Explore the videos below for a better understanding of the ACT process, as well as insight into how projects progress.
An Overview of the ACT Process
Best Practices: First Team Meeting
The Team Leader Role
Screening Alumni Consulting Team Projects (14 min)
A panel of veteran volunteers talk about the process by which the Alumni Consulting Team screens project requests before staffing it with a team of volunteers.
Defining an Alumni Consulting Team Project (13 min)
A panel of veteran volunteers talk about the process by which the Alumni Consulting Team interacts with its prospective client to identify areas where the consultants’ contribution can be most impactful.
ACT Project Best Practices: First Client Meeting (5 min)
A panel of veteran Alumni Consulting Team volunteers give advice about structuring the first client meeting of an ACT project.
The Alumni Consulting Team Work Plan Concept (3 min)
A panel of veteran volunteers share various approaches to the creation of a work plan to manage the consulting team during an Alumni Consulting Team project.
Consider Leading a Team as Part of the Alumni Consulting Team (4 min)
Alumni Consulting Team team leaders share what team leadership brought in their life and why they are doing it.
Team Dynamics
Leading a Team of Volunteers (11 min)
Veteran Alumni Consulting Team volunteer Cynthia Dai advises new ACT team leaders during ACT training.
ACT Project Best Practices: First Team Meeting (6 min)
A panel of veteran Alumni Consulting Team volunteers gives advice about what to cover in the first team meeting with fellow volunteers.
Navigating the Team’s Ups and Downs (15 min)
Volunteer teams typically go through one or more difficult situations: what if a volunteer can’t honor his/her time commitment? What if the team morale is low and the project stalls? A panel of veteran ACT team leaders focuses on what to do to keep the project running smoothly.
The Psychology of Teams (1 hr 11 min)
Maggie Neale, Stanford GSB professor of organizational behavior, explores the power of teams and ways to manage a volunteer team or function effectively as part of one.
Consulting in the Social Sector
A Portrait of the Bay Area Nonprofit Sector (6 min)
Diane Johnson, Chief Program Director at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, addresses Alumni Consulting volunteers about the various characteristics of the Bay Area nonprofit sector.
Establishing a Relationship with a Nonprofit Client (9 min)
Diane Johnson urges Alumni Consulting volunteers to become aware of their own mental models about the social sector.
ACT Project Best Practices: Working with Nonprofit Clients (4 min)
A panel of veteran Alumni Consulting Team volunteers give advice about how to work with nonprofit clients.
Making Your ACT Recommendations Stick (56 min)
ACT projects are only successful when the client is onboard with the team’s recommendations. Chip Heath, Stanford GSB professor of organizational behavior, presents a set of ideas out of his book Made to Stick for ACT volunteers to best communicate their ideas.