Internal Capacity Building

By Stuart Slayen, International Institute for Sustainable Development
May 2001

As a Web manager at a sustainable development organization, you don't necessarily understand the science of climate change or the impacts of desertification. So, why should your organization's researchers and analysts know anything about building Web pages, writing online copy or developing communications strategies?

More than any other organizational communications vehicle, the Web evokes emotion and debate among staff members. Internal newsletters are often deleted or shelved without ever being read. Reports, publications and listservs designed for external audiences might only be read by staff members with a specific interest in the topic. The Web, however, is different. When people work at their terminals, the organization's Web site is at their fingertips all the time—literally.

The Web site is not topic-specific, so when researchers visit their Web site, they can see how their work measures against the rest of the organization's intellectual capital (perhaps fostering unspoken internal competition). Staff members recognize that the site is the organization's living, full-time international presence. So, even if staffers do not visit their own organization's Web site often, they accept and celebrate its value and impact.

It is clear that people are eager to feel a sense of ownership of their organization's Web site, particularly over the sections where their work appears. That sense of ownership should be celebrated, encouraged and fostered. But for that sense of ownership to translate into effective Web strategizing, planning and execution, project staff must develop their knowledge base about the Web communications principles in general, and their organization's own Web site, specifically.

How much do they already know?

Before embarking on an elaborate program of internal capacity building, it is vital to perform a needs assessment. It is likely true that there is a wide range of Internet literacy among the non-Web staff at your organization. There are likely people with little or no exposure to the Web; people who use the Web effectively in their research; and people who might be actively involved in Web design as hobbyists or volunteers.

Aside from the varying levels of expertise, Web teams must also consider the different learning styles of individuals when planning internal training and capacity building.

The needs assessment could be a formal process involving a questionnaire or it could be a less formal process of casual conversations. People's reactions to your internal capacity building plans will also be informative.

How much do they need to know?

Should Web managers see to it that all staff members are trained in HTML coding, Web site construction and graphic design? Absolutely not. It's a unique set of skills that might not even be possessed by the Web manager! (And if everyone knew how to do the work, Web staff would become redundant!)

Ideally, your internal capacity building should seek to achieve the following outcomes:

• Staff will be enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough to begin planning their project's Web presence at the outset.
• Staff will see Web communications planning as an integral part of their process versus the last step of the process.
• Staff will feel confident enough to propose ideas and engage in informed dialogue about architecture, design and content.
• Staff will understand how much time and skill it takes to produce Web content so that their expectations are realistic and their content guidance is thorough.
• Staff will perceive Web staff as part of their "team" as opposed to a provider of a service.
• Staff will feel assured enough to contribute ideas and feedback about the organization's entire Web presence, not just about the work with which they are directly associated.
• Staff will internalize the organization's Web publishing procedures and make recommendations about their development.

What techniques can be used to accomplish this?

Depending on your organization's staff and structure, one, some or all of the following capacity building ideas might be useful means of sharing knowledge, generating enthusiasm and fostering ownership:

Tours

It is critical that all staff are as well-acquainted as possible with the organization's Web site. Ideally, Web managers should guide staff as individuals or as a group on a tour of organization's site so that all are familiar with its content and structure. It is absolutely critical that a personalized Web tour be given to each new staff member. Equally critical is the need to guide senior management through the Web site so that they become increasingly knowledgeable about the organization's intellectual capital, the delivery of knowledge and the organization's audience. Increased interest by senior management could lead to greater support for your capacity building efforts.

Training sessions

Organize specific training sessions to help inform and educate your colleagues about the Web management process. Select topics based on requests from colleagues or on needs you perceive.

Key challenges will be to generate interest in the concept of training sessions and to inspire participation. People are always busy and not necessarily looking for more internal meetings to add to their schedule. If attendance is mandatory, people could be turned off. If attendance is voluntary, attendance could be sparse and inconsistent.

There are no guaranteed solutions to this dilemma. It would be advisable, though, to actively solicit attendance by approaching people on an individual basis, promising—and delivering—engaging sessions (thereby earning repeat attendance and positive word of mouth), and offering to follow up on formal sessions with one-on-one sessions with participants at their request.

The challenges and solutions will vary from organization to organization based on the proposed content of the sessions (finalized following a needs assessment exercise) and the personalities involved.

Whatever your result, sessions should be as interactive and energetic as a top-quality Web site to cultivate interest and buy-in.

Internal newsletter and tidbits

Consider launching an ongoing series of easy-to-read, easy-to-use internal newsletters that:

• engage your colleagues about your organization's Web site;
• highlight procedural issues;
• enlighten colleagues about site usage;
• point colleagues to interesting, helpful resources; and
• offer tips and ideas for planning and executing Web initiatives.

The newsletters should model good writing and presentation techniques. They should be short, crisply written, free from jargon and inviting of feedback.

Development/enforcement of procedures

The Internet is an evolving medium and, as such, expect your internal procedures to develop over time. It is critical that your internal guidelines and procedures are easily accessible to staff, easy to read and consistently implemented.

Without universal application of procedures throughout an organization, the system will be in peril. While enforcement could be challenging, it's vital to ensure adherence to basic procedures. It is critical not to compromise the integrity of your organization's identity and intellectual capital.

Procedures are followed best by colleagues who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the organization's Web site and who have contributed to its development. It is of vital importance that staff have a chance to contribute to the development of policies and procedures and that the staff is properly informed about changes.

Seeking feedback and ideas

If we are educating colleagues to become more Web literate and fostering their sense of ownership of the organization's Web site, we can expect that they will want to offer feedback and ideas about the entire site. They should feel that right; they should exercise that right; and, as a Web manager, you should create meaningful opportunities for them to express their views. This could be as formal as inviting staff to participate in meetings about the Web site or as casual as sending an e-mail around asking for input on a specific matter or having a lunchtime drop-in where people could come to express their views.

Obviously, you can't expect to automatically be made a member of every project team when project staff aren't welcome on yours. Transparency and open participation breed good morale and Web excellence.

Developing Web staff

While internal capacity building should be developed for non-Web staff, it is essential that Web staff, including Web management, also have the chance to grow and develop within the organization. Web staff should meet regularly to discuss new technologies and methodologies, direct each other to resources and review the organization's Web products. Ideally, the Web staff's efforts would be complemented by external professional development opportunities.

Demonstrations of excellence and the quest for buy-in

People learn best by example and by modelling. Whenever a process achieves a desired result—when a new Web site component is successfully executed—send people the URL with a note identifying participants, showing why the product is effective, highlighting any innovations and discussing lessons that were learned.

This sort of open communication about Web site development will inspire confidence among your colleagues and raise the Web performance standard at your organization.

Be approachable; Encourage feedback and dialogue; Listen.

SD Case Studies

IISD Publishing Services University
With the input of colleagues, IISD's Publishing Services Manager prepared a draft curriculum for an internal capacity building program called "Publishing Services University." Elements of the curriculum have been incorporated into a larger internal training program currently being designed by the institute's corporate management team.

REC Web Steering Committee
The Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) holds bi-monthly meetings of a Web Steering Committee. The committee reviews Web site issues and addresses future development.