Dear all,
Many thanks for including me in your quarterly meeting, it was a pleasure to hear what some of you are working on, and really great to hear your questions and concerns about the RepCap Database. I’ve answered those questions in this email below.
Also, no need to save this email for reference!
I’ve created a space on AGI to gather together all the questions and answers so everyone across Abt can benefit from them. https://abtassoc.sharepoint.com/departments/ReputationalCapital/ReputationalCapitalServiceCenter/Pages/RepCapDB--Your-Questions-Answered.aspx
Please do keep asking questions, sending your suggestions, and contributing to the Reputational Capital Database.
All the best,
Rena
Q: Do we enter the best practices or implementation best practices in the RepCap data base that were created at Country level?
A: Absolutely! If you've developed a system of doing things that works well for you and your client, please do share it! Other projects can learn from you - or even perhaps improve upon your best practices.
Q: What is Reputational Capital?
A: Reputational Capital is the value of our reputation as perceived by key clients, markets, and other professional communities for purposes of attracting and retaining top talent, influencing thinking and direction in the fields in which we work, and attracting new business at the local, regional, and global level. In brief, Reputational Capital is how the world sees Abt. And it’s what we work together to build, every day. Reputational Capital is created by executing work that is characterized by outstanding quality, innovation, impact and thought leadership, and communicating that work to clients, partners, key stakeholders and recruits.
Q: Are you also interested in entering project-specific technical guides, success stories?
A: Yes. There is a category for 'Guidebook, Manual or Best Practice' which you can use that for any kind of guide. And success stories would be fantastic to share under 'Impact.' If you're not sure, you're welcome to contact me, or select the 'Other' category.
Q: Are materials published in other languages pertinent?
A: Yes. Please do add them.
Q: What types of reports can come out of the Rep cap database that PMs and other managers can use for proposals and other purposes?
A: All of the words in each entry form within the RepCap DB are fully searchable. If you want to find everything that our colleagues have written about, or worked on with USAID that's in the database, you can search for USAID in the title or keyword space. You'll be able to download a spreadsheet of the entries which have USAID, sort through different types of entries, and link to the full text of the item from within that spreadsheet. Happy to answer more specific questions about search as they come up.
Q: Sometimes I’m unable to add authors’ names.
A: The RepCapDB pulls from the corporate directory. Please make sure you’re entering only Abt authors or creators in that space, and that you’re entering their names the way they appear in the Outlook email directory. (Non Abt creators can be added in the citation, or keyword fields.)
Q: It’d be nice if I could save my entry, and ask for help, and return to it partially filled out already instead of having to reenter the whole thing.
A: As long as all required fields are filled in (even if you use temporary characters as place holders), you should be able to save drafts. To update the drafts, select the ‘Manage’ tab at the top of the page. From here you can see all your entries, those in the database (Verified), those awaiting response from the RepCapDB administrator (Pending), and entries awaiting further information from you (Deferred).
Rena Kirsch
Senior Manager, Technical Collaboration
Reputational Capital | Abt Associates
O: 617.520.2337 | F: 617.386.8022
