When there are a lot of people involved in planning and implementing communications activities you need to have a solid coordination process.
One of the challenges I am currently facing is trying to share information in a usable format (e.g. a matrix or table) between people working on different government systems. While the U.S. Government does a good job making their systems secure, the security usually comes at the price of accessibility. For example, if I publish a webpage on the intranet in my office, my colleagues in the Embassy can’t view that webpage. When it is essential for people in different offices to communicate and coordinate quickly a different solution needs to be found.
A project that I am working on now is using blog software to create an online collaboration forum for communications activities. I am using WordPress since it is a somewhat easier to customize than Movable Type (given my preference for HTML and PHP). The goal is to establish an online system that enables people from two different offices to post information about public events, interviews, workshops, etc. that they all need in order prepare documents and coordinate media coverage.
The blog software allows me to create meaningful categories, edit posts, and collect comments about events during their planning stages. The archiving function of the blog ensures that all users can review what was said and help them look for “lessons learned.” One of the biggest benefits of using a web-based tool is that the information is no longer contained in one or two people’s email accounts. The centralized organization provided by the blog helps reduce bottlenecks and allows any authorized users to review the status of any given activity.
I am currently working on the business case for the ‘collaboration blog’ and will be sure to publish the main ideas on this blog for anyone who happens to visit. If you have any specific questions about this idea, please feel free to contact me.