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Looking to the future: operation chat for all
**helen**
Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
Hi there chatters,
Those of you who came to Wednesday night's support chat will have experienced some experimental change. This was enjoyed by some of you and rejected by others - and no doubt there are reactions that come somewhere in between. I really appreciated the fact that some of you felt able to send me feedback afterwards as it has really helped both challenge and cement some of our thinking around chat and the different needs we're seeing.
So, this thread is to give you a heads up that change will continue to happen, but we will do our utmost to listen to you as this is happening, as well as give you reasonable notice about the direction things are going in.
Support chat and general chat - take your pick Wednesdays
Firstly, next Wednesday will see the first week where GC and SC will overlap. This will be similar to when we had the Bake-Off chat running in a different room, but there will be a slight difference in timings. Support chat will happen from 8pm-9:30pm and General chat will happen from 8:30-10pm. This is a trial of this format.
In theory this will mean that people can decide whether or not they're in the mood for support or distraction and hopefully the two options can live side by side. It will also be nice for support chatters to end their session with half an hour of GC if they choose to.
We will also feature an opening round in Wednesday support chats going forwards. There won’t be any pressure to say something if you’d rather not, but we’d appreciate it if those who choose not to participate respect the activity of the group and either observe or come in a bit later after it’s happened. Obviously opening rounds won’t capture everyone, as some people will dip in and out of chat at different times, so it will be a time bound activity that covers about the first 15 minutes which means that it will probably capture about the first ten people.
More info on opening rounds and breaks
Opening rounds are a key feature of some of our workshops and do work really well for people who feel calmer with structure, enjoy a slower pace and feel more comfortable knowing people are proactively chatting as a group. Opening rounds don't work for people who feel stifled by structure and perhaps feel alienated by being in the spotlight.
For this reason, we will look to use opening rounds in just a few support chats as we take the schedule forward with new volunteers. Rest assured, you'll know when they're coming so that you can opt in or out.
The break feature is a trickier one - the long-term aim is to reduce support chat to an hour and a half for all five days to make it more manageable. This means we won't officially continue with breaks, but we will encourage mods to use them as time-out when chats get heated. Two hours is a long time to maintain conversation in support mode, it can be pretty tiring and sometimes means that people get bored or arguments start to break out as emotions run high. It's good for mods to know they can just call a break if needed. These will only ever be for 10 minutes.
Workshops
Thanks to ongoing funding from Comic Relief, we are also committed to continue providing a range of workshop chats specifically for the benefit of your mental health. These will include Support circles, Positive thinking sessions, express yourself creatively chats and self-esteem chats.
We'll also look to continue the conflict resolution workshops some of you have experienced thanks to our relationship with Leap CC.
If there are areas you'd like to see us covering in these kinds of chats, then do let us know.
We'll also look to keep the regular schedule of support chats going alongside these workshops in future so that people who aren't signed up still have a space to chat. Again this is in relation to recruiting more volunteers and will happen gradually.
Finally, the guidelines.
We'll be looking to revamp these as we move to a new mobile friendly chat room before the year is out - if you have any requests for them then please let us know and we'll be sure to consider them. Please remember the key group agreement at all times. Failure to follow the group agreement will lead to you being kicked out of chat.
I hope you've found this update helpful, please feel free to leave comments or get in touch with me via PM.
Those of you who came to Wednesday night's support chat will have experienced some experimental change. This was enjoyed by some of you and rejected by others - and no doubt there are reactions that come somewhere in between. I really appreciated the fact that some of you felt able to send me feedback afterwards as it has really helped both challenge and cement some of our thinking around chat and the different needs we're seeing.
So, this thread is to give you a heads up that change will continue to happen, but we will do our utmost to listen to you as this is happening, as well as give you reasonable notice about the direction things are going in.
Support chat and general chat - take your pick Wednesdays
Firstly, next Wednesday will see the first week where GC and SC will overlap. This will be similar to when we had the Bake-Off chat running in a different room, but there will be a slight difference in timings. Support chat will happen from 8pm-9:30pm and General chat will happen from 8:30-10pm. This is a trial of this format.
In theory this will mean that people can decide whether or not they're in the mood for support or distraction and hopefully the two options can live side by side. It will also be nice for support chatters to end their session with half an hour of GC if they choose to.
We will also feature an opening round in Wednesday support chats going forwards. There won’t be any pressure to say something if you’d rather not, but we’d appreciate it if those who choose not to participate respect the activity of the group and either observe or come in a bit later after it’s happened. Obviously opening rounds won’t capture everyone, as some people will dip in and out of chat at different times, so it will be a time bound activity that covers about the first 15 minutes which means that it will probably capture about the first ten people.
