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International trainer on public communication through social media

6:24:00 PM

The new Government of Montenegro, headed by Prime Minister Igor Lukšic, was inaugurated on 29 December 2010.

Soon after taking the office, the new Prime Minister made a major breakthrough in the government’s public affairs policy, by launching the Consultation Days, a sequence of consultative meetings with key social players (including media, NGOs, the academia, religious leaders, political parties, ethnic minorities, etc.). The Consultation Days discussed the national policy priorities, during which the PM expressed the Government’s strong commitment to greater transparency in public administration, better accessibility of information to the media, civil society and the general public and closer communication between the government and all relevant social stakeholders (publics).

The new government’s key policy goal involves pursuing comprehensive political, social and economic reform aimed at meeting the requirements for membership of the European Union, with the end view of securing a better quality of life for the citizens of Montenegro.

In order to maximize its efforts in this regard, the government needs to be able to communicate effectively on two tracks. On the one hand, it needs to advocate, in a well-planned and coordinated matter, the importance of relevant reform processes to the domestic public, and on the other, it needs to communicate to the international publics Montenegro’s capacity and eagerness to embrace common European values, achieve relevant standards and undertake a comprehensive social, economic and political reform to this end.

The Communication Coordination Team (CCT)

The government Communication Coordination Team (CCT) was established by the Government in 2010, as the core government advisory body in charge of interdepartmental coordination of government communication affairs. CCT brings together senior PR professionals/Spokespersons from all ministries and Deputy Prime Ministers’ offices. It is headed by the Chief of the PR Bureau and it also comprises two senior PR Bureau staff: Head of International Public Relations and Head of Media Monitoring and Online Communication.

CCT is mandated to advise members of the Cabinet and heads of public administration bodies on how to improve communication practices and how to handle various communication challenges within the public administration. Its recommendations are distributed weekly to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet members, as well as to heads of public administration bodies where necessary.

Although younger and less experienced CCT members are constantly supported through peer consultation with their more experienced colleagues, a substantial need for capacity building still persists. CCT can help ensure that the public fully understands the government’s key policies and strategic priorities, and that they have all the information required to arrive at an informed opinion on key government policies. Another major role of CCT is to be ‘the voice of the people’ inside the public administration and convey to the decision makers the perceptions, suggestions and concerns of the public and serve as a channel for citizen participation in policy making.

PR Bureau’s International Public Relations Unit (IPRU)

Responding to the growing need for providing up-to-date information on key government policies to the international public, particularly in the context of Montenegro’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the PR Bureau set up a small team (3 staff) to deal with international public relations.

The Team soon achieved visible results in terms of increasing the number of visitor hits in the English version of the Government’s web portal. In particular, they changed the concept of writing government press releases in English, by adjusting their style, tone and content to foreign publics and responding more promptly to the needs of international media. The new team also modernized the government’s web communication by launching the official YouTube channel and a Twitter account. This resulted in an official change in the PR Bureau’s Job Classification Scheme, as the International Public Relations Unit (IPRU) was established in July 2011.

The improved international perception of Montenegro will reflect back on the domestic policy-making process and inspire new commitment in the domestic public to pursue the required reforms. This, in addition to greater availability to international public of official information about Montenegro’s investment and business environment, can help increase the inflow of foreign investment and the international support and development assistance in the areas that are critical for the success of the overall reform process.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment:
The level of professional experience of CCT members varies greatly, ranging from persons with little experience in public relations to professionals with ten plus years of relevant professional experience. Furthermore, certain CCT members have inadequate access to the decision makers and lack the decision making influence in their respective departments.

Although the IPRU staff is enthusiastic about their new job, considering the volume and versatility of their everyday duties, they still need to improve the highly specialized knowledge needed for the job. A significant unmet need, therefore, remains for a range of capacity building activities aimed at improving IPRU staff’s capacity for direct communication with the international press and public, writing skills, knowledge and use of social media for political communication, familiarity with the work of international media, news agencies in particular, and the capability to make effective media appearances, through media training. In addition, they have had little opportunity to gain first-hand insight into and replicate the best practices of the countries with the most advanced international public relations policies and practices. Building the capacities of IPRU should help increase the availability of information on key government policies to the international public, which will in turn improve the international perception of Montenegro as a country committed to undertaking the necessary social, economic and political reforms on its European and Euro-Atlantic agenda.

