Skills to Win: Call for Group Coordinators
Group Coordinator: Role and Responsibilities
Group Coordinators are critical to making sure that your group gets the most out of Skills to Win! Each group must have at least one group coordinator per 20 participants.
Because Skills to Win is practice-based, there will be small group breakouts within your organization – and at times across organizations – allowing you to do role plays and accomplish campaign work during the session. To make this work, each team needs a group coordinator. The group coordinator is responsible for getting folks into small group breakouts, setting up the breakout exercises and campaign practice assignments, and, generally, making sure all participants are clear about the exercises, what they are working on, how to find their materials, etc. The group coordinator also sets up and facilitates your campaign practice meetings, which take place once a week in between sessions. The group coordinator does not teach any new curriculum. The group coordinator directs participants to their materials, gives pre-written instructions, and answers questions, but is not responsible for teaching any new material.
We estimate that it will take 1-2 hours per week to act as a group coordinator, in addition to the Skills to Win session and campaign practice session. It’s a critical role—without group coordinators, we can’t do breakouts in any meaningful way. Many groups use the designated group time – both during sessions in Skills to Win and during their campaign practice sessions – to make real-time improvements in a campaign that is already underway, in addition to one they might be planning.
What does the group coordinator do?
- Host organizational Zoom meetings on their own Zoom link and set up Zoom breakout rooms – we will provide training for anyone who needs technical support!
- With direction from the Skills to Win team, introduce, facilitate, and debrief the small group activities with their group during in-session breakouts
- Connect the curriculum in the class to your organization’s current work
- Communicate logistics and reminders about the training to your breakout group before and after each session
- Problem solve with your participants if they run into issues with technology, missing a session, homework, etc.
- Schedule and facilitate one additional session per week to complete campaign practice assignments within your group. This one-hour session is meant to be done separately from the main Skills to Win session
- Recruit group members to participate in “fishbowl” exercises in the main webinar plenary sessions
What are the requirements to be a group coordinator?
- Committed to the goals and methods of the course
- Comfortable using breakout group functions in Zoom (we will provide training if needed!)
- Highly detail-oriented and well-organized to “drive the work” and answer basic questions from a sub-team of 20 people
- Reasonably confident at facilitating: Skills needed include knowing how to run a meeting – setting objectives, keeping and minding time, politely and effectively cutting off people who dominate, drawing out those who don’t speak or participate, doing light prep and follow-up
- Attend a 1-hour group coordinator training on September 18 or 23 on Zoom
- Attend an optional 30-minute Zoom breakout rooms training if needed
- If your group has Spanish-speaking participants in your group, you will need to provide a group coordinator from your group who can set up the breakout group exercises and communicate course details in Spanish (we will provide the Spanish language documents, presentations, and live simultaneous interpretation in the main sessions)
- Maintain communication with the UC Berkeley Labor Center Skills to Win team as needed