Researchers are never surprised when methodology makes a huge difference in shaping results....but somehow, campaigners often are.
If you claim to work as a coalition, consultation is vital. It's hugely expensive, inefficient, frustrating and time consuming. It's a pain to work across multiple timezones, with people who have varying access to technology and speak different languages. There are always technical issues, and political issues.....There is always a pull to do more online, more in English, make decisions more quickly....and giving in to that is deadly for results. The difference between working with and working for is huge; you can't do one, and expect the results of the other.
For years, it seems like I work with email; and need to constantly remind myself that there are people on the receiving end. People who have families, perspectives of their own, bad days, lots of demands on their time, power outages, sometimes threats from their government for being an activist....Communicating, all the time, is essential; even if much of the time it feels like you're just throwing messages into a black hole. In our messaging, we talk about putting people first.....but it actually takes constant focus, feedback, diligence, and training to do it. Meeting people, face to face, is invaluable.
In a coalition, there is rarely an equitable distribution of who does the work, and who gets the recognition. Sometimes, that doesn't matter. Sometimes, it can threaten to tear apart fragile cooperation. Saying thank you makes a world of difference. Nobody makes all the difference, but everyone makes some.
Airport hotel conference venues don't lead to as much creativity and collaboration as places with sunlight and space to walk around.
I think I knew all these things before I started this job....but seeing them play out every day has definitely taught me how to work better.
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