Projects in uncontrolled environments

John Edmonds, head of training at Pearce Mayfield, explains how his involvement in a company initiative has led to the formation of a brand new charity.

I think it was Jim Cantalupo, CEO of McDonalds, who said, Social responsibility is not a programme that begins and ends. Its an ongoing commitment. I would certainly subscribe to this view and add that this can work on an individual as well as on a corporate level.

My own personal experience began with a telephone conversation about corporate social responsibility and finished with the formation of a charity - and the real-world challenge of how to deliver lasting benefits in a country so desperate for change.

I first visited the Southern Sudan town of Yei in January 2008. After working closely with local charity, Medic Assist International, it soon became clear that there was much to do in order to rebuild confidence after decades of instability and conflict.

At that time many Sudanese were busy setting up small enterprises but lacked real experience and guidance from previous generations of business people to succeed.

In response I decided from an early stage that the trip would be part fact-finding and part actual delivery of business training.

The training itself went as planned; a combination of basic business skills and an overview of project management including PRINCE2s Product-Based Planning and the Management of Risk were well received.

However, what was not planned was the impact that the visit would have emotionally. I was moved by what I saw in Sudan and it is fair to say I went through my own change management curve several times during the visit.

Challenges

On my return to the UK, I started the process of creating a charity that would be able to provide continued help and resources to Southern Sudan. The charity, called Roots, had two core aims: training business people and education for children.

But this brought about a number of challenges. The first was how to use the disciplines of project management in a way that would be effective. The second was how to engage with people in a way that was understood by all. (I recall during the first workshop that much of my prepared material assumed too much knowledge and experience.)

To respond to these challenges I sought advice from fellow professionals. A colleague, familiar with NGO projects in the developing world, told the story of school and clinic buildings that have been constructed but sit empty and unused because the sole focus of the projects involved was the delivery of bricks and mortar.

Adopting a programme management approach can help in this respect. In the case of the Roots Charity we are working with an emerging Outcome Relationship Model to help us see the whole picture. So instead of simply flying to Sudan and delivering a series of workshops and believing that is a successful project, we are now able to see a series of inter-relating projects and activities coming together to create something that is enduring and sustainable.

We also recognise that Africa has a different sense of time to the one that we are used to in the UK. Things will happen at a different pace, and at times we must slow down some of the things that we might do in order to make the transition at the right speed and in the right way. Too much, too quickly may not be accepted or sustainable.

Of course, all of this should not be about what we are doing to help; it is first of all about partnership, and it is then about the Sudanese people taking ownership of the eventual outcomes.

There are lessons to learn too. Others operating in similar fields have stressed the importance of group accountability, which is quite contrary to recommendations that we find elsewhere where a single point of accountability is at the heart of much best practice.

Cultural issues are also very powerful factors in project success. The fact that we are operating thousands of miles apart means we are looking at ways of making individuals and groups Charityaccountable to each other, and thus increasing the chance that the outcomes will be created and that the changes will be embedded.

Support

Since our first visit, the Roots charity is slowly gathering support. A chance encounter with Baroness Caroline Cox, who we met in Sudan, has led to more in-depth discussions about the charitys work in the House of Lords.

Another visit earlier this year has enabled further engagement with a number of stakeholders and further training this time in the area of education. It has also provided further clarity about the direction that we should take our efforts over the next few years.

• John Edmonds is head of training at Pearce Mayfield, an Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) in PRINCE2 Managing Successful Programmes and Change Management through the APM Group. www.pearcemayfield.com