MEASURING IMPACT Making Use of the Portfolio Organizational Learning at USAID

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information and knowledge produced by these staff could be given less-privileged status than if it came from other sources. Shared language and experience is fundamental to knowledge transfer among individuals and groups. Language and cultural barriers impede communication and increase the time required for information and knowledge to move among individuals (Weber and Camerer 2003). Language barriers can refer to differences in fluency of a common language, as in USAID where English may not be the first or second language of many staff members, but also to differences in educational or technical background. For example, sociologists, economists, and biologists may struggle to efficiently communicate highly technical information or knowledge among themselves due to differences in technical vocabulary and different perspectives on the same issue. A lack of shared experience can hinder knowledge exchange because individuals lack a common understanding as a basis for building new knowledge. When individuals share a similar language and experience base, they can communicate more efficiently and increase their expectation that knowledge transfer will bring benefits that exceed costs, and thus increase their motivation to share and absorb knowledge (Phelps, Heidl, and Wadhwa 2012). FSOs in USAID are likely to share common language and experiences among themselves and with DC-based technical staff, especially staff with common technical backgrounds. The E3 Bureau recently commissioned an assessment of USAID’s environment staff learning needs through the Environmental, Communication, Learning, and Outreach (ECO) project; the response from one Mission environment staff reported frequent trouble communicating with senior Mission leadership due to differences in technical background: I think there is a pretty significant deficiency in environmental knowledge… among senior leadership. [Mission Environment] team leaders need to justify things to these senior leaders, but they have trouble knowing the technical knowledge (e.g., biodiversity and climate change), communicating the messages, and finding the support in the absence of this. Some senior leaders are bridging that gap to know more about the environment. (ECO 2014) FSNs engaging with FSOs or FSNs from different countries may encounter language and cultural barriers. FSNs may also have difficulty exchanging knowledge with USAID counterparts in other countries due to different experience bases arising from, among other things, differences in exposure to international travel and work experience outside their own country. Motivation is also a critical factor that affects knowledge transfer. Motivation is positive when individuals expect learning to produce benefits by addressing pressing knowledge needs and when the benefits exceed the costs of learning; the greater the expected return on learning, the stronger the motivation. Formal incentives, such as recognition and rewards, increase the expected benefits for learning, and therefore, improve motivation (Fey and Furu 2008, Gupta and Govindarajan 2000). Management support for learning and learning activities positively affects the level and quality of knowledge sharing by influencing employee commitment or motivation to exchange knowledge (Lin 2007; Lee, Kim, and Kim 2006). An organizational culture of openness and trust, where staff feel psychologically safe and free to express their ideas and provide constructive feedback, can encourage learning through stronger motivation (Edmondson and Moingeon 1999). The ECO Learning Needs Assessment identified high learning need across environment sector staff for a wide range of technical subject areas on natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. Although it did not ask specifically about motivation, a number of qualitative responses in the report suggest strong underlying staff motivation to learn, but also limited ability to invest in learning activities due to institutional constraints (see section 2, USAID Peer-to-Peer Learning Efforts) and other, more time-sensitive priorities. Incorporating learning activities in Agency business processes could address some of this challenge and diminish the perception that learning is an optional activity to be addressed after completion of other tasks. Key informants interviewed about previous and ongoing Agency social learning efforts (see Section 2) described differing levels of senior leadership support for learning at Missions and Regional Bureaus, which indicates a key constraint to expanding learning efforts. In addition to 12 MEASURING IMPACT – ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AT USAID KEY CONCEPTS
dampening motivation, a lack of leadership support may also restrict staff participation and the uptake and application of new lessons. The availability of staff time to pursue knowledge exchange is a critical factor that affects an organization’s ability to learn. Knowledge cannot be exchanged unless staff can invest time in the relationships, conversations, educational tools, and documents where learning occurs (Wiersma 2007, Nohria and Gulati 1996). At USAID, limited time for knowledge exchange is a major constraint to learning; short-term priorities tend to dominate Agency staff schedules and priorities (ECO 2014). KNOWLEDGE RETENTION Moving or diffusing knowledge through an organization is not a highly valuable end in itself. To complete the knowledge transfer process, knowledge must be retained, embedded in action, and further built on in the knowledge creation process (Argote and Miron-Spektor 2011). This is the adapting stage in USAID’s Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting approach. If new knowledge is identified, but is not acted on or retained in an appropriate location, such as a community of practice or commonly used reference manual, then it is likely to be lost or ignored. One key informant in this study noted, “A lesson identified is not the same as a lesson learned” (Baquet 2014). A number of factors affect how and to what degree knowledge is retained in an organization’s knowledge base, which includes reference material and organizational systems, plus the skills, knowledge, and experience of its staff. TRANSACTIVE MEMORY Knowledge that is not embedded into actions can still be useful to the organization when it is stored for future reference or application. Knowledge need not be stored in all or even most individuals in an organizational network for it to be part of the organization’s knowledge base, as long as the location in the network is widespread knowledge. This understanding of where knowledge is stored, including who knows what, is referred to as transactive memory (Wegner 1995). Decentralized organizations such as USAID often struggle to develop effective transactive memory systems. With more than 9,000 employees, plus thousands more contractors, fellows, and interns (DOS 2014) spread across 108 regional and bilateral Missions, the challenge at USAID is especially difficult. The Agency has attempted to formalize transactive memory in tools such as the Expert Locator System, developed to help Mission and other staff locate subject matter experts in the Agency. The system has failed at widespread adoption and to stay updated as contact information changes. A new tool, My USAID, an internal social networking platform intended to facilitate connections among staff across the Agency and be a way for internal teams to share information and documents, is being implemented. Adoption of this tool has been uneven across the different operating units so far; however, many individuals and groups seem to be taking a wait-and-see strategy before integrating the tool. At present, the organizational transactive memory system functions informally, primarily through social connections. Agency staff have a good sense of who knows what among their close contacts. When expertise is needed beyond what immediate contacts can provide, staff members often seek other connections in their network. This system functions well most of the time, which may explain some of the reluctance to engage with formal transactive memory systems, such as My USAID, that might not solve a pressing or frequent need. A complementary strategy could be to develop communities of practice focused on high-interest specific topics, which would expand and improve transactive memory systems in particular areas of expertise. This approach, however, is likely to work only in areas in which members have a strong subject-matter interest. MEASURING IMPACT – ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AT USAID KEY CONCEPTS 13
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Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBR
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Learning from exp
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Page 11 and 12: Bureaus, and other partners. Staff
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Page 19 and 20: (RMPortal), 10 and users often stru
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Page 23 and 24: major threat to the functionality o
Page 25 and 26: Network, which has seven priority t
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Page 29 and 30: 3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE SOCIAL
Page 31 and 32: For example, the Combating Wildlife
Page 33 and 34: APPLICATIONS TO THE CROSS-MISSION L
Page 35 and 36: REFERENCES Almeida, P., and Bruce K
Page 37 and 38: Van Epp, M., and B. Garside. 2014.
Page 39 and 40: What action have you taken to impro

MEASURING IMPACT Making Use of the Portfolio Organizational Learning at USAID

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