What, to whom, how and when to disseminate

When starting dissemination planning a project co-ordinator might have a number of vague questions in his or her mind. They need to be brought into a systematic dissemination plan. Orientation towards a few guiding dissemination questions can help in this process.

Dissemination: what for?

It is crucial that the partners in a Partnership ask fundamental questions about the purpose of their dissemination activities in order to avoid widespread misunderstanding. Dissemination is not about spreading information to a vaguely defined group of recipients. It is about formulating messages to identified stakeholders and entering into a dialogue with them. This is a purposeful, two-way process. Therefore, in its dissemination and exploitation strategy a project should make clear which key issues it wants to get across to which group(s) and provide these groups with plenty of opportunities to express their needs, make suggestions and give critical feedback with regard to the main aspects of the project.

 What to disseminate?

When approaching the end of the project the final products become more and more important in the dissemination strategy. Project results and tangible products are undoubtedly the most valuable dissemination objects in a Partnership Project. In fact, all the other information activities can be seen as a preparation for the dissemination of the final outcomes and products. A project, however, should not wait with its dissemination activities until these products are ready, but disseminate preliminary results whenever it reaches a milestone, e.g. the end of the research phase, results of need analysis or the organisation of a workshop.

• Results of Partnership can be tangible or intangible and normally fit into one or more of the following categories:
• Learning and teaching products like curricula, reports and (comparative) studies, handbooks, e-learning content or events like conferences, courses and seminars
• Methodologies, ideas and experiences. They are intangible and usually not as durable as tangible learning and teaching products, but often a very rewarding outcome of a transnational project
• Policy recommendations can be the result of a project which aims at developing (parts of) education systems, e.g. funding mechanisms of adult learning. These results are targeted to policy makers at national or European level
• Co-operation structures and informal networks, which evolve from a project. This fabric of relations between organisations and individuals is a result which may not unfold its value immediately but has a considerable potential for future benefits

Looking at the diversity of these results it is evident that each type of result will require a different dissemination approach.

 To whom to disseminate

Spreading information in the partners’ own institutions is important. The more that colleagues and management in the organisation feel part of what the project is doing the more likely it is to get support from them when needed. Personal conversations, regular meetings, and internal newsletters are efficient ways of keeping colleagues updated on the project.

Stakeholders have a vested interest in the project, but they can also influence your project. Therefore, project managers need to know who the project stakeholders are and how they might influence the project. That’s where the project management technique of stakeholder mapping comes in. It’s a visual process that lays out the project stakeholders and lets the project manager know how to deal with the stakeholders and which ones need to know what and when.

Stakeholders can be varied. Customers or users of a product are stakeholders, but so are industries and markets, suppliers and investors. They can be new or old customers, retailers or even the project team, such as the project manager, developer, design or executive. In general, they can be broken up into two categories: internal and external. Project dashboards and Gantt charts can then be used to report on progress and keep stakeholders informed.

  How to disseminate?

There is not one perfect dissemination method that fits all projects although many Partnerships seem to rely on websites, social media, newsletter and events/meetings. But the adequacy of a specific dissemination method depends on the nature of the project and its results, as well as on the target groups. It remains a challenge for each Partnership Project to identify the most suitable approach.

A project should have an unmistaken visual identity which helps people to identify and remember it. Core elements of a visual identity are the project title, the project logo, recurrent visual elements, a uniform lay-out of the project communications (colours, fonts etc.), and perhaps, a project slogan. If there is no partner with specific expertise in the consortium it may be worthwhile in many cases sub-contracting the development of the visual identity elements to a professional graphic designer.

When to disseminate

A timetable for all dissemination activities needs to be developed. All partners should time their dissemination activities at an early stage of the project and update this timetable regularly. Large European conferences, for instance, which provide an excellent forum for dissemination, issue their calls for papers several months before the event.

Dissemination activities should cover the whole life span of the project and be based around the completion of milestones. Possible milestones for dissemination are, for instance, the project start, launch of the project website and the publication of a handbook.

 A continuous process

Dissemination activities should be conceived and planned from the very outset of the project. When starting the planning of dissemination, it is important that it embraces the whole lifespan of the project and that there is continuity in the dissemination activities during the project. While at the early stages of the project dissemination activities ensure that the project is addressing the needs and demands of the target group, the process will move on to potential marketing opportunities by the end. This time perspective makes it clear that dissemination is not a separate activity, instead there is a close link between all promotion activities and the development of the project.