Head of Communications- March & April

Salaamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Before I say anything...guys....I have something to tell you:

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As we near the end of the year, March and April are naturally very hectic months. The main thing I have worked on during these months is the vision and direction in which FOSIS is moving, and in particular the NEC, during the run up to the FOSIS Annual Conference.

 

FOSIS is one massive national organisation, with many levels of work and duties. It can be the same with your Isocs, to a lesser extent. However, the end of the year tends to be a bit of a crunch. Committees have been working hard on Isoc events and neglect themselves and the state of their own committees. They then get plunged into the chaos of exams, and come June, a flurry of reports and handovers are written up last-minute and then perhaps...forgotten? In the previous years, following the Annual Council Meeting and the election of new committees, recruitment continued to take place throughout July and some of August, wasting time that could have been used for planning major events and projects to come later on in the year.

To curb such problems and chaos, I set out a vision which the NEC agreed on, with four stages:

1) Organisation and Reflection: In order to avoid ill handovers and last minute reports, all committees handed in their end of year folders, full of records of all the work they did this year, at the end of March as opposed to June (as this is when most events and projects end!). A meeting was then organised to evaluate and reflect upon them and FOSIS 2009-10. These folders will all be archived centrally at the FOSIS Office. Alhamdulilah, this stage of the vision has been successful and most folders have been handed in on their deadlines.

2) Recruitment: Recruitment must end at the end of June, as opposed to beginning in July! Between March and June FOSIS tends to have few activities. Instead of wasting the summer recruiting, it has been asked of committees to use this period for their recruitment, ending a week after the FOSIS Annual Conference. This way, the summer can truly be used for productive planning. Alhamdulilah, most regional committees have managed to deliver their AGMs and complete large sections of their recruitment. However, the national committee's are still working on this. Anybody thinking of joining FOSIS for the next year please get in touch with us!

3) Handover's and committee training: Committees to have a proper handover. This can be assisted through the compiled folders in stage 1, as well as the tips provided in my previous blog. Br Rashid, the VP. Islamic Societies and sr Abida, VP. Training and Human resources have been working on advising committees in having effective handovers.

4) Team FOSIS Training: A training weekend for all of the new team FOSIS and the NEC following FOSIS Annual Conference covering many inspiring and enlightening topics! In the previous years the team has been brought together at later stages in the year. However, nothing is better than uniting them all at the beginning, in order to have a fresh stimulating start. For those of you planning to join FOSIS, keep your dates free at the beginning of July!

Alhamdulilah, despite the many challenges and emergencies which FOSIS constantly deals with, this vision has been moving smoothly and much has been achieved so far. Dates and deadlines are being met and planning for the training has begun. This pre-planning is helping us look forward with much more insight and less stress, teaching us a pivotal lesson in time management and success: Plan Early!

Keep us in your duaas,

Wasalaam

Head of Communications- January & February 2010

 

Salaamu Alaikum Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuh,

Commuting this year has had its advantages.  As I would wait for the train in the dark, watching the sun rise into the morning sky; or sit with my head against the window pane in the evening, birds flying into a golden sky, I could not help but notice the fleetingness of time. The contrast between the liveliness of the birds in the early hours of the morning and their graceful flights home at sunset is striking, as is the quickness in which the cycle comes to an end. Yet as I have watched the world blur past me, the questions always taunt me: have I achieved enough in this one day? How did I spend my time? Was I productive?  How will I end my day and work...and ultimately, how will I move on?

And so we are coming to the end of another year and the termination of another cycle. Isocs up and down the country are holding annual dinners and AGM's. Handovers are ensuing and information is being passed on. There are many different ways in which we can reflect upon our Isoc and evaluate our aims and activities throughout the year. Here are some ideas:

Firstly- it is important to distinguish between the two. Evaluations allow us to reflect upon the past year: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It allows us to identify strengths and weaknesses, and draw conclusions for the coming year.  A Handover is an active process of relinquishing and passing relevant information and to the incoming team, as well as training them up for their roles. Both can be seen as beginnings, the evaluations as the theoretical stage, and the handover as the practical stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluations:

- Evaluate when everything is still fresh in the mind. Don't leave evaluation meetings till weeks or months after the main activity has ended! Begin early early early!

- Make evaluations interesting and exciting. (Don't call them "evaluation meetings" for a start). Drop any rigid professionalism and jargon. You want to get to the core issues and don't want fancy words and corporate jargon to cloud what really went right or wrong. I've noticed so many times in evaluation sessions that everyone is trying to be nice, and the real issues are not being discussed. Talk as if you're with a bunch of friends discussing how last week's hiking trip went. You also want the creative juices to get running- this can't happen in a restricted atmosphere.

- Have a good leader- someone everyone respects and trust, is not judgemental, and whom isoc members can speak their mind in his/her presence.  A sense of humour could also come in handy, to dispel awkward moments. Sometimes bringing in an external third party is even better, although ideally they would need to have experience with Isocs and knowledge of the context.

- Have an effective structure- Don't just sit there and go through every committee or event you did. This can be painstakingly boring and ineffective. Try the hotwash  http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/feb-2006-members-podcast-the-hot-wash or peanut butter technique. But whatever you do, think carefully about the structure of the evaluation meeting and what you will include in it. You want people to leave the meeting thinking, "I really benefitted today/Such a stimulating atmosphere", and not "zzzzzzzzz...!!!!"

Handovers:

- Again, begin early! No Dilly-Dallying with time, it does no good!

