Communities of Practice Europe and CIS Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption Community of Practice Working Meeting May 26-27, 2005 Knowledge Management Team Bratislava Regional Centre UNDP, Europe and CIS

Knowledge Management in UNDP Bratislava Regional Center and Knowledge Management Knowledge Management Strategy in Europe and CIS region Progress in building regional Communities of Practice in Europe and CIS ( )

Knowledge Management Strategy in UNDP

Global UNDP Knowledge Management KM at the core of new UNDP Building, sharing, applying knowledge Knowledge Project ‘Roadmap’ – 5 areas, 33 initiatives –Develop Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Knowledge Networks –Knowledge Tools and Technologies (Knowledge Products as project/programme tools) –Staff Alignment –Content Management –Overall UNDP Infrastructure

Vision and Guiding Principles Acquiring and sharing knowledge is at the core of UNDP’s transformation, and should be given the requisite attention in all of its corporate initiatives. Knowledge Management efforts are anchored in groups – communities, and should not be seen as technology-driven. The emphasis of a Knowledge Management strategy should be on building people networks, not electronic networks. Knowledge sharing and the formation of effective communities is based on trust and relevance. Communities are fluid, flexible structures which are less successful when they become too formalized.

Vision and Guiding Principles Communities as core when we look at learning in the organization Aim: How UNDP could use KM to learn better? How UNDP could use KM to work smarter? ‘Infrastructure’ – policies and ICT

Communities of Practice A “Communities of Practice (CoP)” is a group of people with common professional interests, concerns and knowledge needs, who bond together to build a common identity as a community. As with all people networks, Communities of Practice reach across traditional hierarchical boundaries; they are special, highly evolved networks and their main organizing principle is trust built on familiarity and shared experience.

Communities of Practice They solve problems They spread good ideas They save avoidable mistakes They produce innovation They increase individual competence They help attract and keep good people They develop strategic competencies They break down organizational silos They improve the quality of work life Don’t believe for a moment that CoPs are self-managed!

Bratislava Regional Center and Knowledge Management

Bratislava Regional Center Policy Support and Programme Development (PSPD)unit built around Practice and sub-practices Services: CO Support Regional Programmes Knowledge management - engine of PSPD Communities of Practice - facilitation

Operationlizing Knowledge Management KM the engine of PSPD’s operation 1) Generation/Collection/Identification of Knowledge – (e.g., creating new knowledge through demand driven research, capturing relevant and needed knowledge) 2) Codification/Translation of Knowledge (e.g., through publications and translating them to a user-friendly language) 3) Dissemination and Sharing of Knowledge (e.g., through networks, seminars, workshops) 4) Application of Knowledge (e.g., through country support and programme development)

Knowledge Management: A Cyclical Process Knowledge Application Knowledge Generation Knowledge Sharing Knowledge Sharing through face-to-face meetings or virtually, and identifying mechanisms for supporting knowledge exchange Knowledge Application Identified/generated/codified knowledge that is based on a set of good practices, lessons learned is taken and applied at the country and regional levels Knowledge Generation/Identification/Codi fication Research and development through new publications, good practices, pilot projects, synthesizing lessons learned

Knowledge Management Strategy in Europe and CIS (ECIS) region

Knowledge Management Strategy in ECIS Communities of Practice –Peers to exchange –Develop knowledge tools together –Learning Knowledge Products –Prioritize –Develop collaboratively –Apply to programming needs

Why Communities of Practice in ECIS? For UNDP’s capacity development –Better peer networking, –Better programming –Better management –Better monitoring & reporting –Professional learning = more efficient & effective UNDP with strengthened capacities to provide knowledge services = v alue of Communities of Practice is measured by usefulness they bring to the practitioners in their work to assist their national counterparts

Why PSPD Supports Knowledge Management and Communities of Practice Internal organization of PSPD to support cooperation in the region Through Communities of Practice facilitates sharing of knowledge and expertise

