What Interpol Can Teach Us About Sharing Information Across Geographically Dispersed Organizations
A simple idea global teams can learn from cross-border information sharing networks.
To many, Interpol is a mysterious international organization oozing with geopolitical intrigue, but look past the politics for a moment and think about why it was set up – to help disparate law enforcement groups around the world share useful information. For companies who need to improve how their organization shares information across offices and regions, there is a lot that can be learned by studying Interpol and their mission. How much money is lost when businesses operate in silos and don’t share key R&D or customer information or even success stories? Do Knowledge Management and even CRM platforms work across regions how the are supposed to? Technology solutions often don’t live up to the hype of sharing critical information.
This is from Interpol’s website:
“Connecting police for a safer world”
Our vision is that of a world where each and every law enforcement professional will be able through INTERPOL to securely communicate,share and access vital police information whenever and wherever needed,ensuring the safety of the world’s citizens. We constantly provide and promote innovative and cutting edge solutions to global challenges in policing and security.[i]
Could your company use something like this?
Let’s re-write the vision statement: "Connecting our offices for an integrated world"
Our vision is that of a world where each and every employee, partner and customer will be able to securely communicate, share and access vital information whenever and wherever needed, ensuring enhanced collaboration of ideas and focus on improved customer satisfaction across the globe.
How would you do it? One idea for companies looking to improve global communication would be to create an informal group of internal ‘ambassadors’ whose job is to help make their global company, well, more global. It wouldn’t require millions of dollars of annual budget to find people in each office willing to get together to help bridge these challenges. It might be as simple as a people-driven network comprised of individuals looking to share ideas but it might just get the cross-border information flowing more effectively.
[i] https://www.interpol-world.com/about-interpol-world/