Over the past few days, our Game Changers team came to realise that the programme we had spent so long creating had a frustrating flaw. It all boiled down to one simple problem: we were building a voluntary programme that revolved around a fixed timeline, which meant relying on a huge investment of time from both staff and participants. Participants who have a million and one other things to do, such as mandatory coursework, full-time jobs, busy social lives, and other extra-curricular activities. Many of these activities are not flexible by nature, making it hard for participants to fit the Game Changers programme into their schedules.
This, in hindsight, is the completely wrong way to approach things. It should be Game Changers that is flexible, not the other way around. When we started the programme we quickly began to realise that our fixed timeline was preventing participants from investing their time. When you know you simply won’t be able to take part in something that requires regular engagement outside of your existing workload, it’s best not to take on something your can’t guarantee you can complete in the time required. Interest in the programme was high, but actual conversion into participation was low.
With this in mind we have decided to scrap the fixed timeline of activities altogether. Now, anyone who wishes to take part can do so at their leisure, in a completely independent and non-linear way. Instead of supporting a strict six-week programme, we will instead hold Game Changers events, run workshops, develop resources, and provide support for projects linked with the Game Changers moving forward.
It’s a different direction than we had initially envisioned, but the more we discussed the new direction the more practical and flexible it proved to be. What’s more, we’re no longer limited to focusing on one stage at a time, opening up our support to whichever stage Game Changers participants are currently undertaking. Happy days!
We’ve already got some great GC supported projects on the horizon and I’m looking forward to posting about them soon 😉