## _063014 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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---

### Overview and purpose
- Purpose: review of the IMF’s Communications Strategy as the Fund responds to post-crisis challenges and a “hyper-connected” world.
- Objectives of evolved communications: 
  - better explain the IMF’s policies and operations;
  - better enable participation in intellectual debate on important economic issues;
  - better facilitate two-way learning and dialogue with the IMF’s global membership.
- Governance context:
  - Communications role recognized in the 2011 Triennial Surveillance Review (TSR) and a 2013 IEO assessment.
  - Current review occurs as new influencers (private sector networks, civil society organizations, social media users) and speed of communication become more important.

### Guiding framework and principles
- Executive Board framework (2007) based on four principles:
  - (i) deepening understanding and support for the Fund’s role and policies;
  - (ii) better integrating communications into the IMF’s daily operations;
  - (iii) raising the impact of new communications materials and technologies;
  - (iv) rebalancing outreach efforts to take account of different audiences.
- Emphasis on strengthening internal communications to ensure institutional coherence.

### Evolution, context, and challenges
- Shift from transparency to active engagement, listening, and two-way interactions.
- Crisis-driven needs: increased explanation of new programs and unprecedented lending support and outreach.
- Technology and audience metrics preserved from source:
  - 75 percent of the global population now has access to mobile phones to send and receive information.
  - there are over 1.5 billion social media users worldwide.
  - Over two decades of transparency reforms have led to over 90 percent of country documents and policy papers now published.
- Resulting dynamics: accelerated news cycle and emergence of new influencers (coalitions and networks of CSOs, activists, youth, social media users).

### Priority areas requiring further attention
- Three priorities identified:
  - ensure clarity and consistency in communications, including more clearly distinguishing official Fund views from those of staff;
  - measure the impact of IMF communications to better inform future efforts;
  - engage strategically and prudently with new media, including social media.

### Implementation, resource constraints, and cost-effectiveness
- Role distribution:
  - Communications increasingly integrated with operations; most Fund departments engaged in outreach; Communications Department (COM) plays a stronger coordinating role.
- Resource trends:
  - COM’s resources (staff and budget) have remained roughly constant since 2007 despite significant increase in output and workload.
  - COM's budget is currently about 3.4 percent of the Fund’s total administrative budget and projected to remain relatively unchanged through FY17.
- Cost-management measures:
  - exploit innovation in technologies;
  - shift costs from lower- to higher-priority activities;
  - maintain cost-effectiveness efforts going forward.

### Measures taken to integrate and support communications
- Coordination and tools:
  - Departmental tailored communications strategies integrated into work programs and accountability frameworks.
  - Increased communications training for mission chiefs and resident representatives, including platform-specific training (including social media).
  - 2009 “toolkit” providing up-to-date information on key Fund issues, topical presentations, and Q&A.
  - 2013 institution-wide outreach database to strengthen coordination and assess outreach cost-effectiveness.
  - Bi-weekly press conferences to convey established lines on key topics and aid coordination.
  - Crisis communication mechanisms in place (see Appendix II).

### Expected test of the strategy
- Ultimate test:
  - strengthened effectiveness of the Fund’s work;
  - increased support for the IMF’s mission in serving its membership.

---

### Major Regional Conferences as Outreach Vehicles
- Purpose: demonstrate the Fund as a learning and inclusive institution with convening power for policy makers, international experts, and non-government stakeholders.
- Recent/referenced conferences: Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (2009); Daejeon, Korea (2012); Amman, Jordan (May 11-12, 2014); Maputo, Mozambique (May 29-30, 2014); planned Santiago, Chile (December 2014).

- Amman, Jordan (May 11-12, 2014) — "Building the Future"
  - Target: region where the Fund is often perceived relatively less favorably; tone of listening and engagement.
  - Participation: some 300 participants; 16 high-level delegations; about half participants from CSOs, youth, parliamentarians, academics, media.
  - Communications: blogs and op-eds (including Arabic), background paper, Managing Director speech, Facebook campaign for Arabic youth; extensive and generally positive traditional and social media coverage.
  - Post-conference focus: deepen traction of policy agenda at country level and with specific groups (youth, parliamentarians).

- Maputo, Mozambique (May 29-30, 2014) — "Africa Rising"
  - Purpose: deepen partnership with Africa; follow up on 2009 Tanzania Conference; discuss Africa’s performance and policy challenges.
  - Participation: about 1,000 participants; more than 150 journalists.
  - Communications: country conferences (Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon), management visits (Mali, Kenya, Ghana), conference websites in English/Portuguese/French, youth photo contest, online videos; extensive and generally positive regional and global media coverage.
  - Post-conference focus: continue Fund policy discussions at country level.

- Santiago, Chile (December 2014) — Planned Latin America Regional Conference
  - Purpose: part of work program leading up to 2015 Annual Meetings in Peru; focus on managing risks from changing global environment and sharing benefits of growth.
  - Preparatory outreach: more frequent Management and senior staff visits; participation in conferences and university events.

- Digital platforms and multilingual products
  - Online media briefing center reaches 7,000 journalists in real time.
  - imf.org described as modern, multi-lingual; mobile-friendly imf.org a high priority and expected soon.
  - Apps include: Apps for the 2013 Annual and 2014 Spring meetings, Finance and Development magazine, IMF eLibrary and data on the Fund’s finances.
  - LOE availability: main publications, web pages, press releases, Survey stories, videos, podcasts, blogs and Twitter feeds now available in LOEs; steps to sustain translation quality and focus LOE content where demand is high.

- Internal digital engagement metrics
  - Unique visits to the top 400 intranet news pages rose by 11 percent to 172,658 in 2013 vs prior year.
  - Reader ratings rose by 30 percent and reader comments increased by 23 percent.
  - Intranet named among the Top 10 Best Intranets in the World in 2013 by Nielsen Norman Group.

### Rebalancing outreach and engaging new constituencies
- Outreach expansion:
  - Staff missions regularly meet with CSOs, labor groups, and other stakeholders and incorporate views into policy discussions.
  - Management, senior staff, and Executive Directors increased engagement recognizing constituencies’ influence.
- Specific programs:
  - CSO Fellowship Program: forum during Spring and Annual meetings with youth leaders, seminars, town halls, meetings with Executive Directors, bilateral meetings with IMF staff, Civil Society Policy Forum participation.
  - Regular meetings with ITUC, ILO, Members of Parliament (Parliamentary Network).
  - Increasing interactions with youth and women groups during Management visits.
- Coordination:
  - Major outreach activities involve consultation with country authorities and application of departmental communications strategies and outreach database to support customization.

### Areas identified for strengthening Fund communications (detailed actions)
- Clarity and consistency:
  - Strengthened inter-departmental coordination of flagship reports (e.g., WEO, GFSR, FM including through joint presentations to the Board).
  - More cross-departmental sharing of communications objectives and plans via accountability frameworks.
  - Fund-wide outreach database proving helpful.
  - Clearer, more concise executive summaries; work on improving Article IV reports.
  - Greater use of shorter documents accompanying key reports (online summaries, Survey stories, blogs).
  - Improved LOE timeliness and accuracy; compile country-specific specialized vocabularies; enhance LOE user interaction.
  - Increase focus on key external messages in major policy documents so the Board is apprised in advance.

