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- Study guide
- Module 1
- Topic 1: What is Student Digital Civic Engagement?
- Topic 2: How is Digital Civic Engagement Impacting Universities (and Beyond)?
- Topic 3: What Competences do Student Civic Engagers Develop?
- Topic 4: What does Student Digital Civic Engagement Look Like in Practice?
- Evaluation test for module 1
- Resources and further studies (Module 1)
- Module 2
- Topic 1: Problems that need solving – spotlight on global issues
- Topic 2: Improving your community through civic engagement
- Topic 3: Taking a service-learning approach to an DCE project
- Topic 4: DCE is building your competency levels. Here are the opportunities
- Evaluation test for module 2
- Resources and further studies (Module 2)
- Module 3
- Topic 1: What Do Great Digital Civic Engagement Projects Include?
- Topic 2: Getting Involved In Your First Digital Civic Engagement Project/ Initiative
- Topic 3: Using Technology To Enhance Your Civic Engagement Work
- Topic 4: Designing/ Delivering Digital Civic Engagement Solutions
- Evaluation test for module 3
- Resources and further studies (Module 3)
- Module 4
- Module 5
- Topic 1: Estimating Project Costs And Financial Needs
- Topic 2: Spotlight On Lean Start Up and Sustainable Business Model Canvas
- Topic 3: Crowdfunding Your Civic Engagement Projects /Causes
- Topic 4: Leveraging the power of corporate social responsibility
- Evaluation test for module 5
- Resources and further studies (Module 5)
- Module 6
- Topic 1: Why Building Credibility, Trust and Relationships are Key
- Topic 2: Cultivating and Growing a Student Civic Engagement Community
- Topic 3: Spotlight on Mission Marketing
- Topic 4: Technology Tools to Help You Share and Spread Your Civic Engagement Work
- Evaluation test for module 6
- Resources and further studies (Module 6)
Topic 3: Avoiding Project Fatigue
This topic covers the concept of project fatigue, as well as other s
ources of fatigue that can impact the success of a project (such as zoom fatigue). Learners will recognize symptoms of project fatigue, as well as include solutions within the design of their project to help combat these potential issues.
Project fatigue can be a complex topic, but it is easy to recognize. It can be seen as a type of disengagement, where people may have plenty of work to do, but they passively disengage.
In terms of a project, it might be that the project is closely coming to an end, but there are still several tasks left to complete, but team members tend to get distracted or complete an unnecessary task.
Tips For Reducing Project Fatigue
There are several ways that group leaders can ensure that the group doesn’t suffer from project fatigue:
- Have a clear structure of leadership- is the project student led or lecturer led? For SCDE projects, it is important to establish a clear sense of who the leaders are, especially if the project is student led, but with guidance from lecturers.
- Ensure that the team has a clear vision on what needs to be done, and when. Generate short term wins to ensure team motivation.
- Avoid the cycle of inaction! What can occur during a large project is the situation where decisions need to be made, but group members are not sure of who needs to make the decision. The group agrees on what needs to be done, but no one takes action on what needs to be done. This creates a cycle of inaction!
Given enough time, this cycle of inaction can lead to demotivation, and disengagement.
There are several ways to overcome this. The two main methods are:
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Redefine the project’s purpose.
All group members may think that they are familiar with what the purpose of the project is, however, it will always benefit the group and project to analyze how the group will establish what needs to be done.
This will ensure that all group members are clear on what needs to be done, and how everyone will establish this. Having clear, unambiguous roles can be the difference between project success and failure.
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Define who will make decisions on the project.
Decisions will always need to be made during the lifespan of a project, but not having a clear-set decision-maker or process for making decisions can lead to project fatigue and a cycle of inaction!
Upon the creation of the project create a clear methodology of making decisions. Is it one person?
Is it a vote? Knowing who and how decisions are made can also be the difference between project success and failure.
Reducing Remote Project Fatigue
As SDCE is a digital project, it is also important to note that remote work and using digital technologies can also create a sense of fatigue.
According to research, remote workers are more empathetic, and the nature of virtual meetings seem to have the potential to create more stress than meetings in person.
Read on to discover some of the methods that we can utilize to help remove remote fatigue:
- When having online meetings, ensure that the meeting is no longer than 30 minutes, and if it is longer, take regular breaks.
- Create specific times that project members can be contacted to ensure project members are not contacted during unsociable hours.
- Ensure project leaders help practice resilience building activities with project members.
Quick Test
