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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Team Leader & Deputy Team Leader

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. The mirror for the host country

9. 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

10. 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!

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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!”

15. 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!

16. 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!

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

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

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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!

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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.

26. 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

27. 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!

28. 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.

29. 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 …

30. 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

31. 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