Communication takes up a considerable amount of facilitator time - during a recent 3 day break, I decided to deal only with messages from researchers which needed my personal attention, and noticed that I spent an average of 3 hours a day in reading and replying. This was a busy time, as I estimate that dealing with researcher messages usually takes about one to two hours a day, though this could easily be an underestimate. External assessors as well as facilitators have noted that this is a problem area and the annual reviews have recommended moving towards increased community based support. Judging by anecdotes, the interpretation or implementation of community based support varies widely among facilitators. Looking at the nature of communication, a first step is to define the different types.



The problem area is the red line, as this is the least efficient use of time. Sometimes its needed, such as when dealing with a sensitive issue or a very individual problem. In order to make time for this, there is a need to increase the use of other forms of support. The most commonly used forms of communication with researchers can be divided into synchronous and asynchronous modes.

Synchronous	Asynchronous
phone (and Skype etc) online chat	email community postings portfolio tool, Plone and other resource areas

Facilitators need flexibility, as synchronous communications with work-based researchers often needs to be during evenings/weekends. Moving towards asynchronous communications provides more flexibility when it is needed.

From this analysis, it seems that to optimise communication the emphasis should be on asynchronous modes using the online communities or the resource tools. I have asked a sample of facilitators about changes they have made in communications and would expect to find that their responses correspond with my findings so far - but you never know. The facilitators I have asked have all worked with more than one cohort of researchers, so they have had the best opportunities to make changes. However, these initial findings will be considered by all facilitators, in order to capture the range of strategies for dealing with communication overload.