- Have two handover training sessions

a. One-to-one: This is a one-to-one between the ex-exec and the person who took up their role. So the ex-president has one-to-one with the new president, ex-gen sec has one-to-one with new gen sec etc.... They go over the role in detail including issues, technicalities, politics.etc...

b. Group session: one or two people from the previous exec team hold an ISOC 101 training session with the new exec team.

 

With the above in mind, this last month I have been organising a plan for FOSIS to evaluate the past year and work towards an effective handover for its incoming committees and new members next year. Due to the size and scale of the organisation this work needs to begin from now, particularly as most events and projects terminate in April, and then exams begin and last till June.  Committees are now organising and gathering their work into folders, and a large team FOSIS meeting will take place end of March insha'Allah.

I take this opportunity to once again ask you all for your feedback - keep it coming in and email whomever you think relevant so that you have a say when evaluation and reflection takes place. I would also like to take this opportunity to invite those of you leaving or taking a lesser role in Isoc to join FOSIS.  The experience of Isoc is a valuable one, and FOSIS ensures that you can put back what you have learnt into the community and share it at large with everyone else. If you're interested do get in touch and drop us an email.

Happy Isoc evaluating and I pray Allah swt accepts all your deeds over the past year,

 

Wasalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

 

Amal Saffour

Head of Communications- December 2009

Salaamu Alaikum dear brothers and sisters,

Remember, remember the crazy month of December! Ok, I know that is supposed to go with November, but December was indeed a crazy and busy month for FOSIS and Isoc's as a whole.

Why?

- Winter Conference and Council: FOSIS held its winter conference, "Standing on the shoulders of Giants" and the national council on 12-13th December, Leeds Metropolitan University. Hosted by Leeds Isoc, attendees listened to a range of fantastic talks on Saturday. Speakers included Uthman Lateef and Hani El Banna. In addition, workshops on media and Islamic finance were also run, giving students many ideas with which to return to their Isoc's. On Sunday, FOSIS held it's council, in which the National Executive Committee (NEC) spoke about the work they have been doing for the past six months and opportunity was given to the Isoc's present to hold them to account and discuss issues of concern with them. However, winter council this year had low attendance. If you did not attend, we would appreciate it if you could get in touch with us and give your reasons. Suggestion and feedback is always needed!

- Preparation and Compilation of FOSIS Mid-Year Report: I also worked on compiling the FOSIS Mid-year report, which documents all the activities we have been doing between June-December 2009. This report was disseminated to Isoc's at the council, and can also be found here.

- Compilation of all FOSIS Evaluations: All committee's are made to write an evaluation of their events and project upon their termination. Towards the end of December, I compiled all the evaluations in order to present them to the NEC, so that we could analyse the patterns and trends emerging from our events. Subsequently, this feedback was given to team FOSIS so that they could work on them and improve. If you have been to any FOSIS events and have an opinion about them, or something to say, do get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you on how we can improve.

- Organised NEC meetings: NEC meetings this month were very productive. Preparation for large FOSIS projects such as Fresher Packs, Speaker Tours and the FOSIS Annual conference are all under way- so do look out!

- Finally- an important point to make. Much of what I have been doing this month is based on evaluation. Continuous evaluation and assessment is important to our work, all our work, whether we are Isoc's, community workers, or even on an individual level. I advise all Isoc's to sit down together and evaluate their past term and activities, measuring how much of your objectives you have achieved, how you can improve, and what your next steps are. And don't forget to document it all so that next year's committee can use it too!

I pray that Allah swt makes 2010 a year of success and guidance for us all,
Wasalaamu Alaikum

Amal Saffour
Head.communications@fosis.org.uk

Head of Communications- October 2009

Salaamu Alaikum Warahmatulahi all!

Pray you are all in the best of health and imaan.

It goes without saying, that as long as work is going on in FOSIS, the communications committee will always be busy. And October was no exception! Committees ranging from Training and Human Resources, to ISCC to regions such as the Midlands, Ireland and Wales have all pulled off events and projects for the benefit of Muslim students, ranging from speaker tours to fundraising, and recreation to training. Other than the tons of work that general secretaries of these committees do in following their team members up and sorting out admin, external communication and marketing is key. Currently, FOSIS has lacked in this area, and we have been working on building this up through:

Our new Newsletter! See the first edition here. If this newsletter didn't reach your inbox, it means you need to subscribe here!

The FOSIS Youtube Channel, click here

And FOSIS is on twitter too! Click here and follow us to keep yourselves updated.

And of course we are always on the website, and on facebook too!

However, whilst publicity and marketing is key, the heart of communication goes deeper that technology and the virtual world. Communication is about character, about having a presence, and about interaction. It is also about bad habits that we must shed, and new productive one's we need to pick up. So I urge you all to get in touch with us and give us feedback. Do you feel you know much about FOSIS? Does FOSIS seem a distant voice, or are we up close- loud and clear? Do you think FOSIS communicates well with you? If not, how can we improve? Whatever you have to say is valuable, email me at head.communications@fosis.org.uk

One last point, the FOSIS winter Council is approaching fast. The winter council takes place to ensure that Isoc's can hold FOSIS to account, and mandate FOSIS to do things you would like us to focus on. In the past for example, a motion was passed mandating prayer rooms to be at the centre of our focus, and since then, FOSIS has assisted many Islamic Societies in establishing and maintaining their prayer rooms. The winter council is also a great place for Isoc's and Muslim student's to network and share good practise. We will be bringing some of the best UK Speakers for a warm and uplifting programme or renewal and change. So keep on the lookout for winter Council: Leeds, 12-13 December!

Finally, a tip for isoccers trying out virtual online meetings as the going gets tough with the essays and looming deadlines: try www.dimdim.com or www.vyew.com

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Amal Saffour
Wasalaamu Alaikum