Making the transition to using cmc in our work is one theme of the
presentation Alison Stirling and I will be doing at CPHA in Vancouver.

Susan MacMillan Wrote:
>Currently, many managers assume that providing internet
>access to staff will result in their playing on the computer rather than
>using it for searches such as the one described below.  We still have work
>to do in increasing access to health care practitioners and members of the
>public.

At a meeting (face-to-face) recently of the project I co-ordinate, one
worker who was having difficulty dialing-in, and couldn't get local agency
support to fix the minor technical problem said:
"It's like there is a meeting going on every day and I can't get the minutes!"

Seeking support from Managers has been a challenge and continues to be. They
themselves are not on-line, in some cases, and hence have not experienced
the value of the venue.

There is more to using the internet for our work than searches or publishing
the resources our efforts produce.While these aspects are important, it is
also a place for us to gather, to learn from each other, to act
collectively. Management for learning encourages exploration, innovation,
creativity and finding new or emerging solutions by asking effective
questions and pointing people in the right direction to achieve outcomes.
Supporting these efforts in the context of achieving the vision of the
organization maintains accountability.

In some cases certain management styles may feel threatened by what the new
technology for communication has to offer. Information is accessible,
timely, relevant, and not stockpiled on one person's desk. Access to
information has elements of power which might be perceived as threatening.
How do we overcome this?

I don't have any quick answers.

Introducing the opportunity to try things may be one route. Tryability was
found to be a key factor in a research study undertaken by Stephen Osbourne
on innovation in the non-profit sector in Britain. However, at Growing Up
Healthy Downtown, we still face the barriers of poor support in some
locations. If I ask the staff who are infrequent users of the technology if
they would like to give up their accounts they are reluctant to do so and
none have so far. We have just had our first staff move on inside one of our
locations and plan to keep her internet account for her future work. I feel
like we are growing this from the ground up.(She was a manager ;-)

Using tools for discussion may be another way. In the presentations I make
to non-profit groups and coalitions about the use of the internet I always
begin with a tool developed by Sam Lanfranco at York University. It is
simple, two circles intersecting. At the top of one I write "literal work",
at the top of the other I write "virtual work", at the bottom under the
intersection point I write the "real work". The through a facilitated
discussion I ask the group to identify different aspects of their daily work
and we plot it on the circles. Where applications may fit nicely in the
electronic venue I add them. It seems to help people understand that the use
of the internet is not an either/or discussion. It helps to map out patterns
of communication and how the introduction of the additional tools of the
internet will help them to accomplish their work.


>Alberta Health has recently funded Health In Action to carry out an
>environmental scan of the province's Regional Health Authorities (RHAs).
>The goal of this process is to identify who has internet access, who should
>have it (I vote everyone) and what needs to be done (changing attitudes or
>budgets) to increase access by staff and volunteers.

Many groups are undertaking this exercise currently. It would be interesting
to get copies of a number of these studies to see what common themes emerge.

The internet has great capacity to assist us in creating structures and
practices in our work which maximize self-organizing behaviors. I have
noticed this increases a sense of interdependence (implications for
sustainability) among those working toward a common goal or vision.

Liz Rykert
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