Expectations Relevant, substantively strong and coherent organization Demand-driven and targeted support to COs Functioning knowledge management Increased staff competency Improved professional development/ learning Better resource mobilization Strengthened partnership building, communication, marketing  Un-locking knowledge from COs  Strengthening capacities to provide services to UNDP clients  CoPs as a key instrument for the achievement of desired changes in programme countries

Communities of Practice: how to address challenges?  Agenda setting – set regional/sub-regional priority areas and issues  Partnerships – identify and build relevant national, regional, global partnerships  Knowledge management – document systematically relevant lessons learnt and experience, package and communicate; implement new ideas;  Policy development – link the evidence based lessons learnt to policy making;  Professional Development – identify learning needs and develop strategies to meet them;  Communication/Advocacy Essentially able staff to work smarter – not harder…

Knowledge Management  Knowledge Management – document systematically relevant and replicable lessons learned and experience; package and communicate; implement new ideas;  Knowledge Management done systematically: generating, codifying, sharing knowledge, and applying new ideas throughout all part of project cycle (pls. see next slide)

sharing collaboration learning Codify knowledge KM improves and facilitates How to Manage Knowledge? c r e a t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n s h a r i n g

Management Environment & Energy Poverty Reduction Democratic Governance Communities of Practice in ECIS HQ CO Bratislava (PSPD) CO support Reg. Prog.

Generation and Codification -Knowledge Products  Action Reflection Note: Source of lessons learned  How to Guide: Aid for projects/programme design  areas where UNDP has experience  areas with no prior experience  Prospectus: Tool for resource mobilization and partnership building

Action Reflection Notes ARNs are: –One-page reflections on a field activity; Project Specific; Extracting lessons learned Template –Introduction –Objectives (What was supposed to happen) –Results (What actually happen) –Analysis (Why did it happen this way) –Solutions (What has been solution to the above challenges) –Lessons Learned (What are the lessons to be taken from above analysis) –Evidence of Impact

How to Guides How-to-Guide is: –10-page aide for project/programme design –Two parts: Primer (methodological approaches) and FAQs (frequently asked questions) Template –Introduction of an issue –Synthesis of methodological and strategic approaches for programme design –FAQs for programme design

Prospectus Prospectus is -2-3 page brochure presented to partners; -Promote UNDP competence and niche; Template -Initiative’s vision, impact, results; -UNDP’s strengths; -Entry points for partners.

c r e a t i o n Action reflection notes Programming Guidelines Prospectuses KM Cycle and Knowledge Products a p p l i c a t i o n s h a r i n g Capture lessons Create tools Mobilise partners Use programme guidelines for design and management M & E tools Find expertise, lessons learned, field practices CoP workshops Learning Mailing lists Work spaces MSI

Work Space Knowledge Products Action Reflection Notes Lessons Learned database Programming Guidelines Corporate Programme Manual Policy Documents & Primers MSI and Expert Roster Prospectuses

Examples of Knowledge Products SME – How to Guide on Business Development Services HIV/AIDS – How to Guide on Building Partnerships on Local Level Justice and HR – ‘Ombudsman’ How to Guides ICTD – Library of ARNs Civic Engagement – Library of ARNS Local Gov/Decentralization – ARNs and How to Guide on Localizing MDGs Info: Helpdesk

From Practitioners Communities of Practice become an important part of our everyday work. They represent an environment that supports effective/better collaboration among practitioners in areas and on issues that need much attention in this region. Through Communities of Practice we have the opportunity to use our collective strength that lies in our wisdom and experience for creation of a plan that assists. These are not just a meeting even though face to face interaction with peers is immensely important in our work. We have the opportunity to go few steps further and create a Community that has rich and strong individuals benefiting from knowledge of colleagues. CoP meetings present a forum where we take stock of what the status is in the region and determine how we can manage our knowledge and experience to assist our countries to advance their development agenda.

Knowledge Management Team Bratislava Regional Centre UNDP, Europe and CIS