Workshop at NWSC with Branch and Area Managers (19-22 February 2018)
As the project advances more and more synergies are created with other ongoing projects that are being developed with implementing partners. Towards the end of 2017 NWSC indicated to SMALL their interest and need to review the current contracting process and documentation the Head Office holds with the different Areas and Branches in the country. A preliminary internal analysis within NWSC had revealed a series of challenges that are preventing both HO and Branches to optimally make use of the resources (financial and technical capacity) available within the organization to achieve the best results possible. As a result of this initial exercise, NWSC asked SMALL to develop a more thorough analysis of the contracting processes to clearly identify the nature of these challenges and venues for improvement.
At the same time, NWSC had scheduled a training on Effective Management under the project ATWATSAN, another project where NWSC and IHE Delft collaborate in for the strengthening of capacities in small towns in Uganda. The purpose of this training was to further equip local managers of Areas and Branches with the skills to achieve optimal performance evaluations. This venue provided the perfected opportunity to combine efforts.
The workshop (19-22 February 2018) was attended by over thirty (30) very enthusiastic Area and Branch Managers from the Northern and Eastern Regions of Uganda. The workshop focused on prioritizing discussions lead by participants. This was done through working in break up groups, working in small groups, presentations, and active discussions in plenary. The workshop led to the identification of five challenging processes ranging from contextual factors related to the specific needs and demands encountered in small towns (ie. Dilapidated or inadequate infrastructure to meet dynamic demands in small towns) to NWSC internal procedure related issues such as tariff definition or delays in procurement. The participants developed these challenges in great detail, identified root causes for the problem as well as the processes that were affected and in what way. At the end of the workshop the group had produced a set of (5) comprehensive proposals for improvement that have been shared with Management of NWSC for their feedback.
The workshop was covered in the portal of Water Journalist of Africa, which is a great opportunity to share the work and news of SMALL reported locally to the world.
