RCM101 (abridged) for The Neuro

31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 RCM Cooperative | Source & License: Research Community Management 101 (abridged) 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 About RCM Cooperative Dr. Cassandra Gould van Praag Executive Director & Co-Founder Dr. Malvika Sharan Co-Founder Dr. Emma Karoune Co-Founder 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 Communities we have managed and supported Modelling and high-precision forecasting of complex environmental systems to make leaps in weather prediction and sustainable energy 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 An open science project and community-driven project on data science and research practices. ● 5 guides, 1 community handbook, 350+ chapters; ● 500+ co-authors; 6000+ monthly users, ● collaboration with 50+ organisations; ● citations in 100+ peer reviewed papers, reports, policies and online resources; ● HiddenREF and OpenUK awards; influenced and inspired many resources & community projects. The Turing Way : Global Community Project 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 TRAINING GOALS 1. Learn about community management through RCM roles 2. Explore RCM skills, knowledge and behaviours and Identify what is needed in your community 3. Identify where your community can be supported better and plan for it 4. Build strategies for community management https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2409.00108 Consider a community you think needs managing throughout the exercises! 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 ●To collaborate? ●To co-create? ●To address societal needs? ●To innovate responsibly? ●To scale the impact? ●To benefit all actors? What does it take to drive research and AI forward for the public benefit? CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 Diversification of Professional Roles ●Building diverse teams of specialist and generalists with range of expertise ●Embedding technical AND social considerations for robust research systems across all stages ●Providing ideal environment for collaboration and engagement with the broader community ●Examples: ○Research Project Managers ○Research Software Engineers ○Research Community Managers 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 1. What is RCM? 2. Skills and responsibilities 3. Community maturation 4. Managing your community 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 What is RCM? Our definition: RCMs foster a collaborative environment where a diverse community can access the socio-technical infrastructure and participatory processes they need to actively engage, gain recognition and build shared agency over their work. CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 1. What is RCM? 2. Skills and responsibilities 3. Community maturation 4. Managing your community 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 WHAT RCMs DO Develop training, reviewing materials, guiding policy, EDI Publishing documents, building roadmaps, facilitating sharing Community mapping, engagement strategy, inviting people into conversations Advocacy, celebrations, external and internal representation Facilitate conversations, create opportunities, scaffolding Domain expertise, open practices, connecting & signposting CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 CC-BY 4.0 image by The Turing Way and Scriberia, Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3332807. What do RCMs do? 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 Engagement Strategic Development Technical Expertise Peripheral Accountability Core Communication s Participation guidelines and process Content development Technical documentation Open communication Community documentation Resource curation Internal communication platforms External communication management Best practices Community events Community -level governance Impact and reporting Engaging non -specialist users Stakeholder mapping & engagement Onboarding Roadmap for engagement Knowledge and skill workshop Integrate feedback in strategy Mentoring and upskilling members Aligning with EDIA principles Recognition and visibility Onboarding diverse community leaders Community events Open collaboration Community survey and reporting Reproducibility and knowledge sharing License types, version control Infrastructure, technical skills open science strategy Data practice (w/ Data Wranglers) Technical training (w/ Skills team) Supporting code(w/ RSE/RDS) Maintaining code (w/ RSE/RDS) Data analysis (w/ RSE/RDS) Awareness of timeline, budget, risks Share community plans Team and community meetings Task prioritisation Build/follow internal process Ethics documentation (w/ researchers) Event logistics (event teams) Budget planning (accounting) Project meetings (w/ RPM) Community engagement (w/ RPM) Legal requirements ( w/ RPM) Internal project reporting (w/ RPM) Records for references (w/ RPM) Horizon scanning, Identify opportunities Vision and priorities (w/ Leadership) Ways of working Implement policies (W/ RPM) Community assessment Community/project collaboration Community advocacy Incentive and rewards (w/ Leadership) Identify growth opportunity Promote/demo open leadership Sustainability plans (w/ Leadership) Strategic partnerships (w/ Leadership) Sustaining/sunsetting (w/ leadership) SKILLS & COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK Product management (w/ RAM) Technical Support (w/ RSE/RDS) Web/UI/UX design (w/ UX specialist) Reproducible workflows Data management (w/ Data Stewards) Sharan, Malvika, Emma Karoune, Vicky Hellon, Cassandra Gould Van Praag, Gabin Kayumbi, Arielle Bennett, Alexandra Araujo Alvarez et al. "Professionalising Community Management Roles in Interdisciplinary Research Projects." arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.00108 (2024). RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 What skills and resources do you have? What skills and resources does your community have? Who / what infrastructure from outside can be brought in to fill the gaps? What upskilling or resources need to be developed within your community? SKILLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 1. What is RCM? 2. Skills and responsibilities 3. Community maturation 4. Managing your community 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 PURPOSE DEFINES PARTICIPATION Every community should have a purpose (mission/vision) ●Purpose defines how you would like community members to interact with you and each other = “Participation” ●Interactions between community members will happen whether you intend for them or not ●The RCMs role is to scaffold, facilitate and empower for the desired level of participation Communities with more complex participation can do more! 