This is an excerpt from UNHCR’s recently released report: Beyond Technology | Innovation at UNHCR 2015. This report highlights and showcases some of the innovative approaches the organization is taking to address complex refugee challenges.
‘Engagement’ can be a bit difficult to understand as a description for one of the five pillars of the Innovation Unit. Is it communications? Is it public relations? And, what does it have to do with Innovation? These are all good questions, certainly. And while there are many dictionary definitions for “engagement”, the one that most relevantly applies here is “establishing meaningful contact and connection with people and communities.” In short, engagement at its core builds relationships and connections that are meaningful. Distinct from corporate-level communications or public relations, the Engagement Pillar performs the function of engaging communities inside of UNHCR around the theme of innovation.
Think of the process of building a relationship of any kind. Meaningful connections don’t happen overnight; they require continuous effort. They require give-and-take and two-way communication. And, they require listening as much as talking. If you’ve ever met someone who only talks about him-/herself, you may be less likely to continue to invest in that relationship.
Interestingly though, while many of us can agree that a one-sided relationship isn’t necessarily the most fulfilling experience, as community managers we sometimes commit some of these blunders when engaging our communities around the specific themes of our Units/Sections etc.
It’s important to note that these so-called blunders may not apply to all communicators. Communications is a broad field that takes many approaches depending on the core function. However, for those of us working to build and engage internal communities around specific themes, here are some do’s and don’ts that we’ve learned along the way.
1. Don’t only communicate when something happens.
This is a familiar cycle: first, a significant event or achievement occurs, and then we communicate about it. It’s absolutely essential to let our communities know about our important, life-saving work. And, it’s certainly important to communicate around key milestones. However, if we only talk to our audiences when there is something to report, we risk creating a one-sided relationship, and ultimately losing their continued interest.
Do create a persistent ‘beat’.
There are significant milestones and achievements that need to be shared. But in those in-between moments, when there may be nothing critical to report on, don’t be silent. Continue to engage your community, and continually talk to them by sharing interesting, meaningful content (either online or offline). Create a steady line of engagement, rather than sporadic peaks and troughs. It’s worth mentioning, though, that beat is different from noise. Focus on creating meaningful two-way experiences to avoid the risk of talking to people, instead of talking with them.
2. Don’t only talk about yourself.
It’s difficult to create a meaningful connection with someone who only talks about him-/herself. Some of our most satisfying relationships are built around common interests and the lively conversations we have about them. If we only talk to our audiences about what we’ve done or achieved, we risk creating an echo chamber, not a community.
Do start conversations around important themes.
Back to the concept of creating a persistent beat, in those in-between moments when there are no achievements to share, start conversations with your community around themes and topics that are related to your work. This shows your community that you are interested in truly engaging with them, and that they are not just another outlet for you to broadcast messages to.
3. Don’t neglect to explore the various channels and styles that your audiences might prefer.
Engagement is a symbiotic relationship: a story cannot be told without a listener. You write a story with the expectation that someone will read it. You create a video with the hope that someone will watch it. Like the innovation process, if you don’t keep your users (in this case, readers) in mind while creating and sharing your story, you risk creating a wonderful archive of un-read and un-watched content (and not getting a return on the investment you made in creating it). Don’t treat your community as a homogenous group. Explore the different channel and style preferences among your audience, and create different types of content to suit. While the world has very rapidly gone digital, engagement also encompasses a range of offline, in-person activities and events.
Do think of ways to add value to existing content for your audiences.
Sometimes the 50-page report is necessary. But, think of ways you can repurpose or repackage that report. Try pulling out the data and creating an infographic to share with your Facebook audience. Or, try creating smaller stories, blogposts, op-eds etc. around the content of the report and sharing in different ways. This could be a Facebook live discussion or a community workshop on a central theme in the report. When the Office of the Controller wanted to engage colleagues on fraud prevention, they launched a Challenge on UNHCR Ideas – UNHCR’s crowd-sourced ideas platform (you can read about the results of their Challenge in the next article). There are many tools/ platforms/channels out there. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and remember to measure the results so that you know what works with your audiences and what doesn’t.
These do’s and don’ts surely aren’t prescriptive, as there are many ways to engage communities. In 2015, the Engagement Pillar shifted its focus to internal engagement. That means, we prioritized finding ways to engage colleagues on the theme of innovation. We’ve tested and tried different approaches and we are always evaluating the ones that work and the ones that don’t. We remain committed to building and engaging communities of colleagues around the theme of innovation.
We’re always looking for great stories, ideas, and opinions on innovations that are led by or create impact for refugees. If you have one to share with us send us an email at innovation@unhcr.org
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