Best Practices Induction training

1. Best Practices Induction training Draft, June 27, 2005

2. Why ‘best practices’? “What frustrated me beyond belief was the inability of anybody at the UN to supply me with information on how other missions had dealt with the problem. I was being forced to reinvent the wheel in a crucial arena under such a tight deadline.” - Gen. Romeo Dallaire, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. (On asking where to find resources to pay for safe demobilization and reintegration). Institutional constraints: • Ad hoc collection of lessons and practices; • No mechanism for, nor culture of, implementation of lessons  lessons aren’t learned • Many functional areas go without official guidance; conceptual and systematic problems with DPKO guidance

3. 87% of staff feels that they sometimes, often or all the time have to reinvent the wheel. (582 respondents) 68% of staff has difficulty identifying expertise on a given topic sometimes, often or all the time. (571 respondents) 90% of staff would find information from other DPKO personnel on how to solve problems somewhat, very or critically useful. (558 respondents) 97% of staff would find it useful to know how to identify and capture lessons and best practices, but time constraints (47%), lack of institutional incentives (45%) and lack of knowledge on how to do so (17%), prohibit this from happening. (more than 1 answer possible) 46% of staff received no hand-over time with or material from their predecessor, nor any other form of written guidance when starting their job. (579 respondents) Staff perceptions

4. Addressing the KM gap • Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit • BP Officers and Focal Points • Toolbox project • Guidance project • Change management / portal

5. PBPU Best Practices: • Back-stops the BP Officers and Focal Points; • Depository of lessons identified, good/bad practices; • Conducts several larger lessons learned studies; • Home of the guidance project; • Works towards ensuring that identified lessons and practices are taken into account in planning, policy and implementation Also: • Strategic policy (e.g. DPKO-WB relations); and • Institutional home of thematic experts (gender, HIV/AIDS, judicial, corrections, DDR) • http://pbpu.unlb.org 

6. Best Practices Officers / Focal Points • Find answers to mission’s queries: “How have other missions dealt with issue X?” • Ensure previously identified lessons are taken into account in planning, policy making and execution of mandated activities • Capture lessons and good/bad practices within the mission for future use and benefit of this and other missions • Establish linkages between staff across missions working in the same functional areas

7. BP Toolbox Project A project to develop tools primarily for field staff to capture, store and share knowledge that will benefit DPKO operations • Handover notes • End of assignment reports • Surveys of practice • After action reviews • Communities of practice

8. Handover Note • To provide successors with key knowledge and information regarding the position so the transition period is as short and smooth as possible. • Primarily contains procedural and factual information. • At the end of a post, a staff member would use this template • Not stored by DPKO, only meant to be a temporary document • [explain how in this mission staff is supposed to use this tool (incl. enforcement)] • Handover Note Template • Name:…………………………………………………………..….. • Job Title:…………………………………………………………… • Date of Handover Note:…………………………………………. • Duration of Assignment:……………………………………….. • Brief Description of Duties:……………………………………. • …………………………………………………………………..….. • …………………………………………………………………..….. • Supervisor and reporting procedures:………………………. • Regular/re-occuring meetings, reports or procedures:.…. • ………………………………………………………………………. • Key Documents to read: • ………………………………………………………………………. • ………………………………………………………………………. • Status of projects/reports/meetings: • Name of project/report/meeting…………………………………. • Status…………………………………………… • Action needed………………………………….. • Partners…………………………………………. • Budget …………………………………………. • Repeat as many times as necessary • Where to find files (hardcopy and electronic):…………….. • Contacts: • Your contact information after departure:

