempts to contact ours in South Central, I contacted Oli and he came along to an important link meeting between fellows and our local Council & college leaders (Thank you Oli).
I think the underlying issue is to do with the management model used throughout public bodies and institutions, including the RSA, which has not kept pace with social and technological change. Successful industries no longer use this model (Read John Timpson on 'Upside down management') It took nearly a year for me to start getting an interest group going in our region. The irony is, that the RSA actually called the first meeting 2 years ago for that very purpose, but then it was, as others have reported, a major struggle to find like-minded fellows.
Hi Peter,
I hope there has been positive follow up to our meeting? On your wider point, interest groups do vary widely, thriving in many places, not so popular in others. So thank you for your continued efforts in your area as, when they do take off, they work really well.
My previous experience in trying to engage the RSA has been disappointing. As a firm and academically we have research and publication on the go at all times. One research project was in line with the then defined themes of the RSA and the reception we received was, to say the least, lukewarm. We gave up with the RSA but carried on. More recently I published a (well received) book which covered unique research in an area that fitted with one of the then themes of the RSA and offered some forum for it at the RSA, whatever would have suited, but I felt like I was trying to sell snake oil. After several attempts at communication I just gave up. I have given up on the RSA since.
Hi Robert,
We do get many many requests to provide a forum for research, books, articles, thoughts and interesting topics. As such we do, unfortunately have to be very selective. However we aim to provide a quick, clear and transparent service when people do approach us so I'll send you an email to discuss how we can improve it.
thanks,
Oli
This is a very very useful blog, thank you Oliver ! - Advice set out now forms part of my preparations for an approach with a project, but prior to going public, I would like to be able to search for and make contact with other Fellows. There are some very specifc skills experiecnces and vision to be considered in finding those who may be interested in a social enterprise project, in the digital health area, in which I am enaged. I am sure others have similar needs?
The request made in the blog to FRSAs to upload their interests in their profile on My RSA is vital, but I fear not adequately promoted or (dare I write) mandated!
RSA Staff are I find, always willing to search against a description of need against priveleged knowledge held at the House or by them personally, but for understandable security/confidentiality reasons Fellows cannot otherwise gain access. It is very time consuming to enter a Fellow's name and location hoping to find them for a possible pin-point approach! I have been in touch with several by this means, but... couldn't there be a place for key words and a LinkedIn connection?
Social networking is very powerful, and in our case will be better. It is an important step towards face-to-face conversations (Skype can effectively) follow and ideas and projects flourish.
Any solutions to the challenges faced and shared may move things forward? As newly appointed Oxford Network Lead for S-Central Region in support of Maurizio Fantato, https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/in-your-area/regions/south-central/ we are establishing regular meetings at www.studenthubs.org which will help.
Your views on seeking out and developing projects, or seeking inputs from Fellows will be welcomed
prashby@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks, Peter Ashby
Martin - yes, definitely still at the forefront of our thinking. Great you're still keen to work on the small groups methodology, it would be good to chat about it.
Leah, we are currently developing what a good on-line social space for Fellows looks like - watch this space!
Oli
This is a great post, I'm encouraged. There is probably allot I'm not seeing as I'm not a member, just a 'potential member' weighing up the idea of diving in. Is there any on-line social group for members, like a facebook group? I'm part of several other groups (free and paid) that are hugely engaged with their audience via these means. It would be a space where members can talk with each other to create/develop/support on projects relevant to the RSA's goals.
Hi Leah, as Oli says we're currently doing some research into this area, at the moment we have a Fellows only LinkedIn group plus Fellows can find and connect with each other through MyRSA (https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/get-involved/connecting-online/). I would be interested to know which forums you are a part of, and the types of things they are doing to engage with their members. Perhaps we could connect over email? (adam.timmins@rsa.org.uk)
I know you have been talking to my colleague Adam Myers about joining the RSA, do let us know if you need any further info.
Great stuff Adam, I'll pop you an email and am happy to chat and share any insights that might help this RSA development. Yep, Adam Myers has been really helpful. Catch up soon!