Paul Mundy Becoming more efficient Ideas and tips

Paul Mundy Ideas and tips Setting priorities Keeping people informed Thinking ahead Knowing what to do Holding effective meetings Speaking the language

Paul Mundy Setting priorities Urgent  Must be done quickly Not urgent  Can wait until… Important  Project will grind to a halt without it Not important  It doesn’t really matter, but…

Paul Mundy Setting priorities Important AB Not important CD Not urgentUrgent

Paul Mundy Setting priorities Important Get to it soon Do it now to prevent it from becoming urgent Do it NOW Try to make sure nothing is left in this square Not important Is it necessary? Do it sometime Devote 1 hour a day to this Then move to more important things Not urgentUrgent

Paul Mundy Keeping people informed Routing slips Distribution lists Who else is involved or might be affected?

Paul Mundy 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

Paul Mundy Keeping people informed No. 2007/0001Date received 28 May 2007 AttachmentsSubject Nespak monitoring report To 1 Mr Ahmad Action Check budget figures 2 Mr KamalDiscuss timing with me 3 Ms FatimaFile 4 Deadline Urgent! 3 June Signature Date 28 May 2007 Example of routing slip

Paul Mundy Keeping people informed Distribution lists  For each type of document or letter  List of people/organizations to send it to  Have standard lists

Paul Mundy 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…

Paul Mundy 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 > Address Book > File > New Entry > New Distribution List

Paul Mundy 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 Don’t wait to be asked If they don’t know, they won’t ask you! Send them a copy of document Send then a CC of  Better to give too much information than too little

Paul Mundy Thinking ahead Check the project timelines and deadlines  When are reports due?  When are budgets due?  When are consultants available?

Paul Mundy 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 day’s notice!

Paul Mundy Thinking ahead Example  Conference scheduled for 7 July  Visa requirements?  Travel arrangements?  Logistics?  Participants?  Presentations?  Accommodation?  Etc…

Paul Mundy Knowing what to do Job descriptions Mentoring Partnering To-do lists Procedures

Paul Mundy Knowing what to do Job descriptions  If you don’t have a job description, ask your boss for one  “Excuse me, boss, what do you want me to do?”  If you’re the boss, give each of your staff a job description  Does not have to be long and formal: half a page

Paul Mundy Knowing what to do Example of job description

Paul Mundy 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

Paul Mundy 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 Ahmad’s job  Ahmad and Babak can… Fill in for each other Support each other in emergency

Paul Mundy Knowing what to do Make a to-do list Handwritten or using Outlook Check and update it every day Be realistic Coordinate with your boss Example of to-do list

Paul Mundy 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…

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

Paul Mundy 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 doesn’t work, redesign the procedure

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings

Paul Mundy 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

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings 6 golden rules for effective meetings 1.Run your meetings as you would like others to run their meetings 2.Be prepared 3.Stick to a schedule 4.Stay on topic 5.Don't hold unnecessary meetings 6.Wrap up properly

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings 1.Run your meetings as you would like others to run their meetings  Learn from others’ mistakes 2.Be prepared  Ensure that other participants can be prepared  Provide necessary information beforehand  Circulate agenda beforehand

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings 3.Stick to a schedule  Hold routine meetings (once a week?)  Decide how long the meeting will take  Start and finish on time 4.Stay on topic  Don’t let discussion stray off track  Facilitate lightly but firmly

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings 5.Don't hold unnecessary meetings  Nothing on the agenda? Is this meeting necessary?  Hold frequent, short meetings (not frequent long meetings!) 6.Wrap up properly  Give clear statement of next steps  Say who is responsible

Paul Mundy Holding effective meetings More on effective meetings    agement/a/meetings_work.htm agement/a/meetings_work.htm

Paul Mundy Speaking the language Iranians: فارسی World Bank and foreign consultants: English

Paul Mundy Speaking the language Use translation software  Parstranslator (English ► Farsi)  To translate individual words  Search Google for “Farsi English translation”  

Paul Mundy Speaking the language Create a Farsi-English glossary of technical words Example:  Diversion damسد انحرافي  Reservoir damسد مخزني  Secondary irrigation canals2 کانالهاي درجه Collect these words and post them on the AILWMP website for all to use