Strategies For Writing Great Online Summaries by Daniel Adeboye

Have & Maintain a Clear Agenda

2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Recall the agenda of the chat session
It's important to write down the main outputs reached by consensus or at the majority of the participants.

Work daily, send reminders

2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Work on participant's contributions daily. This will help you identify who is lagging behind.

You can send friendly reminders otherwise you might not have enough material to work on.

Summarize when it's still hot

lunellepienaar — 2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Time is crucial in summaries. A summary that comes long after participants have finished discussing might not be much of a help anymore.

Organise your thoughts

cath_fortune — 2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Organize all information into a table (Using MS Word; Or Excel - as you can easily drag/move the cell content if required during the shuffling stage)

Copy / paste information or drag / move information around (if using Excel) to organise information / contributions / thoughts

Purpose of Summary

2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Determine the purpose of the summary! What is the aim of the summary? To simply update, or to stimulate further discussion.

Get list of the contributors

2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Identify the contributors of the discussion and note their different points. Check the contributions to see the ones to merge.

One step at a time

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:20:20 UTC

Do it step by step (maybe daily), don't wait until it's 2 weeks before you attempt a summary

Use Color for ideas

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:28:59 UTC

Use colour to highlight common threads / similarities (or ideas) which you want to draw out within the summary Or even highlight differences which you want to propose for further discussion

Categorize using columns

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:30:12 UTC

Categorize information under appropriate (column) headings.

Attribute the information to specific people (So make participant names = row headings)

Read all posts carefully

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:31:27 UTC

A good summary is preceeded by a proper understanding of the discussion and every contribution.

Identify common themes

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:32:55 UTC

It is important to identify similarities between all posts. Find out what seem to be the main point mentioned by all

Recognize & Use participants names

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:34:12 UTC

Participants feel more engaged when their names are mentioned and their ideas recognized. Use their names while summarizing.

Align contributions to main goal

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:37:07 UTC

Crosscheck participants' contributions and align it with the major topic.

Don't kill an ongoing discussion

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:41:26 UTC

Be careful how you summarize, lest you end a discussion that could still lead to further interactions

Encourage participants to summarize

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:43:25 UTC

Encourage members of the discussion to summarize the thread as well. It helps their reflection process.

Logistics and Pacing

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:46:06 UTC

Plan when summaries would be done and make participants aware of it. Daily? Weekly?

Try using visuals or video

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 17:50:37 UTC

To appeal to the visual learners and participants, try using a visual to illustrate the summary. An infographic? A collage? A table? A video?

End with a Leading Question

danno4krist — 2015-08-08 19:06:15 UTC

Depending on the purpose of the summary, good summaries usually end with a question for further discussion and interaction.