RAPID RESULTS APPROACH APPLYING THE TOOL TO AfCOP Implementing the Work Plan 2nd Annual meeting 27-30 November 2008 Mauritius

Today’s Objectives Introduce the Rapid-Results Approach & Process Work to: Define Rapid-Results Goal Develop Work Plan to achieve the goal Agree on how teams will operate

Implementation is Tough 50% of projects fail to achieve their objectives 75% of projects come in over budget and/or behind schedule These are self reported statistics – so the reality is even worse… 3

Why Implementation is tough? Goal is in the distant future Being busy with too many things Leaving tasks ill-defined and vague Not making it clear who is in charge Making things very complex and interdependent The RRI process is designed to help teams avoid these pitfalls or tactics. What are some of the other ways people and/or organizations avoid accountability Why do people what to avoid accountability? Stress Emphasis a feeling of lack of control 4

Count the Number of Squares Implementation Risk Count the Number of Squares

1-16 17-20 21-22 23-24 25 28 27 26 29 30

The Rapid Results Approach Rapid Results Approach (RRA) is a results-focused learning process (methodology) aimed at jump-starting major organizational change efforts and enhancing implementation capacity. RRA tackles large-scale medium and long-term change efforts through a series of small-scale, results-producing and momentum-building initiatives implemented within 100-days, commonly referred to as 100-day Rapid Results Initiative (RRI).

Rapid Results Approach Cont… These short-term 100-day initiative goals therefore form the building block towards the achievement of the long-term goals The premise of the Rapid-Results Approach is to create a context for learning and for enhancing implementation capacity Helps organizations work on sharply defined 100-day initiatives that dovetail into Annual Work Plans and Strategic Plans

Rapid Approach The approach is an RBM tool designed to help teams avoid implementation challenges A results focused learning methodology (Action Learning) Jump-starts major organizational change efforts

“A results-focused approach to implementing strategy “ Breaks down long-term goals into 100-day Results Commitments Enhances practice of implementation disciplines in each 100-day period Strengthens accountability for Results

How it Works Create a temporary governance structure Team empowered to: Break down long term goals into 100 day RESULTS commitments (RRI) Develop a work plan to realize the goal So, what is the definition of an RRI— Being a RRI is really about applying the general idea and using a mix of these levers– each time it will be different depending on the people, the nature of the project, the type of organization(s) 11

Management Methodology Start by focusing on a few Results Challenge teams to achieve 100-day “Results goals” Create temporary governance and support structure Manage the scale-up beyond the first 100 days

Rapid Results Initiatives The Rapid-Results Approach Rapid Results Initiatives Long-Term Activities Activities Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Overall Objective Time

Rapid Results Portfolio Rapid Results Initiative Increase from current to membership from 400 to 10,000 within 100 days Networking and membership Monitoring and evaluation Program Activities Capacity Building Communication and Strategy and planning Leverage Africa Community of Practice as an authority in Mfdr in Africa Dec 2010 Dec 2006 Dec 2008 OVERALL OBJECTIVE

DEVELOPING THEMATIC AREAS Select thematic areas from the work plan plan that are: Linked to achieving the current goals Priority areas for AfCoP Can be achieved using available budget and in 100days

Creating the Work Plan Developing a good work plan to achieve your goal Develop Milestones Must be a major accomplishment Stated in past tense Develop Action Steps i.e. specific steps to be taken; Start with an action verb Spell out a concrete deliverable Include a deadline Be clearly assigned to one person (from the team) Test and Refine the work plan Are all relevant milestones included? Are the activities as detailed as possible? Is there ONE person assigned to over see each activity?

Activity Targets Dates RRI Work Plan Strategic Challenge Area: RRI Goal: Launch Date: RRI Mid Point: RRI End Point: Results Leader: Strategic Leader: Team Leader: Monitoring and Evaluation: Secretary : Team Members: MILESTONE Action Steps Responsible Activity Targets Dates Budget Status Remarks/ Challenges Begin End Baseline Survey Conducted Identify team to carry out baseline survey and inform them Assemble all relevant documents Familiarize RRI team with the documents Harmonize the documents Share & adopt the documents