- End-of-mission staff statements (proposed clarifications)
  - Standardized text box at top of published statements to clarify whose views are represented (example: concluding statements represent preliminary staff views subject to Board discussion and decision).
  - Prefer publishing either a concluding statement or a press release at mission end, but not both; exception if authorities have not decided on publication of concluding statement.
  - Style guidance: be succinct and concise; press releases normally 1-2 pages in accessible language.
  - Expected outcome: strengthen clarity and consistency of end-of-mission communications.

### Attribution of views in publications
- Actions underway:
  - Revise cover pages to include clearer explanatory boxes stating purpose, preparer, Board presentation status, and whose views are represented.
  - Translate cover-page boxes into LOEs where relevant.
  - Apply clear attributions consistently across staff-level paper types (SDNs, IMF Working Papers, Departmental papers, Occasional papers, Technical Notes and Manuals, books).

### Improving impact analysis and measurement of communications
- Challenges: measuring communications impact is complex (gauging sentiment, disentangling communications effects from underlying substance).
- Recent tracking efforts:
  - Increased tracking of media indicators, web and social media metrics, and impact of major outreach events/products.
  - Several communications analyses and opinion studies conducted.
- Specific surveys/studies (metrics preserved):
  - imf.org survey: latest survey received responses from 1800 web users; 84 percent of respondents indicated they could find the information they were looking for.
  - Media Analysis: latest global media analysis conducted in 2012 covering influential press in some 30 countries; main takeaway: coverage generally factual and objective with regional variation; research suggests concerns about evenhandedness.
  - Publications analysis: 2013 survey of over 50,000 users on eLibrary found majority access Fund publications and data at least on a monthly basis; users particularly interested in data, the WEO and Working Papers; books and occasional papers accessed less frequently; users want enhanced search capabilities.
  - CSO survey: conducted in 2013 with about 1,500 CSOs worldwide; emphasized need for active, open, ongoing engagement, early dialogue and follow-up.
  - Internal Communications survey: conducted in 2014; staff felt information flow improving and trust in intranet content high; need for enhanced communications on HR, policies and strategy.
  - Recent Global Opinion Research: preliminary headline findings — Fund perceived as one of the most effective international organizations and responsive to the recent crisis; especially valued for high-quality data, research and policy advice, and role in promoting global financial stability; perceived as less effective in promoting jobs and growth, in helping individual countries avoid crises, and in treating all members in an evenhanded manner; overall communications quality and timeliness strong; most respondents would like even more information from the IMF.
- Planned analytical improvements:
  - Use social media and text analytics software for metrics and frameworks.
  - Leverage abundant and frequent communications data for high-frequency analysis.
  - Develop metrics to facilitate comparisons across time and deeper diagnostics.
- Caution from Executive Board: explain and clarify the Fund’s role while recognizing communications cannot substitute for underlying policy.

### Engaging strategically with new media
- Opportunities:
  - New media reach broader audiences faster, facilitate two-way dialogue and active listening.
  - Social media coverage of major events and reports has increased and in some cases is replacing traditional media coverage.
- Examples and metrics:
  - iMFdirect blog: readership quadrupled to surpass 1.5 million views; LOE versions in Arabic and Spanish; named among top 40 most influential economic blogs in 2013 by Onalytica.
  - Institutional Twitter account (@IMFNews): grown to over 300,000 followers.
  - Managing Director’s Sina Weibo account: currently reaches over 4.5 million Chinese followers.
  - Fund active on multimedia platforms such as Flikr and Youtube; exploring Google Plus, Linkedin, and Google Hangout.
- Pilots and guidance:
  - Twitter pilot for resident representatives in South Africa, Peru, India, and Pakistan (2013) and for new office in Brussels.
  - Pilot findings: Twitter useful for broader outreach; tone generally factual; requires active engagement, topical/timely content, responsiveness, close coordination with HQ, and proper resourcing.
  - COM preparing guidelines on engagement in consultation with other departments.
- Strategic stance: measured, calibrated expansion of new media following careful oversight.

### Implementation, resources and efficiency measures
- Organizational approach: communications implemented efficiently and cost-effectively in partnership between departments and COM; coordination tools include departmental strategies, communications toolkit, outreach database.
- Resource projections and constraints:
  - COM’s FY15 budget of $35 million projected to increase to $36.5 million in FY17.
  - Regular staff positions would remain constant at about 86.
  - COM's budget currently about 3.4 percent of the Fund’s total administrative budget; projected to remain relatively unchanged through FY17.
- Reallocation examples and efficiency:
  - Shift from mass printing to digitization; publications staff and budget reduced by about 50 percent to free resources for outreach, social media, internal communications.
  - Further technical innovation and online surveys expected to enhance cost rationalization.
- Box 3 — Streamlining Communications (implemented measures):
  - Digitization of most Fund publications and elimination of mass printings.
  - Move to IMF Survey online and discontinuation of print distribution.
  - Discontinuation of IMF Staff News in favor of online intranet news.
  - Replacement of numerous daily news summaries by the IMF News Report.
  - Rationalization of seminars (including at Annual and Spring meetings).
  - More strategic, selective approach to book publications via a Fund-wide publications advisory board.

### COM outreach assessment and objectives
- COM, with the Office of Budget and Planning (OBP), plans to assess effectiveness of major outreach activities using the outreach database later this year.
- Objective: analyze cost and impact measures in the database to better assess and prioritize institutional outreach and improve cost-effectiveness.
- Expected outputs:
  - identify communications areas and products that could be streamlined;
  - identify activities where resources from less-effective activities could be redeployed.

### Conclusions, governance, and review cycle
- Evidence from TSR, IEO report, surveys and opinion research suggests enhanced openness, transparency and strategic engagement improved the Fund’s effectiveness, notably during the global financial crisis.
- The 2007 Board framework enabled flexible response to a rapidly changing context.
- Remaining scope: improve clarity and consistency, strengthen impact assessment, engage more strategically with new media.
- Proposed governance change: more frequent formal reviews of the communications strategy by the Executive Board, potentially coinciding with reviews of the Fund’s Transparency Policy, and informal annual updates incorporating impact assessments and survey results.
- Issues posed to Directors:
  - endorsement of implementation direction;
  - views on proposals to strengthen clarity/consistency, impact assessments, and new media engagement;
  - agreement on more regular formal reviews with informal annual updates.

### Key COM outputs and metrics (Appendix I highlights)
- 2013 annual figures and digital metrics:
  - IMF Survey: 890,000 views
  - Finance & Development (F&D): 1.5 million views
  - Videos: 540,000 views
  - Blogs: 550,000 views
  - Factsheets: 1.2 million views
  - Podcasts: 90,000 followers
  - imf.org average monthly visits: 1.325 million
  - Items posted in 2013: more than 7,300
  - Twitter followers for IMF accounts (English and LOEs) as of January 2014: 358,470
  - Sina Weibo account (China): over 4.5 million followers
  - Issued 622 press releases in 2013; arranged 40 Management interviews; managed some 60 press conferences and conference calls at HQ; produced about 40 videos.
  - Public Affairs: over 300 briefings/meetings and the Civic and Community Program raised over 1 million dollars in 2013 for charities.

