Ministerial Mentoring Mission

I have been travelling around the country recently having been asked to prepare and facilitate a ministerial delegation who have been learning about the "Celtic Tiger".

The following is an overview of the agenda that I organised/facilitated during the delegates visit to Ireland:

• Irish Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation (including political and civil service responsibilities; multilateral & bilateral relationships; civil society support; etc.)
• Irish Civil & Public Service career management (recruitment; recognition; performance management; resource management; etc.)
• The National Development Plan and the role of procurement and public/private partnerships.
• Irish domestic enterprise and export development
• Irish Foreign Direct Investment strategies
• Irish University sectors role expanding the development & aid agenda both in Ireland and internationally
• Consultancy & training organisations directly involved in Irelands efforts in International Cooperation.
  

I must thank the various participants from the Irish Civil & Public Services, Universities and Business Services organisations who participated in this - meeting with the delegates, giving insightful presentations and answering the various questions that arose.

The Development Value Chain

Having worked with both Donors and with organisation applying for/complying with Donor requirements I have been able to bring together in a single methodology (i.e approach to understanding; assessing; evaluating & actioning) the entire Development process from an NGO management perspective:


This graphic show the simplified explanation (using animination graphics in powerpoint) to show the movement of a grain of Maze from a US Farmer through the chain of events (Value Chain); and associated management responsibilities of each player in this chain until it finally reaches the beneficiary. You can see that there are shared responsibilities across all participants in the process, with each being dependent on the other for the successful completion (and compliance) of the development project:


From the perspective of an NGO, or a Donor looking to partner with an NGO, there are 4 primary links in the Develoment Value Chain:

1. Needs Analysis: Rationale for the development intervention; Mainstreaming requirements; Capacity Building & Sustainability
2. Solution Design: Proposal Design (Logical Framework); Budgeting; Risk Identification; Intervention Strategy; Entry Strategy and Exit Strategy
3. Project Management: Project Implementation; Financial Management; Risk Management; Change Management; Project Governance & Project Closure
4. Monitoring & Evaluation: Progress Monitoring; Financial Control; Knowledge Management & Project Evaluation

The model is IrishAid - drawing on their specific donor priorities and requirements, plus requirements for specific initiatives (in the following exanples Technology in Developmemt and Volunteering).

The combination of each of these phases allows the Development partners to prepare an enhanced Logical Framework that reflects not only the traditional elements of a LogFrame (Needs Analysis & Solution Design) but also the key aspects for ongoing Project Management; Project Monitoring and the final Project Evaluation:

eCommerce Programme

I have been asked to design and deliver a 6-day (over 6-weeks) programme on eCommerce for a County Enterprise Board. From eStrategy, through Planning to practical and technical issues of implementing and managing a website.

While much of the content for this programme I was very familar with it was really interesting to research (on the web) additional and complementary insights on the various aspects of establishing and running an eBusiness. But know I have a single repository of all of the background infoprmation and sources - plus a fully prepared programme including presentation slides, exercises, practical handouts and case studies.

To learn more about this programme, click the link

Logistics & Security in Humanitarian Programmes

I am currently participating in an intensive training programme in Logistics and Security for Humanitarian Programmes. It is faciliated by a member of the BioForce staff. The 4 Logistics aspects are based on the practical application of sound Supply Chain Management principles - the practical examples from the trainer are excellent and really bring the reality of Logistics in the field (both Emergency & Development contexts)

Details of this particular course can be found at: http://dtalk.dsckim.ie/courses/scheduled/?guid=5e7175e7-b081-4993-b2df-fd3f7c8750ec and the full schedule of all DTalk courses is at :http://dtalk.dsckim.ie/courses/scheduled/ - definitely worth a look for anyone interested in improving their development skills & knowledge

Business Training Programmes

Details of these training programmes can be found at my website www.entanddev.com

Strategy Design, Development, Documentation and business planning for implementation. A programme that allows the participant to build their strategic plan during the course of the programme - aligning strategic priorities with business resources - Finance (Money); People (Time) and Tangible resources (Things). Feeding in from the strategy development is the preparation of a business plan to support the full spectrum of potential requirements (from finance raising to staff action planning)

Looking at the marketing process from the management perspective - the elements that can be identified; allocated; actioned and delivered by People (Time resources); Understanding the various marketing tools and how to apply them to optimise available business resources (time; money & things); and translating market research into market action.

Leadership can be seperated into two elements - Leading towards a shared set of objectives. And Managing the business resources (primarily people/time) and how they optimise money & things to achieve these shared objectives.

Honduras just made it back from Westport & Achill

" Go for a swim, are you mad?"
"Yes, we are mad (and cold)"... but it was worth it!!

And Honduras meets Doolin

" Heads" at the Cliffs of Moher

"Heads" in the beer garden
"Heads" (Ahh!)

El Salvador meets Howth Head

Some of the gang from El Salvador having a catch-up on Howth Head

New Enterprise (Marketing) & Development (Business Planning Case studies) materials

I have recently uploaded a number of documents that you may find of interest on my website (www.entanddev.com). A series of case studies, drawing upon the Dynamic Planning Circle business strategy & planning tool. These case studies all come from my time working in El Salvador.

There are five case studies ranging from FairTrade exporting of organic cashew to alternative income generation projects for both rural and urban initiatives.

I have also uplaoded two versions of a Marketing User & Training manual that I designed for small enterprises (start-ups & inexperienced business managers) and for independent NGOs. It was developed for a Central American audience but there is both an English and Spanish available to download.

At the same webpage you can access papers on successful business marketing via the internet. There are a number of other papers available at the website that you may find useful for either you Enterprise and/or Development initiative

Successfully Marketing your Business Online

I have recently faciliated a series of sessions with Start-Up and Small-Medium (SME) companies on how to market their business via the internet. These sessions formed part of progammes supported by the County & City Enterprise Boards (www.brite.ie)

Building upon elements of the formal business planning process, together with examples from

• actual websites


• top-tips from published industry & research papers


• on-line services that are readily available


• good practice on content & layout

I designed a simplified template for planning a start-up/small enterprises' internet marketing strategy (& implementation).
If this is an area that interests you I have uplaoded a series of support papers on my website (www.entanddev.com) that you can access directly.

And of course you can contact me directly (see "contact me" link for details)

El Salvador & Honduras gang meeting up in Liverpool

...gazing into the sun;
...and hanging out together with one of Liverpool's stalwarts.

Welcome to my new blog.

Once I gather my thoughts I will begin posting, but in the mean time if you would like to find out about me, just click the link: www.entanddev.com

Blog soon,
Ent&Dev