The Time Line

People tell their story based on facts (how did they get there). The Time Line method is a way for both old and new members to recall the group’s/organisation’s history together. It’s an efficient way to reconsider previous methods and strategies, and reconnect with the present.

Part 1 : Setting up !

A timeline is drawn on the wall ; it covers an important period in the history of the project, group or organisation. The recommended time span is 2-10 years.

Make sure the room is well laid out so that everybody can read the time line labels during information sharing.

Capitalisation Workshop at Cenca [en] in Peru (2019)

Capitalisation Workshop at UGPM [en] in Senegal (2019)

Part 2 : Facts and Factors !

• Participants are organised into groups of 4 to 6 or left in full group if few. They are then asked to identify internal and external events/facts that had a significant impact on the evolution of the training, group or organisation.

E.g : in March 2020, a group of five Rwandan farmer-trainers who had been supported by RECASE (Adenya [en]) project team for two years, met to find solutions on how to improve the training of farmers. Such meetings are important in the process of collective empowerment sought with farmer-trainers.

• Still in groups, participants are asked to identify the root causes of each fact/event they previously identified.

E.g : Théogène and Valentine, two farmer-trainers, launched the initiative to meet with their peers. They were closely monitored by the project leader who helped them gain self-confidence and encouraged them to take collective initiatives.

• After discussing separately, each group presents the results of their brainstorming, and place them on the time line. A group discussion is then launched to get a broad overview of all reported events/facts, and analyse them based on various arguments.

Part 3 : Focusing on methods !

Each participant can be asked to choose a period in the time line which he/she deems relevant. This step can be significant because of its innovative methods, its effective results or just because it has a snowball effect elsewhere.

Each participant therefore writes a short story explaining why a particular period was important to him/her, focusing on the methods used.

Another method consists in collectively choosing a noteworthy fact or event, and capitalising on the methods used.

Recommendations for trainers !

• Ask these 3 questions in a chronological order :

1. What happened (facts) ?
2. Why did it happen (factors) ?
3. How was it handled (methods) ?

• You can sometimes use photographs, specific words or little stories to begin discussions, to start your narration.

• It’s easy to lead a workshop when participants feel comfortable talking.

• Encourage people to use the pronoun “I” instead of “We” when talking. Their story has to be specific to them.

• Appoint a session rapporteur to help you take comprehensive notes and issue a verbatim at the end of the workshop.

• Each group can add labels to other groups’ timeline. For example, a project team can enrich the story told by a group of farmers.