### Legal and authority framework (Appendices V and related)
- Publication authority grounded in Articles of Agreement (Article XII Sections 7 and 8) and Executive Board delegation.
- Rule N-5 requires “express authorization” of the Managing Director for staff to publish certain documents or make public communications; management has delegated express authorization to the Director of COM and heads of department via GAO 34 and Staff Bulletin 05/9.
- Concluding statements and end-of-mission press releases:
  - Describe preliminary staff findings; views expressed are those of IMF staff and do not necessarily represent IMF management or the Executive Board; staff reports based on preliminary findings are subject to management approval and Board consideration.

*Source: Review of the IMF’s Communications Strategy (content unit provided).*

### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

### _063014 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

### Overview and purpose
- The IMF’s Communications Strategy has evolved over the past decade from increased transparency to more proactive engagement with the media and other stakeholders to:
  - better explain the IMF’s policies and operations;
  - better enable the IMF to participate in, and contribute to, intellectual debate on important economic issues; and
  - better facilitate two-way learning and dialogue with the IMF’s global membership.
- The communications role was recognized in the 2011 Triennial Surveillance Review (TSR) and in a 2013 assessment of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), which noted the Fund is now viewed by its membership as more open, listening, and responsive.
- The current review of the Fund’s communications strategy occurs as the IMF responds to new challenges after the global financial crisis and engages in a “hyper-connected” world that reaches new influencers (private sector networks, civil society organizations, social media users) and places a premium on speed of communication.

### Guiding framework and principles
- The Executive Board established the communications framework in 2007 based on four guiding principles:
  - (i) deepening understanding and support for the Fund’s role and policies;
  - (ii) better integrating communications into the IMF’s daily operations;
  - (iii) raising the impact of new communications materials and technologies; and
  - (iv) rebalancing outreach efforts to take account of different audiences.
- Greater emphasis has been placed on strengthening internal communications to ensure institutional coherence in outreach activities.

### Evolution, context, and challenges
- The Fund’s communications have shifted from transparency (more public access to information) to active engagement, listening, and two-way interactions to account for stakeholder views and explain policies and operations.
- The global financial crisis increased the need for clear explanation of new programs and policies and prompted unprecedented lending support and outreach.
- Technology and audience changes cited in the summary:
  - 75 percent of the global population now has access to mobile phones to send and receive information.
  - there are over 1.5 billion social media users worldwide.
  - Over two decades of transparency reforms have led to over 90 percent of country documents and policy papers now published.
- These developments have accelerated the news cycle and introduced new influencers (coalitions and networks of civil society organizations, activists, youth, social media users), creating both challenges and opportunities for Fund communications.

### Areas requiring further attention (priorities)
- The review identifies three priority areas to strengthen communications:
  - take further steps to ensure clarity and consistency in communications, including more clearly distinguishing official Fund views from those of staff;
  - do more to measure the impact of IMF communications so as to better inform future efforts;
  - engage strategically and prudently with new media, including social media.

### Implementation, resource constraints, and cost-effectiveness
- Communications is increasingly integrated with operations; most Fund departments are engaged in outreach, while the Communications Department (COM) plays a stronger coordinating role.
- Despite a significant increase in output and workload since 2007, COM’s resources (staff and budget) have remained roughly constant since 2007.
- The resource-constrained environment has been managed by:
  - taking advantage of innovation in technologies; and
  - shifting costs from lower- to higher-priority activities.
- These cost-effectiveness efforts will be maintained going forward.

### Measures taken to integrate and support communications
- Coordination and tools:
  - Departmental tailored communications strategies have been developed and integrated into work programs and accountability frameworks.
  - Communications training has been increased for mission chiefs and resident representatives, including more tailored training on different platforms (including social media).
  - A “toolkit” launched in 2009 provides up-to-date information on key Fund issues and messages, topical presentations, and questions and answers.
  - An institution-wide outreach database introduced in 2013 aims to strengthen coordination and facilitate assessment of outreach cost-effectiveness.
  - The IMF’s bi-weekly press conferences convey established lines on key topics and aid coordination and consistency.
  - Mechanisms to coordinate communications across the Fund in crisis situations are in place (Appendix II).

### Expected test of the strategy
- The ultimate test of the Communications Strategy will be:
  - strengthened effectiveness of the Fund’s work; and
  - increased support for its mission in serving its membership.

*EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, June 30, 2014.*

### Box 2. Major Regional Conferences as Outreach Vehicles

### Box 2. Major Regional Conferences as Outreach Vehicles

### Overview
- Fund staff, led by area departments in partnership with COM, organized major regional conferences to demonstrate the Fund as a learning and inclusive institution with convening power to assemble top-level policy makers, international experts, and non-government stakeholders.
- Recent major conferences referenced: Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (2009); Daejeon, Korea (2012); Amman, Jordan (May 11-12, 2014); Maputo, Mozambique (May 29-30, 2014); and a planned conference in Santiago, Chile (December 2014).

### Amman, Jordan (May 11-12, 2014) — "Building the Future"
- Purpose and context:
  - Targeted a region where the Fund is often perceived relatively less favorably.
  - Aimed to be inclusive and to reinforce a tone of listening and engagement.
- Participation and representation:
  - Some 300 participants.
  - Representation across countries: 16 high-level delegations.
  - Participant composition: about half were from CSOs, youth, parliamentarians, academics, media.
- Communications and outreach activities:
  - Communications plan included a series of blogs and op-eds (also in Arabic), the launch of a background paper, a major curtain raising speech by the Managing Director, and a Facebook campaign for Arabic youth.
  - Traditional and social media coverage was extensive and generally positive.
  - Post-conference communications focused on deepening traction of the policy agenda at the country level and with specific groups (for example, youth, parliamentarians).

### Maputo, Mozambique (May 29-30, 2014) — "Africa Rising"
- Purpose and context:
  - Deepened the Fund’s partnership with Africa and followed up on the 2009 Tanzania Conference.
  - Offered a platform to discuss Africa’s strong economic performance and key policy challenges, in an open forum aimed at developing solutions.
- Participation and representation:
  - About 1,000 participants.
  - Brought together policymakers from Africa and beyond, as well as private sector, civil society, parliamentarians and academics.
  - More than 150 journalists participated.
- Communications and outreach activities:
  - Lead-up elements included country conferences (Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon); management visits (Mali, Kenya, Ghana); a high-level seminar during the Spring Meetings.
  - Conference websites in English, Portuguese and French; high-profile media interviews; a youth photo contest; online videos to build understanding and provide a platform for policy discussions.
  - Media coverage was extensive and generally positive regionally and globally.
  - Website traffic was substantial and social media engagement was extensive.
  - Post-conference outreach focused on continuing Fund policy discussions at the country level.