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION ●Complexity of potential problems and community members involved in solving problems increases ●Scope of participation, diversity of perspectives and collaboration to solve problems improves ●Channels for engagement, infrastructure requirement and need for resourcing increases ●Peoples’ involvement in community building, maintenance and sustainability increases ●Levels of participation can be used to establish and improve objectives (example: Y1, Y2, Y5) 1 Inform community 2 Invite Feedback 3 Engage & Involve 4 Mobilise & Connect 5 Empower Groups 6 Decentralise Power 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 1 Initiation 2 Planning & Design 3 Implementation 4 Growth & Scaling 5 Monitoring & Evaluation 6 Sustainability / Sunsetting STAGES OF COMMUNITY BUILDING ●Establish your desired level of participation and plan appropriate activities to achieve that ●Identify metrics of progress/success (design stage) and monitor/evaluate those to plan next stage ●Stay flexible and adaptive - know when you need to revisit your plans: when things are not working or when you are ready to move to the next stage? 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 Levels of Community Participation Stages of Community Building 1 2 34 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 Initiation Planning & Design Implementation Growth & Scaling Monitoring & Evaluation Sustainability / Sunsetting Inform community Invite Feedback Engage & Involve Mobilise & Connect Empower Groups Decentralise Power Information about the project Members awareness plan Knowledge share activities Open communicatio n strategy User engagement data Reusable resources Project roadmap created by project team Members feedback process Feedback activities Feedback on ongoing and future plans Feedback and community interest data Onboarding new teams and members Roadmap created by project actors Members engagement process Active engagement activities Involving community in delivering project objectives Feedback and community impact data Creating new leadership opportunities Roadmap created by project actors Members collaboration process Collaborative process for group engagement Mobilising community - led initiatives in line with project objectives Reporting and Impact data from community initiatives Groups connected and led towards shared goals Initial roadmap created and revised by external actors Members involvement in decisionmaking Multiple collaborative group activities Community groups involved in decisionmaking Reporting and impact data from community initiatives Connected groups shaping future goals and directions Initial roadmap created and revised by external actors Communityled decisionmaking process Activities to delegate responsibilities to groups Community groups making decisions in benefit of the community Independent reporting from connected groups Connected groups working independently & creating new opportunities COMMUNITY MATURATION INDICATOR Examples of what community “engagement” looks like at different levels of participation 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 How can you prioritise their engagement? 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 What behaviours do you create to sustain engagement? A Framework of Open Practices by Mozilla Open Innovation & the Copenhagen Institute for Interaction Design 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 What engagement pathways do you need to create? Why should they join your community? Why should they support your community? What agency and recognition they receive? 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 HOW TO MAP ●Data held in SharePoint lists (n ~ 1000) ●Exported and reformatted for kumu (python, MIT license) ●Connections by affiliation and project contributions ●Metadata designed for our questions (engagement, power) ●Built-in social network analysis (show change) ●Public (anonymized) and private versions Example of E&S community: Network Analysis using Kumu 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 MANAGING YOUR COMMUNITY Where/how are you mapping your community? Which people/groups do you need to know more about? Which groups have pre-existing bridges? Where is engagement happening easiest? What does your leadership pipeline look like? 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 WRAP UP 1. What RCM is: Formal activities to facilitate collaborative problem solving (also, vibes and visibility ) 2. What skills are needed: A diverse role! Communication, engagement, strategic development, technical research expertise, significant accountability 3. What can be achieved in a community: Complex participation requires resourcing, but can solve more complex problems 4. Think strategically about your community: Your power is in what you know about people, and how you plan to work with them 31st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.031st October 2025 | 10.5281/zenodo.17489926 | CC-BY-4.0 GET IN TOUCH ●RCM Cooperative ○[email protected] ○RCM Cooperative Slack ○Training, consulting, tool development, research grants ●The Turing Way ○http://book.the-turing-way.org/ ○Slack ○Regular community calls and training RCM Cooperative | 10.5281/zenodo.16873659 | CC-BY-4.0 We have stickers!