WorkFlowy Helps Make UN World Water Day Happen
Daniella Bostrom is a WorkFlowy user based in Geneva, Switzerland. A few weeks ago as part of our user research we spoke with Daniella. She’s doing some pretty amazing things as the communications manager for UN-Water, and she also uses WorkFlowy on a daily basis to organize both her personal and professional activities. We caught up with Daniella again to learn a bit more about how she’s doing her part to make the world a better place.
Can you tell us a bit more about how and why you ended up working for UN-Water?
I grew up in Sweden where there are strong values around human rights, peace, democracy, equality and respect for the environment. These values are very close to those of the UN and working here in some ways fulfills a childhood dream of trying to make the world a better place. In many countries and regions today, there is poverty, hunger, inequalities, injustice and conflicts. Availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation is one of the keys that can help unlock some of the problems.
Can you describe some of the challenging aspects of your job?
UN-Water is the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation and coordination per se is challenging. Water is also a vast and complex development challenge as it touches on so many other areas: health, equality, environment, work, the economy and so forth. Assisting people in their joint ventures and helping them see the added value of being stronger together is something I very much enjoy. I am also a strong believer in the power of communications and its potential to help an organization achieve its goals. But for that to happen it needs to be integrated across the organization and considered from the beginning. This is something I reiterate very often in my work.
Your position in UN-Water is unique in that you work with dozens of UN Agencies and multiple outside partner organizations. What are some recurring challenges you find in staying organized?
The old cliché of having many balls up in the air applies to my job — the challenge is to juggle while keeping track of who is involved in what, where and when and what projects are immediate priorities and others more long term. WorkFlowy helps me balance all of these competing tasks.
You mentioned you recently started a family. Congratulations! Can you tell us a story illustrating how this has changed the way you live and organize your day-to-day life?
Thank you! My husband and I have a five-year-old and an eight-month-old who are both absolutely wonderful. When we expected our eldest we were both a bit concerned about the changes that having a child would entail. When we asked the question around us there was one couple that said that things don’t change that much. We chose to listen to this and be inspired by them. Having children is rewarding in every way and as we both work full time we realized early on that to have a happy family life we needed to get organized. The division of clear tasks and responsibilities, tracking progress and ticking off what’s been completed has become a nearly daily practice.
What gets you excited in the morning? Why?
Seeing the faces of my three boys when we say good morning. The thought of my job and the team. When someone lets me in their lane in the middle of the traffic jam — and does it with a smile. It is so rare that when it happens it inspires you to do the same for someone else.
What’s been your greatest influence in life? Why?
I get very inspired by people, in particular my parents, my friends and my husband. My parents are both very inspirational in different ways and having my friends is something I am thankful for every day. As for my husband, he is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
What’s something you believe to be true that almost no one else agrees with you on? Why do you believe it?
That Swedish smorgaskaviar tastes good in the morning. It’s just part of the cultural heritage.
What are you most excited about in 2016? Why?
I am very excited about the World Water Day campaign that we have been working on for several months. The aim is to create recognition for the millions of people who work with water — often without even getting paid or working in safe conditions. On 22 March, many States, thousands of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals will celebrate World Water Day and take action to make life a bit better for the most vulnerable people on this planet.
Can you tell us one situation where WorkFlowy has helped you achieve your goals?
Over Christmas we had 15 family members over for three days. The whole endeavor seemed quite daunting. We used WorkFlowy to plan activities, cooking, sleeping arrangements and assign various family members things to do so they wouldn’t be standing around asking what they could help out with. After three days, people left happy and with the sense of having contributed to a nice Christmas.