### Santiago, Chile (December 2014) — Planned Latin America Regional Conference
- Purpose:
  - Part of the Fund’s work program leading up to the 2015 Annual Meetings in Peru.
  - Will focus on managing risks to the region posed by the changing global environment, and sharing the benefits of growth more broadly.
- Preparatory outreach:
  - Comprehensive outreach effort includes more frequent Management and senior staff visits to Latin America, and participation in conferences, university events, and other outreach activities to strengthen engagement and understanding of the Fund’s work and policies in the region.

### Digital platforms, media reach, and communications products
- Digital reach and tools:
  - Through an online media briefing center, the Fund now reaches 7,000 journalists all over the world in real time.
  - imf.org described as a modern, multi-lingual website with user-friendly access to policies, reports, IMF Survey stories, factsheets, videos; desktop and laptop remain primary tools for online searches, but mobile devices are gaining ground fast.
  - Apps launched include: Apps for the 2013 Annual and 2014 Spring meetings, Finance and Development magazine, IMF eLibrary and data on the Fund’s finances.
  - Developing a mobile-friendly imf.org site is a high priority and is expected to become available soon.
- Publications and Languages Other than English (LOE):
  - Main publications (WEO, summaries of GFSR/FM, REOs, the Annual Report and Finance and Development magazine), web pages, press releases, online Survey stories, videos, podcasts, blogs and Twitter feeds are now available in LOEs.
  - Steps being taken to ensure sustained quality of translation and focus LOE content where demand is high and needs are most pressing.
- Intranet and internal digital engagement:
  - Unique visits to the top 400 intranet news pages rose by 11 percent to 172,658 in 2013 compared with the previous year.
  - Ratings posted by readers rose by 30 percent and reader comments increased by 23 percent.
  - The Fund’s Intranet was named among the Top 10 Best Intranets in the World in 2013 by the Nielsen Norman Group.

### Rebalancing outreach and engaging new constituencies
- OIA review finding:
  - The Fund’s framework for outreach is consistent with the comparators surveyed.
- Expanded interlocutors and engagement channels:
  - Staff missions now regularly meet with civil society organizations (CSOs), labor groups, and other stakeholders and take their views into account in policy discussions.
  - Management, senior staff, and Executive Directors have increased engagement with these constituencies recognizing their influential role.
- Specific programs and interactions:
  - CSO Fellowship Program provides a forum during the Spring and Annual meetings for CSOs to engage, discuss, and help shape policies; includes youth leaders and offers seminars, town halls, meetings with Executive Directors, bilateral meetings with IMF staff, and participation in the Civil Society Policy Forum.
  - Regular meetings with International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC), International Labor Organization (ILO), and Members of Parliament (including via the Parliamentary Network).
  - Increasing interactions with youth and women groups, especially during Management visits to member countries.
- Coordination and customization:
  - When conducting major outreach activities, staff consult with country authorities, consider country-specific circumstances, and aim to ensure communications are coordinated and strategic across countries and regions.
  - Departmental communications strategies and an outreach database support customized efforts.

### Areas identified for strengthening Fund communications
- Three priority areas for improvement:
  - First, take further steps to ensure clarity and consistency in an environment where rapid and proactive communications are at a premium and demand for Fund services continues to rise.
  - Second, do more to assess the impact of Fund communications to help measure their effectiveness and better inform communications going forward.
  - Third, engage more with new media, taking advantage of opportunities from rapidly evolving technologies, while being strategic and prudent in guarding against potential risks.
- Actions taken or proposed to improve clarity and consistency:
  - Strengthened inter-departmental coordination of flagship reports (e.g., WEO, GFSR, FM—including through joint presentations to the Board).
  - More cross-departmental sharing of communications objectives and plans, including through the accountability framework process.
  - A new Fund-wide outreach database proving helpful.
  - Clearer and more concise executive summaries of documents, including work on improving Article IV reports.
  - Greater use of shorter documents to accompany key reports (e.g., online summaries, Survey stories, blogs) to emphasize key information in accessible language.
  - Ensuring LOE content is timely and accurate, compiling country-specific specialized vocabularies, and enhancing interaction with LOE users for feedback.
  - Increasing focus on key external messages in major policy documents so the Board is apprised in advance of major public pronouncements.

### Staff statements at the conclusion of missions
- Importance and role:
  - Public statements by staff at the conclusion of missions convey key preliminary findings, help avoid misunderstandings, and build early understanding of the IMF’s role and policies in member countries.
  - Country authorities find press conferences held by staff at the end of Article IV missions useful.
  - End-of-mission communications represent preliminary staff views that feed into a staff report for Management review and eventual Board consideration.
- Current practices:
  - Concluding statements are prepared by staff at the end of missions (most commonly Article IV missions) to convey key findings to the authorities; they become public when posted on the IMF’s web site with authorities' consent.
  - Press releases are issued by staff at the end of missions—typically for lending arrangements—to convey key preliminary policy understandings reached with authorities.
  - Both concluding statements and press releases are often translated in local languages to foster understanding of discussions and preliminary findings.

*Source: Box 2. Major Regional Conferences as Outreach Vehicles (extracted from the provided IMF content).*

### 14.      The following steps are proposed to further enhance the clarity of end-of-mission staff

### _063014 - 14.      The following steps are proposed to further enhance the clarity of end-of-mission staff

### End-of-mission staff statements: clarity and consistency
- Proposed standardized measures to clarify views and status of end-of-mission statements:
  - Include a standardized text box at the top of published statements to clarify whose views are represented (example for Article IV missions: published concluding statements will clarify that they represent the preliminary views of staff, and that these views are subject to Board discussion and decision).
- Guidance to minimize mixed messages at mission end:
  - Prefer publishing either a concluding statement or a press release at the end of a staff mission, but not both; a single end-of-mission public communication minimizes the risk of diffusing key messages.
  - Exception: a press release may be warranted in addition to a concluding statement when authorities have not taken a decision on publication of the concluding statement at mission end; the press release allows timely communication to media before the concluding statement becomes available.
- Guidance on style and length:
  - Public statements at end-of-missions should be as succinct and concise as possible, with accessible language articulating missions’ central messages.
  - Press releases normally should be 1-2 pages, focusing on key messages in language accessible to the general public.
- Expected outcome:
  - These measures should help strengthen the clarity and consistency of statements at the conclusion of staff missions.

### Attribution of views in Fund publications
- Rationale:
  - Documents vary widely in purpose and represent different institutional levels of views: Board-discussed country reports and policy papers; documents for informal Executive Director meetings or for Board information; staff-level papers covering policy-related analysis and research.
- Actions underway:
  - Revise cover pages of publications to include clearer and more prominently placed explanatory boxes.
  - Cover-page boxes will convey: purpose of the paper; who prepared it; whether it was presented to the Board for discussion or decision; whose views are being represented.
  - Where relevant, cover-page boxes will be translated into languages other than English.
- Note on staff-level papers:
  - Staff-level papers include Staff Discussion Notes (SDNs), IMF Working Papers, Departmental papers, Occasional papers, Technical Notes and Manuals, and books; these already include clear attributions and efforts will be made to apply them consistently.