Therefore, within the joint project of the Government PR Bureau of Montenegro and UNDP titled “Good governance through strengthening capacities of the Government of Montenegro for strategic communications and international public relations” the aim is to develop the skills and capacity of the CCT and the IPRU personnel to exercise greater influence on policy making. If their potential is exploited to the full, through capacity building, CCT and IPRU will be capable of empowering the public to participate more actively in policy making, which would, in turn, mark a significant contribution to the concept of participative democracy in Montenegro.

Job content:
The project will employ a short-term trainer who will assist in the education and training component in the field of public communication through social media, with the major aim to increase the knowledge among around 35 members of the CCT and IPRU personnel in this field.

This aim will be attained through a two days training workshop where one day will be devoted to the public participation through contemporary communications channels, including but not necessarily limited to:

  • Advanced social media platforms and suggestions for improvements, ways forward, different approaches, attracting more people, etc;
  • Crisis management via social media and management of crises arising FROM social media (direct attacks, fierce criticism, etc.);
  • Engaging with citizens through social media (how to handle large in-flow of citizens’ demands and keep yourself as a useful source for citizens to resort to when they need it);
  • Facilitating greater public participation in policy making through the use of social media.

The expected results:
As one of the results, apart from CCT and IPRU personnel’s increased awareness and understanding of the social media communication techniques in the context of their everyday work and their relevant publics in Montenegro and abroad, this training should also impact the capacities of the CCT and IPRU staff in the way to enable them to:

  • Sensitize to communication information needs, expectations and concerns of target audiences;
  • Facilitate interaction between public authorities and public;
  • Educate audiences: make them aware of an event or policy change;
  • Motivate audiences: encourage them to participate or provide feedback;
  • Inform and reassure audiences: tell them about action that is being taken;
  • Gain further support and buy-in of stakeholders

The incumbent will also be obliged to create a draft agenda for a one full day training based on all the above described (including tasks and “homework”), and submit it at the earliest possible stage.

Timing and reporting:
During 4 (four) days that should be distributed throughout the period between November 25 – December 10, 2011 in accordance with training needs, the incumbent should make the necessary preparations, deliver a one-day training on December 2, 2011 and create a final report that should compile: i) results achieved, ii) evaluation both from the trainer and participants, iii) recommendations for further steps/actions, as well as iv) practical reference points.

Time duration and travel:
Four days of consultancy work, including one visit to Montenegro (arrival on December 1, 2011 and departure on December 3, 2011). Accommodation and full board provided, as well as the transfer from and to the airport in Montenegro. The location of training venue in Montenegro will be determined subsequently.

Competencies
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
  • Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
  • Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience
  • University degree in Social Sciences, advanced university degree would be an asset;
  • Minimum 5 years of working experience in the field of contemporary communications techniques and social media, including the experience of training government/public sector communication professionals;
  • Training experience and workshop facilitation skills;
  • Modern approach and exceptional analytical skills for interpreting complex relevant issues in a short timeframe and transforming them into a training for the CCT and IPRU personnel in the art of public advocacy through social media and stretching from policy to direct services;
  • Ability to:
    - Express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in writing and orally,
    - Research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information,
    - Conceptualize, plan and execute ideas,
    - Work well under pressure and manage conflicting priorities;
  • Familiarity with the context of Montenegro accession aspirations;
  • Excellent communication and inter-personal skills, particularly for building networks and partnerships;
  • Experience working in a post conflict/transitional, non-English speaking multi-cultural work environment;
  • Fluency in English language;
  • Advanced knowledge of PC-based word processing and use of internet and social media technologies, including database applications, presentation software, etc.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

International trainer on public communication through social media

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