Amakuru ki i Rubavu Day 1

  1  

Empowered  Lives.  Resilient  Nations.

 Amakuru ki i Rubavu? OMT Special Retreat on One UN Business Operations Strategy

Internal Newsflash, 24-27 March 2013  

Editorial Amakuru ki i Rubavu? Literally means “What are the news in Rubavu?”. This is a special newsflash produced by UNDP Communications Office as a means of internal One UN communications during the Operations Management Team’s 25th-27th March 2013 Retreat. This is a unique opportunity for Operations Team to recap and openly discuss with RC’s presence on the challenges and lessons learnt over the past UNDAF cycle and to make a roadmap in support to the One UN Programme Team and UNDAP process. The first issue covers the first day of the retreat. Enjoy!

Quick message from Mr. Anders Voigt the Facilitator “At the end of this retreat, I expect: 1) Each participant to have a joint understanding of what role the Operations Team plays in support to the One UN-Rwanda; and 2) For the OMT to draft a Strategic Plan which articulates this joint understanding of the role of Operations and how they will perform it.”

After the rain…

#1

An approximate 40 One UN operations staff members arrived in Rubavu in the afternoon of 24th March 2013, to participate in a three-day Operations Management Team Retreat. We arrived in Rubavu after the rain, and the weather and the environment promise to be agreeable.

Our jaws literally dropped on the ground….!  When in the middle of introductions, Janvier Wussinu, the Deputy Country-Director in charge of Operations at UNDP, stood up and started to speak in articulate Kinyarwanda without an accent! “ Mwiriwe mwese! nishimiye kuba hano namwe! Ndi Janvier…”

  2  

This is a unique opportunity to complain and appreciate …  The work done by the Operations Team! Rajesh Kayastha, the Chief Operations at UNICEF reminded us that the main objectives of the retreat are to: 1) Review the challenges and lessons learnt over the past UNDAF cycle; 2) To understand better the UNDAP process from programme side; 3) To identify operational support for the upcoming UNDAP cycle; 4) To finalize OMT Strategic Plan based on the new UNDAP cycle; and 5) To produce an annual OMT Work Plan in support to the UNDAP cycle.

  How to Organize Effective Meetings  Janvier suggested an exercise, which illustrated the dos and don’ts during a meeting. From this exercise, the participants defined the most important elements of an effective meeting among which: to set a clear agenda of the meeting and to clearly specify the objective of the meeting; to focus on the

topic of discussion; to respect the schedule of the meeting (i.e. to come on time and start on time); to listen to each other and have respect for each other’s feedback; to actively participate during the discussions; to focus on finding a solution; to prepare the logistics of the meeting (i.e. food, water, microphones, etc.); to set ground rules; to take the minutes; and to give constructive recommendations.

The Ground Rules during the retreat  

-­‐ Punctuality -­‐ Mobile phones set on silent and to get out in

case there is a need to respond to urgent calls -­‐ No multiple meetings -­‐ No surfing on the internet during sessions

  3  

                End of Day 1…

 Anders closed the first day’s meeting by inviting all the participants to share dinner. He also reminded them that Day 2’s sessions will start at 8.00 a.m. on 25th February

Quick memory game: Who is who?  

1. During Day 1 who has been nicknamed the interrupter and why?

2. Of these 3 women in the picture to the right: 1) who works for UNWOMEN; 2) Whose name is Marcianne?

3  1   2  

Replies:  1. Rajesh,  because  he  was  given  the  role  of  the  interrupter  during  Janvier’s  exercise  on  effective  meetings,  a  role  which  he  played  

brilliantly  and  which  got  him  that  nickname  2. 1=3,  Evelyn  is  the  HR  and  Operations  Manager,  a.i.  at  UNWomen  and  2=1  Marcianne  works  at  UNICEF  as  surveillance  Assistant