### Improving impact analysis and measurement of communications
- Importance and challenges:
  - Impact assessment is important to guide Fund communications over time but measuring communications impact is complex (gauging sentiment and disentangling communications effects from underlying substance).
  - Executive Directors have indicated more should be done to seek views of key external audiences and determine, evidence-based, which communications are most effective.
- Recent tracking and analytical efforts:
  - Increased staff effort to track media indicators, web and social media metrics, and impact of major outreach events and products (e.g., Annual Meetings and major conferences).
  - A number of communications analyses and opinion studies have been conducted recently covering a broad range of issues.
- Specific surveys and studies (findings and metrics preserved as in source):
  - Imf.org survey:
    - Surveys are regularly conducted to garner feedback on the Fund’s external website.
    - The latest survey received responses from 1800 web users.
    - Responses suggest need to tailor web content more to meet demand (e.g., country pages and data), reach broader audience groups (e.g., women and youth), and further develop Apps for mobile devices.
  - Media Analysis:
    - Latest global media analysis was conducted in 2012 and covered influential press in some 30 countries.
    - Main takeaway: coverage appears generally factual and objective, with some variations across regions; research suggests concerns about evenhandedness.
  - Publications analysis:
    - COM regularly tracks demand and readership of Fund publications.
    - The 2013 survey of over 50,000 users on eLibrary found majority access Fund publications and data at least on a monthly basis; users are particularly interested in data, the WEO and Working Papers; books and occasional papers accessed less frequently; users want enhanced search capabilities.
    - Readership via imf.org and eLibrary has been strong.
    - In imf.org survey, 84 percent of respondents indicated they could find the information they were looking for.
  - CSO survey:
    - Conducted in 2013 with about 1,500 CSOs worldwide; results emphasized need for active, open and ongoing engagement, early dialogue and follow-up on feedback.
  - Internal Communications survey:
    - Conducted in 2014; staff felt information flow within institution is improving and trust in accuracy of intranet content is high; indicated need for enhanced communications on key issues including Human Resources, and on policies and strategy.
  - Recent Global Opinion Research:
    - Undertaken very recently by an independent consulting firm; preliminary headline findings: Fund perceived as one of the most effective international organizations and had responded well to the recent crisis; especially valued for high-quality data, research and policy advice, and role in promoting global financial stability.
    - Perceived as less effective in promoting jobs and growth, in helping individual countries avoid crises, and in treating all members in an evenhanded manner.
    - Overall quality and effectiveness of IMF communications found to be strong in range and timeliness; most respondents would like to receive even more information from the IMF.
    - Additional analysis of results is still underway.
- Planned analytical improvements:
  - Use new analytical tools and software (e.g., social media and text analytics software) to develop metrics and frameworks for better analyzing communications.
  - Leverage more abundant and frequent communications data for high-frequency analysis.
  - Develop metrics to facilitate comparison across time and deepen diagnostics.
- Caution:
  - Expectations of what communications can and cannot do must be realistic; as Executive Board emphasized, need to “explain and clarify better the role of the Fund, while noting that good communications cannot substitute for the underlying policy”.

### Engaging strategically with new media
- Opportunities:
  - New media tools provide opportunity to reach broader audiences faster, facilitate two-way dialogue, enable active listening, feedback and engagement on key issues.
  - Social media coverage of major events and reports has increased and in some cases is replacing traditional media coverage.
  - Apps and other new media platforms offer additional engagement opportunities.
- Examples and metrics:
  - iMFdirect blog (established in 2009):
    - Readership quadrupled and now surpasses 1.5 million views.
    - LOE versions developed (in Arabic and Spanish).
    - iMFdirect named among the top 40 most influential economic blogs in 2013 by Onalytica.
  - Institutional Twitter account (@IMFNews): grown to over 300,000 followers.
  - Managing Director’s Sina Weibo account: currently reaches over 4.5 million Chinese followers.
  - Fund active on multimedia platforms such as Flikr and Youtube; exploring/using Google Plus, Linkedin, and Google Hangout.
- Guidance and pilot experiences:
  - Expansion of social media must ensure message coherence, effective monitoring and two-way engagement, adequate support and training.
  - Pilot: Twitter accounts for resident representatives in four countries (South Africa, Peru, India, and Pakistan) established in 2013; a twitter account also recently opened for new office in Brussels.
  - Pilot findings: Twitter useful for broader outreach; tone generally factual; requires active engagement, topical/timely content, responsiveness, close coordination with headquarters, and proper resourcing.
  - COM preparing guidelines on engagement in consultation with other departments, taking best practices into consideration.
- Strategic approach:
  - Continue measured, calibrated expansion of new media, following past careful oversight (e.g., experience with blogs).

### Implementation, resources and cost-effectiveness
- Organizational approach:
  - Communications strategy implemented in an efficient and cost-effective manner; much of communications carried out by departments in partnership with COM.
  - Efforts to enhance Fund-wide efficiency: close coordination between COM and other departments, integrating communications and operations (departmental communications strategies, communications toolkit, outreach database).
- Resource trends and constraints:
  - COM’s resources (staff and budget) have remained broadly constant in real terms since 2007, while output and workload increased.
  - COM's budget (currently about 3.4 percent of the Fund’s total administrative budget) is projected to remain relatively unchanged through FY17.
  - Regular staff positions projected to remain constant through FY17.
  - Tight budget scenario requires trade-offs and close review of resource needs.
- Reallocation and efficiency measures:
  - COM aims to reallocate resources from lower-priority activities to higher-priority areas supporting the communications strategy.
  - Example reallocation: dramatic shift from mass printing to digitization; publications staff and budget reduced by about 50 percent, freeing resources for outreach to new audiences, social media, and internal communications.
  - Increased cost rationalization expected through further technical innovation (e.g., conducting surveys increasingly online).
- Box 3 — Streamlining Communications (implemented efficiency measures):
  - Move to digitization of most Fund publications and elimination of mass printings.
  - Move to IMF Survey online and discontinuation of print distribution.
  - Discontinuation of IMF Staff News—and move to online intranet news.
  - Replacement of numerous daily news summaries through the more timely and streamlined IMF News Report.
  - Rationalization of seminars (including at the Annual and Spring meetings).
  - A more strategic, selective, and streamlined approach to book publications (through establishment of a Fund-wide publications advisory board).

*Source: REVIEW OF THE IMF’S COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY (excerpt).*

### 29.      In addition, COM plans to undertake, in conjunction with the Office of Budget and

### _063014 - 29.      In addition, COM plans to undertake, in conjunction with the Office of Budget and

### COM outreach assessment and objectives
- COM plans, in conjunction with the Office of Budget and Planning (OBP), to undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of the Fund’s major outreach activities later this year using the recently introduced outreach database.
- Objective: analyze the cost and impact measures in the database to better assess and prioritize institutional outreach, with a view to making it even more cost-effective.
- Improved impact analysis expected to:
  - Help identify communications areas and products that could potentially be streamlined.
  - Identify activities where resources from less-effective activities could be redeployed.

### Budget and staffing
- COM’s FY15 budget of $35 million is projected to increase to $36.5 million in FY17.
- Regular staff positions would remain constant at about 86.

