5.2 Promoting IP: Hot tips

When promoting IP, you may want to consider the following important learning points from the pilots:

• Don't re-invent the wheel – identify existing networks, stakeholder and user groups with whom you can work to promote IP. Consider 'piggy-backing' on existing consultation events and opportunities for publicity offered by other stakeholder groups, to raise the profile of IP.
• Ensure that IP has strong, and clear project management arrangements – people need to know who is ultimately responsible for implementation and who can be approached for information and support. In the pilots, typically, project managers were relatively senior, or middle managers, who were then able to draw upon the administrative support and the capacity of the teams that worked for them.
• Build a wider group of 'information champions' - those who will work with the project manager to spread the practice of IPs and to persuade others to take on IP roles. Many groups in the pilots manage to engender support by involving those they regarded as most interested and involved in information-giving at the beginning on project steering groups so that they could take an active role in the project. Crucially, the champions need to be representative of the wider staff group who need to be involved.
• Use existing communication channels, formal and informal – the pilots showed that it is important to use existing staff networks, meetings and training sessions as opportunities to build-in information sharing about, or training on IP, rather than imposing new arrangements on busy staff.