Becoming more efficient

1
Becoming more efficient

• Ideas and tips

2
Ideas and tips

• Setting priorities
• Keeping people informed
• Thinking ahead
• Knowing what to do
• Holding effective meetings
• Speaking the language

3
Setting priorities

• Urgent
• Must be done quickly
• Not urgent
• Can wait until
• Important
• Project will grind to a halt without it
• Not important
• It doesnt really matter, but

4
Setting priorities
5
Setting priorities
6
Keeping people informed

• Routing slips
• Distribution lists
• Who else is involved or might be affected?

7
Keeping people informed

• Routing slips
• Paper ¼ A4 size
• 15 cm x 10.5 cm
• Attach to document or letter
• Gives instructions on what to do

8
Keeping people informed
Example of routing slip
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Keeping people informed

• Distribution lists
• For each type of document or letter
• List of people/organizations to send it to
• Have standard lists

10
Keeping people informed

• Example Distribution list for Inception Report
• PIU (X copies)
• Project partners
• Central Liaison Office
• Office file
• Office staff (circulate)
• World Bank
• Nippon Koei
• Ministry of Jehad and Agriculture
• Etc

11
Keeping people informed

• Distribution lists
• Create standard distribution lists for different
  documents and types of correspondence
• If in doubt, include an address on the list
• Use your Address Book in Outlook
• To create a distribution list in Outlook
• Tools gt Address Book gt File gt New Entry gt New
  Distribution List

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Keeping people informed

• Who else might be involved?
• Think of others who might be involved
• or who might be affected by an activity
• Give them information voluntarily
• Dont wait to be asked
• If they dont know, they wont ask you!
• Send them a copy of document
• Send then a CC of email
• Better to give too much information than too
  little

13
Thinking ahead

• Check the project timelines and deadlines
• When are reports due?
• When are budgets due?
• When are consultants available?

14
Thinking ahead

• Plan for events
• Plan backwards from the deadline
• Make a checklist of things to do
• Leave plenty of time
• Send invitations out in good time
• Impossible to travel from Sari to Teheran at 1
  days notice!

15
Thinking ahead

• Example
• Conference scheduled for 7 July
• Visa requirements?
• Travel arrangements?
• Logistics?
• Participants?
• Presentations?
• Accommodation?
• Etc

16
Knowing what to do

• Job descriptions
• Mentoring
• Partnering
• To-do lists
• Procedures

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Knowing what to do

• Job descriptions
• If you dont have a job description, ask your
  boss for one
• Excuse me, boss, what do you want me to do?
• If youre the boss, give each of your staff a job
  description
• Does not have to be long and formal half a page

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Knowing what to do
Example of job description
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Knowing what to do

• Mentoring
• Many new staff do not have experience or
  qualifications in job
• They must learn from scratch
• You must help them learn their job
• Appoint mentors someone to help new staff
  member learn their job

20
Knowing what to do

• Partnering
• What happens if Ahmad
• Is ill?
• Goes on holiday?
• Gets another job?
• Dies?
• Have at least 1 other person (Babak?) who can do
  Ahmads job
• Ahmad and Babak can
• Fill in for each other
• Support each other in emergency

21
Knowing what to do
Example of to-do list

• Make a to-do list
• Handwritten or using Outlook
• Check and update it every day
• Be realistic
• Coordinate with your boss

22
Knowing what to do

• Design procedures for
• Handling incoming and outgoing correspondence
• Archiving documents
• Procuring goods and services
• Gathering and analysing monitoring information
• Holding meetings
• Providing transport
• Hiring new staff
• Reporting progress to Ministry and World Bank
• Etc

23
Knowing what to do
Monitoring
Correspondence
Facilities
Management
Transport
Human resources
Procurement
Information management
Reporting
Accounting
Budgeting
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Knowing what to do

• Designing procedures
• Boss must ensure staff know procedures
• Staff are responsible for performing procedures
• Staff must tell boss is procedures are unclear
• Once procedure is designed, follow it!
• Be consistent
• If it doesnt work, redesign the procedure

25
Holding effective meetings
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Effective meetings

• Prepare an agenda
• Facilitator
• Leads meeting
• Steers discussion
• Ensures discussion is relevant
• Rapporteur
• Writes minutes
• Translator
• Interprets
• Be clear on decisions and conclusions
• Write and circulate minutes

27
Holding effective meetings

• 6 golden rules for effective meetings
• Run your meetings as you would like others to run
  their meetings
• Be prepared
• Stick to a schedule
• Stay on topic
• Don't hold unnecessary meetings
• Wrap up properly

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Holding effective meetings

• Run your meetings as you would like others to run
  their meetings
• Learn from others mistakes
• Be prepared
• Ensure that other participants can be prepared
• Provide necessary information beforehand
• Circulate agenda beforehand

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Holding effective meetings

• Stick to a schedule
• Hold routine meetings (once a week?)
• Decide how long the meeting will take
• Start and finish on time
• Stay on topic
• Dont let discussion stray off track
• Facilitate lightly but firmly

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Holding effective meetings

• Don't hold unnecessary meetings
• Nothing on the agenda? Is this meeting necessary?
• Hold frequent, short meetings (not frequent long
  meetings!)
• Wrap up properly
• Give clear statement of next steps
• Say who is responsible

31
Holding effective meetings

• More on effective meetings
• http//www.govleaders.org/meetings.htm
• http//www.effectivemeetings.com/sitemap.asp
• http//humanresources.about.com/od/meetingmanageme
  nt/a/meetings_work.htm

32
Speaking the language

• Iranians ?????
• World Bank and foreign consultants English

33
Speaking the language

• Use translation software
• Parstranslator (English ? Farsi)
• http//www.parstranslator.com/
• To translate individual words
• Search Google for Farsi English translation
• http//mason.gmu.edu/aross2/farsi.htm
• http//www.farsidic.com/

34
Speaking the language

• Create a Farsi-English glossary of technical
  words
• Example
• Diversion dam ?? ???????
• Reservoir dam ?? ?????
• Secondary irrigation canals 2 ???????? ????
• Collect these words and post them on the AILWMP
  website for all to use