An integral part of the World Scout Bureau's work is to regularly interact with and support National Scout Organizations (NSOs). Below is some guidance on ensuring that the right people are contacted within the organisations, and a record is maintained of these interactions for future reference.
Contacting National Scout Organizations
Official Contacts of NSOs are our primary point of contact between WOSM and the NSO to ensure continuity in communications. Whenever reaching out to an NSO to share information or make a request, it is important to ensure that the Official Contact is either contacted directly, informed in advance that you will be reaching out to someone in their organisation, and/or put in copy.
REMINDER: The World Scouting Directory is constantly being updated by Global, Regional or NSO Administrators. Whenever contacting an organisation, always reference the Directory for the most up to date contact details or to get the latest export.
Identifying the Official Contact of an NSO on the Directory
Recording Interactions with National Scout Organizations
As one of the main functions of the World Scout Bureau is to support NSOs in developing Scouting around the world, and because of this we often interact with NSOs through our daily work. Much of the support provided by the Bureau and the WOSM Consultants is recorded through the WOSM Services, but other interactions are critical to record for future reference. With many staff and volunteers working to support Scouting around the world, it is critical that everyone has a clear understanding on the current situation of an NSO and recent interactions which have taken place between the organisation and the Bureau. This is where the NSO data portal supports the online record keeping that all staff have access too.
Are you getting ready to go on mission to visit an NSO or maybe you want to reach out to an NSO to ask for their support in reviewing a resource? The NSO Data Portal and the interactions widget will offer you helpful information on what other colleagues have been interacting with the NSOs on and be a great reference point for alignment on how to engage with the organisation effectively.
What is an interaction?
An interaction is an important engagement that the Bureau has with an NSO which would be helpful to record for future reference or for the knowledge of other colleagues. It doesn't need to be a record of all your general emails or informal discussions, but topics of importance, updates about the organisation or support provided that is not recorded through the WOSM Services.
How to complete the interactions form on the Data Portal
Interactions that the Bureau has with NSOs are to be recorded on the NSO Data Portal at directory.scout.org/data. The interaction should be recorded shortly after an interaction is had with an organisation and can be recorded on the organisation's profile.
Keeping the interactions on the online profile of the organisation allows all other Bureau employees visibility. For matters that are confidential, the options is available and the Senior Management Team and the creator of the interactions would then only have visibility.
Examples of NSO interactions
Records of interactions with NSOs might come in different forms. Some could be as simple as copy pasting the text of a communication sent or received, and others might require a bit more details to summarise a visit to the NSO and key actions which need to be taken.
Make sure to keep the interactions concise and clear so they act as a quick reference. For interactions needing more detail or recording important information for historical purposes, the details and additional files can be stored in the World Scout Bureau Repository in the applicable country file and a reference made in the interaction.
Why is it important to record an interaction?
There are several reasons why recording an interaction with an NSO is important for the support provided by the Bureau and to uphold the values we carry through our work.
- Making the support to NSOs more aligned and effective across the Bureau
- Providing transparency and visibility for other colleagues
- Clearly outlining important information of organisations and what interactions have been had with them
- Maintaining the Data Portal as a central location to access up to date information on an organisation
- Retaining a historical record
- Supporting a culture of knowledge sharing
- Remaining accountable to our membership and stakeholders
Step by step tutorial on using the NSO Interactions Widget