9. End of Assignment Report • Reports by senior mission staff at the end of post to assess the implementation of the mandate • Focus on analysis and interpretation • Regular template provided to serve as a baseline, a degree of deviation is to be expected • [These reports would be stored and made available to DPKO staff] • [explain how in this mission staff is supposed to use this tool (incl. enforcement)] • End of Assignment Report Template • Name:………………………………………………………………………………. • Title of position:…………………………………………………………………. • Date of End of Assignment Report:…………………………………………… • Duration of Assignment:……………………………………………………….. • Brief Description of Mandate:………………………………………………….. • Assessment of Implementation of Mandate:………………………….……. • Issues. • This should be the main section of the report. Within approximately 10-15 pages, authors can address any number of mission-related topics that pertained to or influenced his/her area of responsibility’s ability to implement its mandate. As a guideline, the following should be covered: • The status of mandate implementation upon your arrival • Challenges to mandate implementation (if applicable) • Lessons learned and success stories • Recommendations for improving efficiency and effectiveness of mandate implementation (mission-specific) • Recommendations that are applicable beyond the mission • Summary of Actionable Recommendations: • This section summarizes the recommendations listed above. The recommendations should be clear about specific action(s) that need to be taken.

10. AAR • Self-evaluation tool for team discussion and analysis in a post-project meeting • Focus on recalling events and initial analysis • Meant to help future projects and actions by identifying lessons and actionable recommendations • Meant to be stored in and made available via searchable intranet site • [explain how in this mission staff is supposed to use this tool (incl. who could be in lead)] After Action Review Template Name of event/project: Date or Duration of event/project: Team members: Date of AAR: Individual who called the AAR: Individual who facilitated/ led the discussion at the AAR: Background: Objectives of the event/project: Achievements/results of the event/project: Best practices / what worked well: Lessons learned / what did not work well or could be improved: Quotes from the AAR: Specific actionable recommendations: Keywords associated with this AAR: Background documents: Contacts:

11. Survey of Practice • A snapshot of current practices as they are being carried out right now by field staff • A staff member or BPO would collect information from many missions, compile and edit with HQ sign-off • Primarily contains procedural information • Meant to be stored in and made available via searchable intranet site Survey of Practice Template Survey of [practice name] Date of report Author name and title Executive Summary: [A summary of main findings of the survey] Description of the practice: [Brief description of the practice that was surveyed. Relevant background information. Problem statement. A list of questions/issues to be examined.] Methodology: [Description of how the information was collected and from whom. ] Summary of responses: [A summary of responses received. This section can be organized by issues. Trends, discrepancies, local conditions should be included in this section.] - Issue 1: - Issue 2: Conclusions: [Description of areas of uniform practice and areas of major discrepancies. This section could also point out any areas that require the development of further guidance or clarification or discussion.] Additional resources [This could list key documents, key contacts, websites, or any other information that might be useful for obtaining further information regarding the practice.] …………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………..

12. Communities of Practice • A networking tool to connect practitioners in different missions with each other (via facilitator) • Facilitates email discussion, sharing of documents, experiences, practices and lessons. • Depending on resources, some have websites and facilitators, others are simply email lists of functional counterparts • Pilot Community of Practice in Rule of Law (facilitated); • Email-based forum for Contingent-owned Equipment • Spontaneous communities: • Payment and Allowance officers • Broadcast technology • QIPs • Other areas that are interested: • Gender • Supplies/Rations • Civil Affairs • Others?

13. Field Practitioners Field Practitioners Field Practitioners A Doctrine System (Guidance project) PRACTICE EXPERIENCE TRAINING

14. DPKO Portal • Provides wide variety of resources (forms, training resources, vacancies, etc) • Houses guidance and best practices material • Will include forums where staff can meet (chatrooms)

15. Some tips • Calling other missions and UNHQ is free! Use the mission prefix followed by your contact’s extension. All mission’s phone directories can be found in the Lotus email system. • Useful websites: • DPKO: www.un.org/depts/dpko • PBPU: http://pbpu.unlb.org • ODS: www.ods.un.org all UN docs • UN intranet: http://iseek.un.org/m210.asp?dept=363 • DPKO intranet: http://iseekun.org/m210.asp?dept=155 • Best practices database: … • Use [name mission]’s shared drive

16. Comments & Questions Contact [name mission]’s Best Practices [officer/FP]: [NAME] [Tel.] [email]