### Conclusions on communications strategy
- Evidence (for example, from the TSR, the IEO report, recent surveys, and opinion research) suggests enhanced openness, transparency and strategic engagement have contributed to the Fund’s increased effectiveness, especially during the global financial crisis.
- The Board framework and guiding principles established in 2007 enabled the Fund to respond flexibly and effectively to a rapidly changing context.
- Remaining scope for strengthening communications: improve clarity and consistency, strengthen impact assessment, and engage more strategically with new media.
- Proposed governance change: more frequent formal reviews of the communications strategy by the Executive Board, potentially scheduled to coincide with reviews of the Fund’s Transparency Policy.
- Between formal reviews: staff could informally update the Board on implementation on an annual basis, incorporating impact assessments and survey results.

### Issues for discussion (as posed)
- Do Executive Directors endorse the overall direction of the implementation of the IMF’s Communications Strategy as described in this paper?
- Do Executive Directors see the proposals to further strengthen the clarity and consistency of communications, communications impact assessments, and engagement with new media as appropriate?
- Do Executive Directors agree with the proposals to have more regular formal reviews of the Communications Strategy—coinciding with the reviews of the Fund’s Transparency Policy—complemented by informal, annual updates?

### Appendix I — COM at a Glance (organizational design and outputs)
- COM consists of a Front Office and six divisions focused on various aspects of communications work.
- Current Communications outputs and 2013 annual figures:
  - IMF Survey: 890,000 views
  - Finance & Development (F&D): 1.5 million views
  - Videos: 540,000 views
  - Blogs: 550,000 views
  - Factsheets: 1.2 million views
  - Podcasts: 90,000 followers
- Digital Communications:
  - Manages imf.org, 6 multilingual websites, and 119 resident representative websites.
  - Managed platforms including Twitter (English plus 3 LOEs), Weibo, and Linkedin.
  - More than 7,300 items were posted in 2013.
  - imf.org received an average of 1.325 million monthly visits.
  - There were 358,470 followers for the IMF’s Twitter accounts in English and LOEs as of January 2014.
  - Sina Weibo account (China) has over 4.5 million followers.
- Editorial and Publications:
  - About 900 titles published and some 1.7 million digital and print copies distributed worldwide each year.
  - Runs the eLibrary and the online IMF Bookstore.
- Internal Communications:
  - Daily intranet homepage visitors range from 2,500 to 3,500.
  - Close to 400 news stories are posted every year.
- Media Relations (2013 activity):
  - Issued 622 press releases.
  - Arranged 40 Management interviews.
  - Managed some 60 press conferences and conference calls at HQ.
  - Produced about 500 news digests and special news packet editions.
  - Organized 10 media training courses.
  - Produced about 40 videos.
- Public Affairs (2013 activity):
  - Over 300 briefings/meetings for general public, legislators, think tanks, academics, labor, and CSOs.
  - The IMF Civic and Community Program raised over 1 million dollars in 2013 for local and international charities.

### Appendix II — Crisis Communications
- Crisis Management Team (CMT) coordinates security, health, or disaster-related events; COM chairs the Crisis Communications Team (CCT).
- Key ingredients of crisis communications framework:
  - Active Structure: COM has a standing group that meets three times a week; can meet as often as needed (including virtually).
  - Assess/Monitor: extensive monitoring capability for traditional and social media.
  - Connect and collaborate: COM’s matrix structure facilitates quick mobilization across COM; ongoing relationship with the Office of the Managing Director (OMD).
  - Delivery: variety of platforms and relationships (traditional media, social media, CSOs, editorial writers and bloggers, think tanks, academics, country authorities) that can be mobilized on short notice.

### Appendix III — Fund Materials in Languages Other Than English (LOE)
- One in three of the Fund’s member countries use English as their main language.
- LOE web usage:
  - LOE web pages introduced in 2007; usage increased from 260,000 views in 2007 to 1.9 million in 2013.
- Flagship publications:
  - WEO (chapters 1 and 2) published in French and Spanish simultaneous with English; full versions published in five languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) shortly thereafter.
  - WEO downloads in LOE increased from 17,254 in 2007 to 125,497 in 2013.
- Social media and multimedia in LOE:
  - Spanish and Arabic blogs have over 500,000 views.
  - Managing Director’s Chinese Weibo account has over 4.5 million followers.
  - 324 videos in 12 LOE have been released since 2007.
  - 267 podcasts in English, Arabic, and French have been produced since 2010.
- Resident Representative Websites:
  - 31 Resident Representative Websites are in LOE, including documents posted in local languages.

### Appendix IV — Transforming Publications at the Fund
- Publication scale and distribution:
  - About 900 titles published each year (400 titles of country reports/selected issues; some 300 working papers per year; plus flagships, books, SDNs, data/statistics, manuals, guides, Annual Report).
  - Some 1.7 million digital and print copies distributed worldwide per year.
- eLibrary and access:
  - Introduction in 2010 of a digital eLibrary and Bookstore reaching over 700 institutional subscribers (free-of-charge in developing and low-income countries).
  - eLibrary has more than 14,000 IMF digitized titles.
- Distribution and platforms:
  - Fund content distributed through a network of about 50 national and regional distributors.
  - Content also available on Amazon, Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, China’s CNP eReading, and other platforms.
- Research dissemination:
  - IMF research included in bibliographic databases such as RePEc and the Social Science Research Network.
  - More than 560,000 research and policy papers have been downloaded through RePEc since 2002.
- Accessibility:
  - IMF has an agreement with Bookshare; IMF Publications represent the third largest corpus in the Bookshare program.

### Appendix V — The Legal Framework Underpinning Fund Communications
- “The Fund” most typically refers to the Executive Board, but can refer to other organs or the institution as a whole depending on context.
- Articles of Agreement and delegation:
  - Article XII, Section 2(a): “All powers under this Agreement not conferred directly on the Board of Governors, the Executive Board, or the Managing Director shall be vested in the Board of Governors.”
  - Article XII, Section 2(b): “The Board of Governors may delegate to the Executive Board authority to exercise any powers of the Board of Governors, except the powers conferred directly by this Agreement on the Board of Governors.”
  - Section 15 of the Fund’s By-Laws: “The Executive Board is authorized by the Board of Governors to exercise all of the powers of the Board of Governors except those conferred directly by the Articles of Agreement on the Board of Governors.”
- Practical implications:
  - References to “the Fund” in the Articles where no organ is specified are read to refer to the Executive Board due to delegation, but context can mean Board of Governors, Managing Director, or the institution as a whole.
  - Examples:
    - Admission to membership: reference to Board of Governors (Article II).
    - Appointment of a Department Director: reference to the Managing Director (Article XII, Section 4(b)).
    - Institutional references (e.g., Articles of Agreement, mandate, governance structure, headquarters, external website) pertain to the institution as a whole.
- Who can speak for the Fund:
  - The Articles do not directly address who can speak for the Fund; each organ speaks for the Fund depending on the power being exercised.
  - The Articles address publication of reports.

*Source: Review of the IMF’s Communications Strategy (content unit provided).*

### 1.      From the Fund’s inception, it has been recognized that if an organ exercises certain powers,

### From the Fund’s inception, it has been recognized that if an organ exercises certain powers, then it naturally has the authority to speak for the Fund regarding those powers.

