A number of management and work environment evolutions are called for, are we to accomplish our aims to any substantial degree. Here are a few basic elements that need to be put into place, drawing from a discussion with Suraj and Shiva last night.
Project sheet
Project details are in as many locations as project directors and volunteers. They need to exist in a central location and be easily accessible for all. Required: A project sheet detailing times, locations, activities and finances should be submitted for each UPF project. Monthly update sheets.
Personnel sheet
Who are the people working in our diverse projects? Where are they, where is their contact info, what are their skills, what are they engaged in, what are their needs? Each member of UPF should submit a personnel sheet and provide monthly updates. Active workers should submit weekly progress reports.
Personnel trustee
We need be a personnel trustee with whom UPF workers can confidentially discuss their situation and any possible grievances or problems, aiding the worker and his peers reach constructive resolutions for work environment conflicts. Issues just can't stay brewing until they explode.
Anonymous feedback
As an extension of the personnel trustee's function, there should be an anonymous medium for giving necessary feedback that one may feel uneasy over being linked to oneself. Web based, directed to personnel trustee who assesses the feedback and seeks avenues for resolving the issues.
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Central Roles in UPF Operations
The workflow of the UPF office needs to be streamlined. Certain key figures need to be identified and established to ensure smooth working conditions for everyone.
The following is obviously an incomplete list of people who need to be in the right place, but nonetheless it's a start. The following people need to be based in Nepal long-term, as their presence and availability is crucial. Being an international project, they should form cordial peer relationships with competent foreigners who may not be able to extend their longtime on-field presence to the extent required.
Communication Coordinator
Communication Coordinator is the person who keeps tabs on all contacts, who ensures all substantial contact situations are reported and filed, who has read every incoming file and knows how to link together disjoint resources, for whom people can turn with any personnel resource related issues.
Communication Assistant
The second-in-line from the Communication Coordinator, the Communication Assistant, is the person taking care of most incoming correspondence, replying or forwarding as necessary, along with a number of other communication related errands. The assistant should be able to keep things running stable in the coordinator's absence.
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator is the person who keeps track of all ongoing projects, cooperating with project department heads. All project proposals and ongoing projects are reported and filed with him.
Project Assistant
The second-in-line from the Project Coordinator, the Project Assistant, is the person taking care of most project coordination related errands. The assistant should be able to keep things running stable in the coordinator's absence.
Fund-raising Coordinator
Fund-raising Coordinator is the person responsible for overseeing ongoing financial programs and exploring future funding avenues. Works closely with Communication Coordinator. As with the other roles above, Fund-raising Assistant is also good to have in place.
Caretaker
Caretaker is the person to whom personnel can turn to with grievances — in confidence. Problems and conflicts are inevitable, and need to be resolved. Caretaker is a neutral party involved in conflict resolution and other interpersonal problems.
President, Vice-president, General secretary and Treasurer are obviously roles that don't need that much explaining — though we may need to revisit these, too, to be clear on who's supposed to be doing what, and when, and where.
Department heads will obviously need to be established once the projects grow more. However, with the current scale of resources and activities, I think we're running on just fine letting people who manage their own field projects just run with it as they've been doing — with added backup from a streamlined office, base of operations. We only really need to start talking about department heads when we have enough people for different fields to actually form a department!
Operation roles must be clearly defined with all of their responsibilities. Only in an atmosphere of flowing, dynamic clarity can projects like this reach their full potential — and we'd very much like to see the UPF potential come to its fullest bloom.
But we don't want big, inflated ego-heads floating around the office, okay? It's just a job that needs to be done, it's here today and gone tomorrow, and the only thing we'll accomplish with ego trips is hampering the potentials at our disposal.
The following is obviously an incomplete list of people who need to be in the right place, but nonetheless it's a start. The following people need to be based in Nepal long-term, as their presence and availability is crucial. Being an international project, they should form cordial peer relationships with competent foreigners who may not be able to extend their longtime on-field presence to the extent required.
Communication Coordinator
Communication Coordinator is the person who keeps tabs on all contacts, who ensures all substantial contact situations are reported and filed, who has read every incoming file and knows how to link together disjoint resources, for whom people can turn with any personnel resource related issues.
Communication Assistant
The second-in-line from the Communication Coordinator, the Communication Assistant, is the person taking care of most incoming correspondence, replying or forwarding as necessary, along with a number of other communication related errands. The assistant should be able to keep things running stable in the coordinator's absence.
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator is the person who keeps track of all ongoing projects, cooperating with project department heads. All project proposals and ongoing projects are reported and filed with him.
Project Assistant
The second-in-line from the Project Coordinator, the Project Assistant, is the person taking care of most project coordination related errands. The assistant should be able to keep things running stable in the coordinator's absence.
Fund-raising Coordinator
Fund-raising Coordinator is the person responsible for overseeing ongoing financial programs and exploring future funding avenues. Works closely with Communication Coordinator. As with the other roles above, Fund-raising Assistant is also good to have in place.
Caretaker
Caretaker is the person to whom personnel can turn to with grievances — in confidence. Problems and conflicts are inevitable, and need to be resolved. Caretaker is a neutral party involved in conflict resolution and other interpersonal problems.
President, Vice-president, General secretary and Treasurer are obviously roles that don't need that much explaining — though we may need to revisit these, too, to be clear on who's supposed to be doing what, and when, and where.
Department heads will obviously need to be established once the projects grow more. However, with the current scale of resources and activities, I think we're running on just fine letting people who manage their own field projects just run with it as they've been doing — with added backup from a streamlined office, base of operations. We only really need to start talking about department heads when we have enough people for different fields to actually form a department!
Operation roles must be clearly defined with all of their responsibilities. Only in an atmosphere of flowing, dynamic clarity can projects like this reach their full potential — and we'd very much like to see the UPF potential come to its fullest bloom.
But we don't want big, inflated ego-heads floating around the office, okay? It's just a job that needs to be done, it's here today and gone tomorrow, and the only thing we'll accomplish with ego trips is hampering the potentials at our disposal.
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