Dr Nikki Daniels, Head of Communities and Connections shares details of a new RCOT Communities’ platform we’re testing with members as part of our plans to transform our communities’ model.
We’re making good progress on our plans to improve our communities’ model. Our communities' model sets out how we bring members together to share, learn, seek support and guidance and innovate. We’re grateful to all our volunteers and members who have taken part in our workshops and discussions to help us shape an approach to community engagement that is relevant to their professional lives.
We know technology can play a critical role in helping create a space for members to come together to connect, collaborate and develop their professional practice and yet at RCOT, we don’t have a way for members to do this outside of planned events.
Understanding the needs of our members
Some of the headlines and insight that has emerged from our engagement with members is a desire for our new community model to be accessible, flexible, and importantly, that it recognises the diversity of members’ roles. We repeatedly heard that you want and need to have the opportunity to be part of more than one community if you are to connect with people with similar interests, and access resources, support and learning that spans areas of practice, practice pillars and professional issues. The opportunity for easy (effortless) cross community connections was definitely high on the wish list because it’s a limitation of our current model and really hinders the opportunity for impactful collaborations.
Online platforms can really help here with the ability to create virtual spaces where members can interact and create communities to network and share resources, knowledge, research, expertise and innovations.
Using this insight from our members we’ve been able to set out a list of specific requirements that an online platform needs to deliver for RCOT. We’ve assessed the features that support connecting and building communities and we’ve reviewed this against the extensive range of tools on the market.
Testing and learning with a selection of our membership
We’ve selected a platform and have invited a selection of our membership including Specialist Sections and regional committees to take part in a closed test and learn phase. This means they are using this virtual platform and sharing their feedback and experiences with us. This live testing phase will help us understand how we can best use the features and functionality available to host our new communities and enable them to meet their objectives so we can roll this out more widely.
The platform we’ve selected has a global space where everyone will be able to come together as an RCOT community. Members will be able to search for others to connect with and message, start a discussion about a topic or ask a question of the wider community to support you in your practice. The platform will be able to host groups so members can come together around an area of practice, or professional issue in a dedicated space and take part in discussions, connect with other members and share resources.
An example of a group’s journey so far
One group taking part in this test and learn phase is Research Connect, a community of members who have chosen to come together to showcase and celebrate occupational therapy research. Dr Elizabeth Taylor R&D Manager at RCOT explains how their experience has unfolded so far:
‘We piloted Research Connect as a closed group on LinkedIn in Spring 2023, and it grew to a community of over 500 members. There were mixed views about the platform, and a desire for more engagement and vibrant interaction. As we settle into our new home on the RCOT communities’ platform, we are keen to implement the feedback we received from members of the LinkedIn group. We all want this to be a member-led community and Phase 1 is a great opportunity to test, play and learn’.
Lisa Westhorpe, RCOT Connect member added ‘I’ve only just joined, but so far my experience has been positive. Easy to navigate, easy to start/join discussions, and easy to connect with others.’
Building a sustainable and equitable communities’ model for our membership
We’re really excited about the potential for virtual networking at RCOT as part of our communities’ model. By taking the time to test and refine our approach directly with members, we hope to be able to roll out an enhanced experience for all our members next year.
Online platforms can bring multiple exciting benefits but there is more to a sustainable and equitable communities’ model that sits alongside it. We also need to determine how we can best support volunteers to contribute and complement virtual networking with in-person opportunities. These are all areas we’re continuing to develop.
We’re really excited about the possibilities that the features of the platform will create. The ability to share information across different groups and connect with members from different regions, different areas of practice, different stages of their career and diversity of our members lived experiences will be so valuable to support our own professional and practice development but also to help us to come together to drive our profession forward.