### Authority, Roles, and Decision-Making
- An organ that exercises specific powers naturally has authority to speak for the Fund with respect to those powers.
- The fact that one organ makes the ultimate decision does not preclude roles by other organs:
  - The Board of Governors relies on an Executive Board recommendation for membership decisions (including quota).
  - The Executive Board relies on the Managing Director’s determination that an applicant is a “country” under Article II.
  - The Executive Board approves use of Fund resources and completes Article IV consultations, but its decisions are based on management and staff work in negotiations and Article IV discussions.
- Since the first Annual Meeting, the Board of Governors has empowered the Chairman (and later the Chairman and the Managing Director) to publicize information concerning the proceedings as deemed suitable.
- The Executive Board and the Managing Director have long issued public statements within their respective purviews; the Managing Director issues statements as Chair of the Executive Board and as head of staff.

### Publication Authority and Article XII
- Article XII, Sections 7 and 8 address publication by the Fund:
  - Article XII, Section 7(a) requires “the Fund” to publish an annual report containing audited statements of its accounts and to publish summary statements of its operations and transactions and of its holdings of special drawing rights, gold and currencies at intervals of three months or less.
  - Article XII, Section 7(b) authorizes “the Fund” to publish “such other reports as it deems desirable for carrying out its purposes.”
  - Article XII, Section 8 authorizes “the Fund” to publish reports pertaining to the monetary or economic conditions and developments in individual countries if certain conditions are met.
- The provisions of Article XII, Sections 7 and 8—referring to “the Fund”—are read to mean that the authority to approve publication of reports lies in the Executive Board.
- The Executive Board has established the Transparency Policy, which deals with publication of reports prepared for its consideration and use.
- The Executive Board has allocated some of its authority on publications to the Managing Director.

### Rule N-5, Clearance, and Delegation of “Express Authorization”
- Under Rule N-5 of the Fund’s Rules and Regulations, express authorization of the Managing Director is required for staff to publish certain documents and to make certain public statements.
  - Rule N-5 states that Fund staff should not publish documents or make public communications without the "express authorization" of the Managing Director.
- Rule N-5 has been applied to issues within management’s authority, including:
  - staff discussions with members on economic policies in Article IV consultations;
  - negotiations with members on the use of Fund resources and recommendations to the Board on such use;
  - provision of Fund technical assistance to members.
- Typical documents/statements under Rule N-5 include: mission concluding statements for Article IV staff discussions and press releases on staff-level agreements concerning use of Fund resources.
- Public communications should make clear on whose behalf a communication is made; where management/staff views are expressed, language should qualify that the Fund’s ultimate position depends on the Executive Board (e.g., completion of Article IV consultations and approval of use of Fund resources).
- Management has delegated to the Director of the Communications Department and heads of department the authority to provide “express authorization” on behalf of the Managing Director via:
  - GAO 34 (Clearance of Publications and Public Statements of Staff Members)
  - Staff Bulletin 05/9: Guidelines on Staff Participation in Political Activities and Public Statements.
- GAO 34 (May 1, 1989) requires staff to obtain department head clearance and for that head to consult with the Director of the Communications Department; respect for these procedures is an obligation under the 1998 Staff Code of Conduct.
- Staff Bulletin 05/09 (2005) refined clearance procedures and emphasized that the Director of the Communications Department has been empowered by the Managing Director to provide the “express authorization” required under Rule N-5.

### Concluding Statements and Staff Press Releases (Appendix VI)
- Concluding Statements:
  - Describe preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (mission).
  - Missions occur for Article IV consultations, requests to use IMF resources, staff monitored programs, or other staff monitoring.
  - The authorities have consented to publication of the Concluding Statement.
  - The views expressed are those of IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board or IMF management.
  - Based on preliminary findings, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.
- End-of-Mission Press Releases:
  - Include statements conveying preliminary findings after a country visit.
  - The views expressed are those of IMF staff and do not necessarily represent IMF management or the Executive Board.
  - Based on preliminary findings, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

### COM Surveys and External Opinion Research (Appendix VII and X)
- COM qualitative opinion research (2009–2011) in Latin America, Asia, and Europe (interviews by phone) captured stakeholders’ perceptions:
  - Where Fund programs were used in the crisis, stakeholders felt the Fund moved speedily and flexibly, combining technical expertise with financing.
  - The Fund was perceived as collaborative, adaptable, more open, and contributory in cross-country knowledge and training.
  - In Asia: lingering perceptions that the Fund is “Western-centric” and needs to re-establish relevance.
  - In Latin America: perceptions that Fund advice was overly rigid and influenced by a US/Euro/Western-centric tradition; monitoring seen as focused on developing/emerging countries; perceived lack of influence on advanced industrial economies.
  - Perception of an equal playing field seen as critical in both regions.
  - A 2013 Asia survey was more optimistic: region increasingly sees the Fund as a key partner; praised Fund surveillance, multilateral perspective, and analyses of spillovers; called for more timely analytical engagement in Article IV consultations, more “early warnings,” broader stakeholder outreach, and development of a trusted advisor role.
  - The APD Director summarized these findings in an informal Board briefing in mid-2013.
- 2014 Global Opinion Research (Globescan, first half of 2014):
  - Invited some 58,000 respondents; 5,244 people participated from across 179 countries.
  - Sample almost evenly divided between advanced and emerging/developing countries.
  - Response rate: about 9 percent (noted as within the norm 5-10 percent for such surveys).
  - Preliminary findings: Fund perceived as:
    - one of the most effective multilateral organizations
    - highly relevant to the world economy
    - effective in providing expertise (high-quality data, research), meeting main goals (e.g., ensuring financial stability), and serving members' needs (e.g., through high-quality policy advice)
    - having strong communications (range of products, timeliness, quality, effectiveness)
    - somewhat less effective on helping countries avoid crises
    - less effective in promoting jobs and growth
    - not representative enough of the entire membership or in treating members in an “evenhanded” way
  - Additional analysis and underlying data to be provided by Globescan.

### Civil Society Organization (CSO) Engagement (Appendix VIII)
- CSOs are influential opinion and policy shapers using extensive networks and social media advocacy.
- Fund engagement with CSOs benefits from a tailored approach by issue and country communications environment.
- Outreach purposes:
  - (i) explain IMF policies, programs, and operations to strengthen ownership in member countries;
  - (ii) enable Fund staff to better understand conditions on the ground and obtain informed feedback.
- 2013 CSO survey findings:
  - A majority (63%) of respondents indicated that, in their view, the IMF has become more open and transparent.
  - Most respondents (82%) reported positive/objective experiences of engagement with the IMF and noted improvements in staff’s willingness to listen and discuss ideas.
  - Some CSOs felt they are consulted too late in the decision-making process and that engagement can be perceived as a box-checking exercise.
- Broad rules of thumb when interacting with CSOs:
  - Engage early in the process
  - Provide a framework for the dialogue and set expectations of the process
  - When possible, and as appropriate, reflect CSO’s views in Fund country/policy documents
- These findings will be reflected in a forthcoming update to the Guide for Staff Relations with Civil Society Organizations.

