Komms Klinics reloaded: Get smarter about research information, knowledge and communication at ILRI

ILRI staff, other CGIAR centers and partner organizations involved in research for development all have to work with information, knowledge and communication. In fact they all do it, continuously.

Research is indeed about information, knowledge and communication too, whether alone, in teams and in wider and increasingly complex partnerships. We can achieve smarter research through smarter information, knowledge and communication activities and investments. And it is not just about the tools, it’s how we use the tools, processes and capacities to achieve specific goals as part of a broader strategy.

After a series of tools-oriented sessions in 2011, we have reshaped our ‘Komms Klinics’ to support smarter information, knowledge and communication in research.

The original Komms Klinics aimed to raise awareness of the various tools used across ILRI. Thus, many of the past training sessions focused on ‘hands-on’ introductions to specific information and communication tools such as wikis, blogs, video, Yammer etc.

The next iteration of the Komms Klinics is different …

What’s new?

First, the 2012 series considers six major areas of communication:

• Engaging audiences;
• Organizing effective meetings and conversations;
• Extending public awareness;
• Finding and managing information;
• Working with multi-media;
• Publishing and design.

Each comprises a set of related issues e.g. for meetings and events: event/process design, facilitation, documentation and social reporting. These six broad areas also complement each other and together form a set of communication and information/knowledge management activities intended to support robust research for development.  Tools are additional cross-cutting support in each area. They form the seventh component of the 2012 Komms Klinics.

Second, the series combines a) ‘awareness-raising sessions’ to cover a wide range of issues  in each of the six areas, and b) hands-on training for specific skills and competencies (generally on information and communication tools but possibly also on approaches e.g. event facilitation, interpersonal communication for engagement etc.).

Third, the Klinics are open to all staff and colleagues; they can also be organized for specific teams or projects.

Fourth, we are trying to make the sessions ‘virtual’, so people across different locations can join in. We aim for an ILRI-wide effort – technologies allowing.

The first session was on 20 April 2012 in Addis Ababa – on ‘organizing effective events and conversations.’ Some twenty people across the Addis Ababa campus joined.

Thank you @Ewen Le Borgne and @Tsehay Gashaw for an excellent komm’s clinic this morning followed by very different people and organizations! Very useful tips to organize events and practical exercises too. (Geneviève Renard, communications specialist, ILRI Yammer, April 2012)

More information

• All upcoming sessions can be found on the Komms Klinics training wiki, on ILRI’s Yammer (restricted access), on our Google Calendar, and on posters across the campuses.
• The sessions are documented on the wiki.
• To join a session or for more information, contact Tsehay Gashaw or Ewen Le Borgne.
• Find answers ILRI communication questions at: http://ilri-comms.wikispaces.com
• Download a flyer on the Komms Klinics