Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Sharing knowledge to communicate more effectively: rethinking the UN’s

intranet

Linda Stoddart

Head, Dag Hammarskjöld Library,

Chair, UN Task Force on Knowledge Sharing

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Investing in the UN

• Creating “One UN”

• Adapting to a new reality

• Management reform

• Innovation and change

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Moving from talking to doing:peacekeeping

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Moving from talking to doing:humanitarian relief

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

iSeek Strategy

• iSeek was developed to support the UN Secretariat global knowledge sharing and internal communications strategy.

• Knowledge sharing is about:– Collaborating– Communicating– Connecting

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

The UN Secretariat Culture

• Hierarchy culture: decisions taken at senior levels• Junior staff often not part of the decision-making

channel – resulting in lack of a sense of responsibility

• Staff often work in “silos”• Little collaborative work

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Use of Information & Knowledge in Decision-Making

• Considerations– Low use of print publications– Medium use of electronic data– High use of news sources and direct contacts

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Blend of Internal and External

• Very high amount of public information on iSeek – certain degree of overlap with UN.org

• Low awareness of need for specific internal approach

• High degree of external scrutiny

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Internal Communications Objectives

• Bring everyone on the same page

• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of information for UN Secretariat staff

• Involve and engage everyone

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

One intranet for one UN worldwide, with consistent layout, standard technology, providing relevant and consistent messages to reach staff everywhere

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

A "glocal" start page

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Internal Communications Objectives

• Bring everyone on the same page

• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of information for UN Secretariat staff

• Involve and engage everyone

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

April:Global Contact Directory

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Internal Communications Objectives

• Bring everyone on the same page

• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of information for UN Secretariat staff

• Involve and engage everyone

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Content Strategy

• Focus on creating compelling content, stories of interest to everyone, regardless of their duty station– Reform/Management– Staff issues/Policy Information – New Technology Tools– Interviews and Appointments– Morale Building stories

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Creating a community of content providers:

Brought together content focal points at a workshop in New York:

• duty stations• departments• staff representatives• individual staff members

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Assessing impact

– Feedback (focal points would like to use blogs)

– Surveys and polls– Usage statistics

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

0

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900000

pre-iSeek iSeek 2005 iSeek 2006

Average page requests per month for each UN intranet generation

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

• Content– Timeliness– Clear, inviting, easy-to-use content– Photographs

• Technology– One platform for all locations

Lessons learned: what works?

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

• Overly complicated approval process

• Not global enough

• Not enough content contributions from global partners

Lessons learned: what doesn't work?

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Current challenges (human)

• A slow process

• Learn to work together

• Build trust

• Cultural change

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Current challenges (technology)

• Limitations of current content editor: – Inadequate search functionality– Limited menu-creating/management capacity– Hands-on training required

• Limitations of web analytics and collaboration tools

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Next Steps

• Short-term – Contributions from content focal points and

contributors – Interim technical solutions for collaboration tools,

available now, including open source applications

• Mid-term– Enterprise Information Portal

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

New Mind Set

• Need to understand the organizational culture and work within it to find realistic, pragmatic solutions to knowledge sharing

• Identify what this will mean for people’s daily routine

Web4Dev, UN, 2006

Thank you!