### Internal Communications (Appendix IX)
- COM’s Internal Communications division survey (March-April 2014) of all Fund employees with intranet access:
  - Conducted with Insidedge to ensure analytical rigor, impartiality, and confidentiality.
  - Objectives: gauge attitudes to internal communications; gather insights into staff priorities and interests; gather feedback on the 2013 intranet revamp; guide internal communications priorities in FY15 and beyond.
  - Response rate: 26 percent (judged analytically robust).
- Survey results:
  - About 60 percent of respondents judged that internal communications had improved in the past year.
  - 97 percent of respondents considered intranet news somewhat or very “accurate and trustworthy.”
  - 94 percent considered intranet news somewhat or very “fair and balanced.”
  - High satisfaction with security announcements and information on the HQ1 Renewal Program.
  - Appetite for enhanced communications on HR issues; policy issues; and Fund strategy (where Management communications can play an important role).
  - Broad endorsement of the intranet revamp, with ongoing challenges noted on search functionality.
  - Opportunity to enhance intranet experience through communications and education on under-utilized time-saving features such as “My Links” shortcuts and the Communications Toolkit.

*Source: REVIEW OF THE IMF’S COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY (excerpts).*

### Appendix XI. The New Media Landscape

### Appendix XI. The New Media Landscape

### Types of new media and key statistics
- Blogs
  - Definition: personal internet journals that provide commentary on a particular subject, allow the writer or “blogger” to easily share views, receive comments, and provide links to useful websites.
  - Statistic: over 150 million blogs in existence.
  - IMF presence: The Fund maintains four blogs: two in English, one in Spanish, and one in Arabic.
- Social networking sites
  - Definition: online platforms to build communities and share information.
  - Statistic: Facebook has more than 1 billion users.
  - Note: recently many of Facebook’s youngest users are spending more time on competing services.
  - IMF presence: Finance & Development and the Managing Director maintain Facebook pages; there is currently no institutional Fund Facebook page. The Fund also has a LinkedIn page which reaches a more professional audience.
- Microblogs
  - Definition: sites allowing posts of strictly limited character length and/or images.
  - Statistic: With more than 500 million users, Twitter is commonly used to discuss specific topics such as breaking news stories, identified and followed using “hashtag” keywords and to link to other material available on the web.
  - IMF presence: The Fund currently has several Twitter accounts (including for LOEs, the Managing Director, and, resident representatives in a pilot program) and a Sino Weibo account for Chinese language communications.
- Instant messaging and virtual meetings
  - Note: platforms can be used for virtual meetings and seminars; Google Hangouts have been used to hold discussions with an invited audience.
- Online images/videos
  - Note: rapid growth in online services for private storage or community/public sharing of images and videos, partly fuelled by the increase in use of smartphones.
  - IMF presence: accounts for YouTube (videos) and Flickr (photos).
- Infographics
  - Definition: visual representations of data designed to present information or comparisons in an immediate and compelling way.
  - Note: increasingly used to disseminate Fund messages, including for the 2014 World Economic Outlook.
- Podcasts
  - Definition: audio recordings delivered via the Internet, which listeners can subscribe to and download.
  - IMF practice: Weekly podcasts on key economic and financial issues are released.
  - Distribution: IMF podcasts are widely distributed to radio broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa, distributed by UN Radio to their network of partner stations, and are freely available on iTunes and on the IMF’s Soundcloud page.

### IMF communications strategy — Executive Board discussion (Press Release No. 14/387; August 8, 2014)
- Meeting context and documents
  - The Executive Board discussed a Communications Department paper titled “Review of the IMF’s Communication Strategy” on July 29, 2014.
  - Background references: the Board last discussed the Fund’s communication strategy in June 2007 (Public Information Notice (PIN) No. 07/74); Board reviews of the IMF's transparency policy are separate (see Press Release No. 13/270 for the latest review).
- Overarching views
  - Directors welcomed the review and agreed that timely two-way communication with the IMF’s global membership and other stakeholders has been important in strengthening the traction of the Fund’s policy advice.
  - Communication is considered a strategic tool and integral to the IMF’s improved transparency, broader effectiveness, and accountability; however, good communication cannot substitute for the underlying policies.
- Assessment of existing framework and implementation
  - Directors concurred that the framework endorsed in 2007 remains broadly appropriate and that the overall strategy has allowed the Fund to communicate effectively and flexibly.
  - Directors commended staff, particularly the Communications Department, for substantial progress in implementing the strategy in a rapidly changing environment.
- Recommendations and priorities
  - Continue strengthening and adapting Fund communication to deepen public understanding of the Fund’s work and policy advice.
  - Communicate in language that is easily understandable; continue improving internal communication and collaboration.
  - Preserve the Fund’s role as a trusted advisor while maintaining an open, flexible, and responsive external communication posture.
  - Differentiate more clearly publications that represent official policy and decisions, or that have been formally discussed by the Executive Board, from other staff papers.
  - End-of-mission staff statements: stress their preliminary nature, clarify attribution of views, and ensure brevity and simplicity; some Directors preferred a simpler disclaimer referring to the IMF’s views rather than those of the Executive Board or management.
  - Consider consolidation of some flagship products to improve consistency and effectiveness of Fund messages (noted by a few Directors).
- Roles, authority, and Board engagement
  - Directors discussed roles of the Executive Board and management in public pronouncements and appreciated clarification on who can speak for the Fund.
  - Emphasized ensuring that the respective authority of each organ of the Fund is respected and that audiences understand who is speaking for the Fund and in what capacity.
  - Noted the Executive Board’s role in setting strategic priorities and shaping high-level messages; welcomed efforts to apprise the Board more systematically of key public communications by management ahead of time, without unduly constraining management—especially in crisis situations where speed matters.
- Impact assessment, languages, and perceived evenhandedness
  - Directors supported plans for impact assessments through more regular opinion research and surveys to gauge effectiveness of communication, including on a regional basis.
  - Several Directors noted survey findings of a perceived lack of evenhandedness in the Fund’s treatment of its members and suggested efforts to understand and address the causes.
  - Quality and timeliness of publications in languages other than English were regarded as essential for effective communication.
- Social media and technology use
  - Directors noted that increasing use of new technologies—including social media—has helped strengthen communication around important events and products.
  - Any expansion of social media activity should continue in a careful and strategic way, with adequate oversight, appropriate training, and proper resourcing.
  - Maintaining the Fund’s reputation and credibility remains an important consideration.
- Resources, efficiency, and review cycle
  - Directors commended staff for implementing the communications strategy within a tight resource envelope and encouraged continued cost-effective implementation.
  - Urged staff to seek efficiency gains in communications and reallocate resources toward higher-priority, higher-impact areas.
  - Directors generally agreed the communications strategy should be reviewed more frequently, with formal reviews to coincide with reviews of the Fund’s transparency policy and informal updates to the Board on an annual basis (including implementation of new disclaimers and results of impact analysis).
  - In the meantime, efforts should continue to fine-tune the Fund’s approach to communication, reflecting Directors’ comments and suggestions.

*Source: Appendix XI. The New Media Landscape; Press Release No. 14/387, August 8, 2014.*

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