# Meeting with external collaborators

Last updated: 2023-01-24
URL for this page: https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/meeting-with-external-collaborators
URL for this site: https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/how-we-work

## What is this?
This is an IOI-internal process for setting up calls between IOI team members and external stakeholders.

## The goals of this process
IOI team members should be able to independently set up calls and have conversations with external stakeholders and partners, and at the same time, we wish to be intentional in our engagement with stakeholders. "Intentional" here means that we are aware of IOI's existing relationship and past engagement with the person(s) we are speaking with and/or their organization(s), such that we make the most out of our time together and can effectively build on previous conversations. As with our other areas of work, We also want to make sure that there is documentation regarding these conversations, for transparency and visibility across the team and for future team members and work.

This process should not be hugely bureaucratic nor tedious.

## Tools we use in this process
- [Calendly](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/tools-we-use#Calendly)
- [CiviCRM](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/tools-we-use#CiviCRM)
- [Google Workspace](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/tools-we-use#Google-Workspace)
- [Slack](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/tools-we-use#Slack)

## Before approaching an external stakeholder/organization
- Check in CiviCRM what existing contacts we have with the organization/person(s) in question
- Check in CiviCRM whether other team members are having conversations with the person(s), or what conversation we've had in the past with them. See the steps below or [this video tutorial](https://drive.google.com/open?id=17PnXr9XtaUt7suM83p0d-htlEChdjTm2&authuser=emmy%40investinopen.org&usp=drive_fs) *(internal access only)* on how to view a contact's past interactions with us and check the team's upcoming meetings with external stakeholders.
1. To check upcoming meetings:
- Once you've logged into IOI's CiviCRM instance, on the top right hand corner just below the top menu, click `+ X Available dashlets`
- Find the upcoming meetings dashlet and drag it to your preferred place on the homepage. This dashlet shows external meetings of IOI team members in the next 2 weeks.
2. To view past engagement/meetings we've had with a contact:
- Use the top left search bar (with the magnifying glass icon) to find the contact in question and click into their profile
- On the left hand side menu of their profile, click "Activities".
- You should then be able to see all past meetings, mailings, and other engagement we've had with them.
- Consider if other team members may like to be involved in certain conversations - you can also informally check with them.
- *(to be implemented)* For contacts labelled "important", please check with Emmy or Kaitlin before contacting these folks.

## Scheduling a meeting
- When you send emails to external collaborators, please blind carbon copy (bcc) civicrm [at] investinopen [dot] org in your outgoing emails - this allows the email interactions to be tracked in our CiviCRM.
- Some IOI team members have Calendly Pro subscriptions to enable easy scheduling of multiple meetings - ask Emmy if you don't have a pro account and would like one.
- After scheduling a meeting, please log the upcoming meeting on Civi. The steps are outlined belows – please also see [this video tutorial](https://drive.google.com/open?id=17MF3acfzS7I9q9RBr9-Rn85dlYufom7t&authuser=emmy%40investinopen.org&usp=drive_fs) *(internal access only)*.
1. Once you've logged into IOI's CiviCRM instance, on the top menu, hover over `Contacts` on the top menu, from the drop down, select `New activity`.
2. Fill in the form with the following information (leave the remaining fields unchanged):
- Activity Type: Meeting
- With Contact: the name of the perosn you're meeting with; if you can't find the person, then it means this person is not yet in our database and you'll need to first add them as an individual contact (please see [this video tutorial](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17MF3acfzS7I9q9RBr9-Rn85dlYufom7t/view?usp=share_link) *(internal access only)* for more details).
- Subject: you can put in the name of your research project (if e.g. it's a research interview), or just "introductory meeting"/"regular catch-up"
- Date: The date of the meeting - the time is not crucial here but you will need to input something to save the activity
- Activity status: `scheduled` if the meeting hasn't happened yet, `completed` if it has.
- Details: insert a link to your meeting note document (see Meeting notes section below).

3. Click save

:bulb: Tip: name the notes with the call participant's name to make it easily findable.

### Meeting notes

- When you schedule a new meeting, it's a good idea to at the same time start a blank call notes Google Document. You can find the template for call notes in our `Google Docs template gallery`.
- Please store all call notes in the IOI Team Drive so they are accessible by the whole team, see [this guide](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/meetings#Steps-for-renaming--moving-external-call-notes) for details regarding where to put call notes and how to name them.

## After a meeting
- Please flag any important points for other team members in Slack (in the appropriate team-wide channel or through direct messaging).

## Upcoming improvements on this process
- Labelling important contacts on CiviCRM
- Engagement triage process
- Establishing relationship holders for contacts

## See also
* IOI's [guide to meetings](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/meetings)
* [Guide to moving and renaming call notes](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/meetings#Steps-for-renaming--moving-external-call-notes)

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This page first published: 2023-01-24

###### tags: `about-us` `process`

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