Preparing for the End of Your VISTA Year
(and Wrapping Up a VISTA Project)
REFLECT AND WRAP UP... / PREPARE FOR NEXT YEAR ...GREEN BOOK BASICS / Who are the individuals who might use the information in the Green Book after your VISTA service is over? (i.e. your supervisor, coworkers, interns, volunteers, work-study students, new hires, etc.)
What information, resources, or orientation materials were you given at the beginning of your service?
What information, resources, or orientation materials would have been helpful to have?
What are some challenges you had in getting started or feeling informed, and how can you help another person make the transition smoothly? / Review the information, resources, or orientation materials given to you at the beginning of your service for compiling your Green Book.
-What could still be useful for someone who might be taking on some/part/all of your tasks or projects?
-How could you update or change materials to be useful?
--What will be obsolete in the absence of a VISTA member?
-What other existing resources or materials would be helpful to include?
-What new materials will you need to create?
SUSTAINING NEW INITIATIVES / What new programs, contacts, partnerships, systems, or resources have you developed this year?
Think about your major projects and accomplishments. What information or resources did you need to accomplish these things?
Are there any “lessons learned” from the past year that would be helpful for others to know? (i.e. things that didn’t work out very well, strategies that work particularly well for working with different groups)?
Whowill need to be involved in sustaining the new programs, contacts, partnerships, systems or resources you have developed this year? How can you use the remainder of your VISTA year to help ensure buy-in and that they have the information they need? / What aspects of your work are high priorities for continuing next year?
-What information or resources will another person/team need to keep these tasks, projects, or partnerships going?
-Is there any contextual information or historical information that would be helpful for others to have in order to be successful?
REFLECT AND WRAP UP... / PREPARE FOR NEXT YEAR ...
SMOOTH TRANSITION FOR STAFF / How can you help your Supervisor and coworkers prepare for your departure?
What will your Supervisor and coworkers need to know about your work to maintain their own activities and avoid disruptions in services for constituents after you leave?
What other resources could you help to secure that might promote the sustainability of your tasks, projects, or partnerships? (For example: interns, volunteer positions, additional funding sources, delegated responsibilities, etc.)
Schedule a time to meet directly with your Supervisor and with each of your coworkers.
-Where do you keep the resources they will need?
-What procedures, contacts, and forms do you use? / Create a plan with your Supervisor for how you might delegate important responsibilities and tasks.
-Put everything in writing. Give a copy to each coworker, your Supervisor, and any other stakeholders.
TRANSFERRING RELATIONSHIPS / Who are the coworkers, contacts, partnerships, or committees that you have worked with this year?
Are all of those people aware of your departure date?
What are the ongoing activities that the incoming VISTA member will continue to work on with the coworkers, contacts, partnerships, or committees identified above?
Are there others who should help to maintain those relationships? How can you help to facilitate that? / Think about the coworkers, contacts, partners, or committees that you have worked with this year.
-Schedule a time to meet with each of these parties.
-Explain why you will be leaving, and what that might mean for your project, department, or organization.
-Let them know who they can contact in the future, regarding any ongoing tasks, projects, or partnerships.
-Discuss how they can help to keep tasks, projects, or partnerships going when there is no longer a VISTA.
-Ask if they have any ideas for resources, strategies, or ways to keep tasks, projects, or partnerships going.
-Give them a copy of your notes or Green Book sections regarding the work you have done with them this year.
-Remind them why the tasks, projects, or partnerships you started and accomplished this year made a difference and built capacity, even if they don’t continue exactly as is.