More info on opening rounds and breaks
Opening rounds are a key feature of some of our workshops and do work really well for people who feel calmer with structure, enjoy a slower pace and feel more comfortable knowing people are proactively chatting as a group. Opening rounds don't work for people who feel stifled by structure and perhaps feel alienated by being in the spotlight.
For this reason, we will look to use opening rounds in just a few support chats as we take the schedule forward with new volunteers. Rest assured, you'll know when they're coming so that you can opt in or out.
The break feature is a trickier one - the long-term aim is to reduce support chat to an hour and a half for all five days to make it more manageable. This means we won't officially continue with breaks, but we will encourage mods to use them as time-out when chats get heated. Two hours is a long time to maintain conversation in support mode, it can be pretty tiring and sometimes means that people get bored or arguments start to break out as emotions run high. It's good for mods to know they can just call a break if needed. These will only ever be for 10 minutes.
Workshops
Thanks to ongoing funding from Comic Relief, we are also committed to continue providing a range of workshop chats specifically for the benefit of your mental health. These will include Support circles, Positive thinking sessions, express yourself creatively chats and self-esteem chats.
We'll also look to continue the conflict resolution workshops some of you have experienced thanks to our relationship with Leap CC.
If there are areas you'd like to see us covering in these kinds of chats, then do let us know.
We'll also look to keep the regular schedule of support chats going alongside these workshops in future so that people who aren't signed up still have a space to chat. Again this is in relation to recruiting more volunteers and will happen gradually.
Finally, the guidelines.
We'll be looking to revamp these as we move to a new mobile friendly chat room before the year is out - if you have any requests for them then please let us know and we'll be sure to consider them. Please remember the key group agreement at all times. Failure to follow the group agreement will lead to you being kicked out of chat.
Our group agreement outlines the basics:
Make sure you're in the right frame of mind - ready to engage positively with the group.
Welcome, listen to and respect others.
Think through what you're going to say before you say it (remember it's a group chat and everyone is affected by what you say).
Focus on the chat in hand (you don't need to mention other conversations with members on facebook, whatsapp, skype etc.).
Take a break whenever you need to.
Avoid making conflict worse (when it happens) - focus on moving on quickly.
I hope you've found this update helpful, please feel free to leave comments or get in touch with me via PM.
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Comments
I'm not sure what this exactly comes under... But I'll go ahead anyway.
I think we all need to keep in mind that chat, and a community like this one, is all about give and take. The ch-mods are all volunteers and give up their evenings to help us out. The majority of the time I come to chat to try and give a listening ear... And well on some occasions I (and of course others) have received quite a bit of abuse / aggression. I guess it really comes down to respect.
I think it's good not to rely on chat, to always have other methods of seeking support. For example if there are 17 people in the chat room, and all of them want support in one evening then that's just not possible. I think we need to be considerate and make sure we offer opportunities for new or less frequent members to speak up (and sit back and listen rather than throwing around accusations of 'being ignored'). I think it's important to recognise that not all 'support' has to be in the form of talking about your worries, and actually distractions and light hearted fun, or joining in with other discussions can be a much healthier way to spend the evening.
I think these new arrangements are so much better! And in loving the GC and sc both being on the same day! :yes:
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This!!
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Hello
I am soooooo sorry to sound dumb but now i am so confused
Sorry
Cass
Lyndon B.Johnson
You're not dumb 😊 which bit are you confused about?
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Okay, why not use names. Being one of the more aggressive users, doesn't mean I'm not aware of the chat moderators being volunteers, as well as knowing users give up their time to respond and offer support, I'm fully aware of that, and I'm not sure if this is a way to like 'Guilt trip' the aggressive users, such as me, or in a nutshell, tell us we really shouldn't waste people's time. There could be reason behind the aggression, but I guess it's typical now, just booting people, telling them to fuck off, and all that m'larky, clearly helps a situation so much more. And all those who get involved, and then make the situation about them, like oh she/he's upset me, kinda thing. Well in the moment, I don't give a flying fudge cake to whom I upset, but it's more frustrating having those who get involved when they really don't need to, saying pointless things such as fuck off, leave chat, etc.
However Helen, your post sounds wonderful! What a wonderful read, what a lot of change. Meh, it's about time init.
Us mods are an easy going bunch - we don't hold grudges and often give people quite a few chances to self moderate, but we will draw a line for the sake of the community if needs be.
Anyhow, I know you all know this, but just wanted to clarify.
I am really confused with all of it Becki
Lyndon B.Johnson
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I also like what YSH said. ^
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Obv
Pah!
Yep - Helen and LauraO will be running things so I'm sure the deets will go up in due course
Okey dokey
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