USNRC IRRS TRAINING Lecture 8 Guidance to prospective Team Leaders and their Deputies

Learning objectives After finishing this lecture the trainee will: Understand what is the main objective of the IRRS Team Leader Know how the Team Leader should help building the IRRS Team Understand importance of sticking to timing Understand how effective team meetings are conducted Understand how the quality of the final report is assured

Introduction This training lecture was prepared in 2015 for the IRRS training at the US NRC It is in more details explaining what and how the IRRS Team Leader and his/her Deputy should do during the mission The content is partly based on IRRS Guidance, but mostly on experiences

Team Leader & Deputy Team Leader

Team Leader The Team Leader should be a senior regulator from a Member State, experienced in the regulatory aspects of nuclear and / or radiation safety. He/she should have: known leadership qualities; a clear mission vision; known ability to build effective teams; recent knowledge of global and local regulatory issues; a clear understanding of the peer review process and what needs to be done; effective communication skills with good spoken and written English.

To achieve objectives with the minimum use of resources! Main objective General objective of the management: To achieve objectives with the minimum use of resources! IRRS Team Leader objective: To produce the Mission Report with available team and in the allowable time.

IRRS – Why do we have it? To help improve nuclear safety regulatory system of the host country To let others know about good practices in the host country In other words: to facilitate continuous improvements Any regulatory body has to be a learning organisation, willing to seek and take advice on improvements

The mirror for the host country

The IRRS Team Each IRRS mission is one time project with a bunch of people that have never worked together before! The personalities in the team are (as always) of different characters Some kind of team building activity before the mission is beneficial

Cultural differences Team members from at least dozen countries Host country at another continent Different political systems, religions, educational systems, food habits etc. A lot of wisdom and open mind is needed to recognize and understand the differences The IAEA standards can be implemented in different ways!

The Team challenges Almost always one or two team members are not able to produce results! Team Leader and Team Coordinator should early recognize such problem The contingency plan should be in place

The Team – before the mission It is expected that Team Members prepare intensively before the mission In reality: first time members do study a lot before the mission, but often with wrong emphasis experienced members minimize preparation and rely on quick on-the-site learning and adjustment

Team Building Team Leader should start communicating with team members well before the mission Words of encouragement to the first time members are very helpful Communication should be informal, so that already at the first meeting members are relaxed

Team Building Just before the Initial Team Meeting it is advisable to have at least informal lunch or dinner together With one rule: “Talk about yourself, not about the mission!”

Team Leader’s Focus IRRS Team objective: To produce the Mission Report with available team and in the allowable time. Team Leader should direct team work towards that goal from the very beginning! .

Preparing the Report Team members must understand: From the Mission Report Template: Team members must understand: They have to write their chapters How to describe recognized issues in the descriptive part of their chapter How to identify issues and elaborate recommendation, suggestions and good practices general instructions to write the chapter interrelation with other modules particular emphases the Recommendation!

MILESTONE 1: Preliminary Draft Report Main Milestones The mission timing should be strictly followed MILESTONE 1: Preliminary Draft Report

Main Milestones Second week: MILESTONE 2: Draft Report to the Host MILESTONE 3: Final Draft Report to the Host

During the mission The Team Leader leads the IRRS mission. During the mission he/she is responsible for: assigning tasks and responsibilities to the team members; ensuring that the team works in a consistent and cohesive manner; developing an overall picture of the effectiveness of the regulatory system of the host country; ensuring that the objectives of the IRRS are met; leading the team meetings during the mission; serving as IRRS liaison with the government/regulatory body and external stakeholders.

Daily Team Meetings Usually at 18:00, should be shorter then 2 hours Team Leader should keep it as short as possible! On following slides are some basic rules how to do that.

Meetings: Short reporting Each review group should have only 5 minutes to report! Tell not what you have been doing, tell what you believe is an issue! Not OK: “I spoke with Mr. XY for 25 minutes, after that Ms. ZY joined and explained about their cafeteria. We went for lunch together and after lunch I went to Mr. ZX …” – who cares, this is no news for the IRRS report! OK: “During the training it seems they do not address lessons learned from operating events!” – this is an issue, that may develop into the recommendation!

Meetings: No writing together! The team should look at the draft report on screen and discuss it Never allow improving text on the screen as this can become endless! Instead note concerns and ask author or smaller group to improve it and bring it later again to the team.

Meeting: Cross-cutting issues Meetings are important for recognizing cross-cutting issues Reviewer A reports about poor maintenance because of bad training Next day reviewer B should check how that training was done

Quality control Once each member submits his/her part of the report, cross reading should start Team Leader, his/her deputy and Team Coordinators should read everything Team Leader should organize cross reading so that each chapter is read at least twice http://msfielding.global2.vic.edu.au/2014/02/07/cross-checking/

Liaison with the host Team Leader should openly communicate with the host’s Liaison Officer and with the management of the host organization There should be meetings whenever needed Hosts could be shown also the draft text of the report, but it should be made clear to them detailed comments are feasible only to the formally delivered versions.

Finalizing R&S Team Leader leads the final discussions with the Host about the wording of R&S&GP This might be difficult, sensibility is needed to understand cultural differences, different understandings of the matter and even political implications The final wording should be properly balanced

Exit presentation Team Leader presents the results at the exit meeting Presentation can be drafted by IAEA supporting staff Exit presentation should be strong and to the point message to the host country representatives!

After the mission After the mission mainly the language of the draft report needs to be improved and some factual mistakes corrected. The Team Leader has just a minor role in final approval.

Deputy Team Leader? He/she helps the Team Leader Jumps in whenever Team Leader is overloaded or not available Helps organizing cross readings Can jump in place of the member who can not produce the report Can help preparing exit presentation …

Summary The IRRS Team Leader should Deputy helps the leader Build Team Motivate Team Organize the work Recognize issues Lead towards writing the Report Liaise with the host Present the results Deputy helps the leader

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION This activity is conducted by the IAEA, with funding by the European Union. The views expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission Photo: V. Friedrich USNRC IRRS Training - Reviewing Authorization, Inspection and Enforcement Functions of the Regulatory Body