The World as a Project: How We Can Help Others Far Away

Mike Donoghue is a member of a multinational information technology corporation where he collaborates on the communications guidelines and customer relationship strategies affecting the interactions with internal and external clients. He has analyzed, defined, designed and overseen processes for various engagements including product usability and customer satisfaction, best practice enterprise standardization, relationship/branding structures, and distribution effectiveness and direction. He has also established corporate library solutions to provide frameworks for sales, marketing, training, and support divisions.

  Career Development   Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned  

Our planet is a big place and some locations are hard to reach when you want to extend a helping hand. While there are those of us who can take time away from jobs and families to assist others, many instead feel frustrated by our inflexible schedules and inability to make an effective contribution to those in need. Organizations across the world however are still seeking our help--and now there are some that can tap into your experience and skills while you are still actively engaged in your everyday home and business life.

Not all Good Samaritan work requires our physical presence. Many groups also need our minds to help create proposals, share knowledge, come up with contribution and support ideas, and other tasks that extend help to communities and even nations. The online world has made this possible, and it is through its expansive reach that many more projects are and can be accomplished.

Real World Solutions
There have been a number of situations where a virtual presence has made a real and tangible difference:

• In terms of project management, volunteers with experience in geographic information systems helped in the development of a community system that provided strategies on how to manage projects involved with forest conservation and protect endangered ape populations.
• For design professionals, tasks may include the creation of images and …

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