Inspired by ISSofBC’s core values, Carolina Basso, Research Analyst for Settlement Services, decided to apply her creativity to a new project and has developed an innovative resource to help ISSofBC staff become better informed about ISSofBC’s different programs.
This work led to the creation of a new Service Map that will help our staff to refer clients to services across our Employment, Language and Settlement programs. Stay tuned for further updates on this exciting new project! Read below to learn why Carolina created this new tool and how she hopes it will help support newcomers arriving in British Columbia in the future.
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“We work with purpose, aspire to improve, and cultivate belonging.” When I heard those guiding principles, I felt inspired to test and implement an original resource that could encourage learning across the organization. I wanted to make a meaningful contribution to our work, but I knew it would require a great deal of study and perseverance to put it together. Nevertheless, I’m excited to tell you more about this project below!
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When I was given the creative freedom from my managers to update ISSofBC’s Service Listing documents, I began to brainstorm the different ways that information about ISSofBC’s programs could be made easily accessible to staff. I saw this task as an opportunity to innovate and create something useful for everyone in the organization, regardless of their job position, seniority, or technical skills.
It was clear to me that if we all had a more complete understanding of ISSofBC’s numerous services, locations, and internal practices, we could all better serve our clients and make more effective referrals. Therefore, it became my personal ambition to fill knowledge gaps within our teams so each of us could connect with the larger aim of the organization rather than just our individual teams, departments, or offices.
Nonetheless, my ambitious goal was complicated by the large amount of information which needed to be included. ISSofBC has 10 departments, over 400 staff, 30 different service offerings, and 40 languages spoken among staff. That is an overwhelming amount of information to put in a single document! I soon realized that this material would have to be interactive and include hyperlinks and visual elements. Put simply, it needed to be complex but not complicated; rich, yet straightforward. Then it came to me: a virtual map!
While I was happy with this idea, I wasn’t sure about its practicality, or even how to design it. My background is in International Relations and Sociology, so I have limited coding and software knowledge – I’m more of a tech enthusiast than an expert! Still, I am an experienced researcher and lifelong learner so I felt that, if I could imagine it, I could create it!
I started researching mapping software and picked up a bit of coding along the way. I reached out to Marketing & Communications for the background image, and contacted Managers, Directors, Service Coordinators, and Front-Line Workers to collect information and understand what features would be most useful to them. Needless to say, I learned a lot about our organization through this process as I assessed every element of ISSofBC’s work and began piecing it all together. As expected, there were some pieces that didn’t fit well with the scope of the map. Still, every challenge prompted me to persevere and overcome.
Undoubtedly, learning is a big part of any job and while I was aware that some issues could only be resolved by coding experts, if there is anything that working with Settlement Services has taught me it is that there are always workable solutions. I even turned to web forums and online communities for suggestions on how to troubleshoot the software and kept trying to eliminate the issues myself. I was determined to present something that lived up to my vision of what this project could be.
After some frustrating attempts, I decided to reach out to MindManager’s Technical Support. After pretending to understand the explanation of a few MindManager Engineers, they confirmed that there was indeed a glitch in their software. While their team is still working on fixing this issue now, I am proud of myself for pursuing this to the maximum extent possible.
I’m happy to announce that staff can now refer to this map for a comprehensive and continuously updated overview of ISSofBC’s many programs across BC.
I hope that my passion for increased team collaboration comes across in this new tool and that it brings everyone closer together. Knowledge is power and we are stronger together!
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Thank you Carolina, for all your amazing work on this project! Be sure to explore our other inspiring Stories of Hope and Learning below!
