Cultivating ACI Communities of Practice Workshop, Turin, 14-15 November 2013

1. Comparative experiences in launching and facilitating CoPsThe experience of UN Partner Organisations (DPKO, UNDP, UNV) Cultivating ACI Communities of Practice Workshop, Turin, 14-15 November 2013 Fabrizio Damiani Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section United Nations Volunteers programme

2. Content • The problem • In search of a solution • What is a Community of Practice • Value added of a Community of Practice • The experience of DPKO/DFS • The experience of UNDP • What it gets to have a vibrant Community of Practice: Launching, Moderating, Engagement, Participation, Measuring Impact

3. The problem • Leverage experience and capture institutional knowledge from a transient workforce • Inform policy development and provide space for improvement by establishing a two way stream communication channel for practices and lessons from the field • Stimulating greater collaboration by connecting the people who are doing the work • Promote organizational credibility with external stakeholders

4. In search of a solution… Changing theculture, from… ….to a Community

5. What is a community of practice? “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly…. In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information… Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice.” - Etienne Wenger

6. Sharing knowledge & information Before and After

7. Value Added of a CoP • Helps members to address challenges more effectively, promoting a collaborative approach to problem solving; • Bridges the gap between inner and outer circles of learning, thus enhancing learning; • Bridges the gap between policy and practice, connecting HQ with the field and vice versa; • Taps the tacit knowledge and facilitates real-time, just in time knowledge exchange • Helps good practices to surface from the people doing the actual work, increasing peer-to-peer information and knowledge sharing • Connects a geographically dispersed population across time zones.

8. The Experience of DPKO/DFS Peacekeeping: 16 missions across, 5 continents, a variety of functional areas (from training, civil affairs, military, to logistics, procurement, training , etc.) for a total of about 117,530 personnel (including uniformed personnel) DPKO/DFS approach: KM Strategy, methodology and tools (including CoPs) Roll out of CoPs (under each of the functional areas) Result: DPKO/DFS CoPs unite over 3500 members across missions and HQs (and including UN partners), but with different degree of interaction and participation

9. Community of Practice (Homepage)

10. DPKO/DFS CoP features Queries and consolidated replies:Real-time advice on challenges faced by field-based practitioners Library E-Discussions:To help shape the Protection of Civilian policy and handbook, based on the experience of field-based practitioners Online workspace:Online library with resources, latest news, Who’s Who database, rosters of experts, wikis and blogs, calendar

11. The Experience of UNDP (and UNV) UNDP: Present in 177 countries and territories, engaging with a variety of actors and on a variety of thematic areas Approach: Knowledge Networking established in 1999 in all 6 of UNDP’s thematic priority areas of work. From email based, it has evolved into an Open Source based software bringing together different social software and tools to enhance interaction, engagement, collaboration. Results: Knowledge sharing has became institutionalized as part of the UNDP business plan to connect Country Offices and promote South-South exchange. The level of engagement and exchange is very good as it has put at its core the right context to the right audience

12. Example of Teamworks Space Lsit of Teamworks Spaces Post-2015 National Consultations

13. UNDP Teamworks features Teamworks: Features all the DPKO/DFS CoP tools, products and services and much more. In particular it includes tools from social media, such as micro-blogging, bookmarking, crowd sourcing, RSS feeds, tagging, and more. But what is it that makes it so different from the DPKO/DFS CoP? It is not the kind of features/ tools available to users. The difference is on the approach. UNDP has put at the centre the problem for discussion (i.e. engaging civil society in shaping the new post-2015 development framework) not the platform. This bring people to engage more. They relate to the problem, they want to engage. They find the right context and the right audience. Which translates in: this is pertinent and relevant for me, worth investing time and resources.

14. What it gets to have a vibrant CoP:Launching a Community of Practice • Be clear on objectives of CoP (interview staff, experts, partners dealing with similar issues). Successful CoPs are owned by their members, not their sponsors; • Identify products and services to be provided; • Develop strategy/workplan with performance benchmarks and evaluation plan • Identify simple technology matching purpose of the network, bearing in mind that technology is only an enabler; • Identify and train moderator (to be familiar with technology as well as community building / facilitation techniques); • Establish core group, build membership, and get to know competencies of members: intranet sites, F2F meetings, etc;

15. Launching a Community of Practice (Cont’d) • Prepare substantive topic to launch CoP with, and populate your CoP with postings (without overwhelming your members thus preventing exchange); • Communicate with other network facilitators and leverage cooperation with existing networks; • Prepare a communication strategy to inform about your CoP and support the launch and roll out; • Set clear governing rules, and draft instructions/manual; • Send invitation to potential members, attaching instructions/manual • Provide training on the use of your CoP. Not everybody is familiar with technologies. Dealing with this cultural shift is another big challenge for having a successful CoP

16. What it gets to have a vibrant CoP: Modetating a CoP • Strong facilitation support is needed (contextualize and clarify questions; get answers to questions within short time frame, i.e. 5-9 days; limit “network traffic”; “cross-post” where appropriate; give incentives to respond; provide summaries that add substantive value; ensure contributions inform policy development processes; • Get to know CoP members, their topics of interest and experience, build relationships; • Maintain consistent connection with clients including through follow up surveys (feedback to improve services, support resource mobilization); • Place emphasis on discussion of “practical” issues of relevance to clients; • Invite experts to lead discussions – but not only experts can contribute; • Promote “bottom-up” or non-hierarchical approach; • Preserve safe space for frank discussion. • Remember that your Community goes well beyond its virtual space – when no replies come from it, use your personal networks and connections to bring additional value to the network

17. What it gets to have a vibrant CoP: Modetating a CoP – The Role of the Facilitator • Keeps community dynamic • Builds trust • Motivates members referring them as agents for change • Maintains quality (however fostering an environment where there is no right and wrong and all contributions are valued) • Serves as resource person • Communicate effectively - Ensure relevance, access (language), quality and clarity of queries (concise subject lines) • Strategist: looking at the organization strategy, s/he Identifies entry points and links discussions to policy and decision-making processes • Advocates for CoP showing its benefits

18. What it gets to have a vibrant CoP: Engagement and Participation • Participation is determined by relevance • Community should be a part of business process and address members’ needs • Motivate members by clearly identifying benefits of knowledge sharing (e.g., how results of a discussions are used) and recognizing constraints (time limitations, lack of senior management support) • Name recognition through global network; • Scholarships for active participants to trainings or workshops; • Innovation grants; • Profiles of top contributors in News Update; • Create “knowledge products”: your CoP might produce and distribute its own publication the result of the work of its members; • Invite CoP member to special briefings where they can share their experiences and results. • Best in class award and thank you notes

19. Measuring Impact and Evaluating Performance • Number/growth of subscribers; • Range of subscribers (regional/professional); • Network activity - Number/growth/quality of postings; • Feedback ratings (events; queries; e-discussions); • Follow up surveys with intended beneficiaries (incl. Gov’t policy makers/implementers); • Impact of discussions on policy development processes; • Number/impact of knowledge products generated • Feedback from regular face-to-face interaction

20. Member Testimonials CoPs allow staff in the field to break the isolation they sometimes feel in their duty stations. They can share and learn from others who do the same job halfway across the world, like a virtual cafeteria where colleagues can link up and exchange with their peers. We've seen an officer in Juba pick up skills from another in Kandahar - that is the power of this tool” – CoP member, DPKO It is comforting to know that my query is going out to over 1,000 eyes who could potentially respond. This gives me a greater sense of confidence in communicating with government counterparts as I can tell the government with more conviction what UNDP policy and experience on the given issue is.” – UNDP Ethiopia

21. Questions?