THE HEALTH MANAGER Issue 3, 2014

union-imdp.org

THE HEALTH MANAGERTHE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME® (IMDP)

SAILING THROUGH PROJECT MANAGEMENT

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: DR. RASMUS MALMBORG

PARTICIPANT PROFILE: SHIVAKUMAR MUGUDALABETTA

IN THIS ISSUE:ISSUE 3, 2014

PARTICIPANT PROFILE: BECKY BAVINGER

Health solutions for the poor

WELCOME TO

The Health ManagerISSUE 3, 2014

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management is not only about managing the activities and evaluating results, it is also crucial to understand how to man-age expectations of your colleagues, donors and, the very people our projects are designed to service.

In this issue of The Health Manager we examine before unexplored, yet crucial sides of project management: cultural differences, do-nor relations and working within international teams. We also profile past IMDP participants to discover ways The Union’s man-agement trainings have been impactful in their daily work.

To learn more, visit www.union-imdp.org.

José Luis Castro Interim Executive Director

The Union

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Letter from The IMDP Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Participant Profile: Shivakumar Mugudalabetta . . . . . . . 6

Executive Perspective: Dr. Rasmus Malmborg . . . . . . . 10

Participant Profile: Rebecca Bavinger . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Sailing Through Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Health Manager is published by The Union’s International Manage-ment Development Programme (IMDP). Director of Publications: José Luis Castro, Director of the IMDP: Tom Stuebner, Marketing and Busi-ness Development Manager: Stephan Rabimov – © 2014 The Union.

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A MESSAGE FROM THE IMDP DIRECTORDear Colleagues:

In this issue of The Health Manager and in the IMDP’s upcoming trainings on Project Management, you are invited to explore the im-portance of stakeholder and log frame analysis (LFA) in planning for effective project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Whether you are a new manager or a very experienced manager, learning and practicing the techniques of successful project man-agement can lead to changes, within your work, within your target communities and within yourself.

In June the IMDP is conducting a Project Management training in Entebbe, Uganda which is open to practicing professionals from throughout Africa and the entire world. In addition, feedback from our training alumni recommended the creation of an Advanced Project Management course. The pilot training for this advanced course will be held at the end of the year in Kuala Lumpur, Malay-sia and is open to senior managers.

While the IMDP provides techniques to enhance management ef-fectiveness and programme outcomes, the true value comes from the experience of and interaction among the training participants. This peer-to-peer sharing of lessons learned and best practices en-riches new and experienced managers alike.

Tom Stuebner Director of the IMDP

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 45 DAYS PRIOR TO COURSE / UPON ACCEPTANCE INTO COURSE, APPLICANTS WILL BE INVOICED / FEE PAYMENT IS DUE WITHIN 30 DAYS OF INVOICING

UPCOMING 2014 IMDP COURSES • Register at union-imdp.org

COURSE DATE LOCATION FACULTY LEVEL FEE LANGUAGE

Monitoring and Evaluation

May 12 – 16, 2014 (registration deadline May 2)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Rajesh Kapoor and Swati Devgon

Middle- to senior-level professionals

Euro 1,500 Course fee includes accommoda-tion, breakfast, lunch, tea breaks and course materials.

English

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) addresses the critical issues of performance assessment and programme impact. This five-day course prepares participants to measure and assess both programme efficiency and effectiveness.

Management and Leadership

May 19 – 23, 2014 (registration deadline April 30)

Bangalore, India

Viswanath Gopalakrishnan and Gayatri Sriram


Euro 1,500 Course fee includes accommoda-tion, breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea breaks and course materials.

English

(Modified for tobacco control, but appropriate for all public health providers.) This course explores leadership and strategy execution in high performing teams. Changing the performance and behavior of others requires that leaders first identify the changes that must occur within themselves.

Project Management

June 16 – 20, 2014 (registration deadline May 2)

Entebbe, Uganda


Junior- to middle-level professionals


English

Project management is a fundamental component of successful programmes. This five-day course equips participants with an integrated, logical framework approach to project planning, implementation and review.

Human Resources Management

June 23 – 27 2014 (registration deadline: May 9)

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Elsie Zamora Middle- to Senior- level professionals


Spanish

(Modified for tobacco control, but appropriate for all public health providers.) Gain a better understanding of effective Human Resources (HR) Management practices to effectively lead teams in meeting organisational goals and objectives.

Leading Management Teams

July 7 – 11, 2014 (registration deadline: May 23)


Rajesh Kapoor and Akhil Kapoor



English

This course explores leadership and strategy execution in high-performing teams. Changing the performance and behaviour of others requires that leaders first identify the changes that must occur within themselves.

Strategic Planning and Innovation

July 14 – 18, 2014 (registration deadline: May 30)


Viswanath Golpalkrishnan and Gayatri Sriram



English

This five-day course focuses on creating learning organisations capable of identifying key issues that may be blocking organisational progress – whether opera-tional, strategic or policy-related.

Management and Leadership

July 28 – August 1, 2014 (registration deadline: June 15)

Kunming, Yunnan Province China




English, (translated to Mandarin)

(Modified for tobacco control, but appropriate for all public health providers.) This course explores leadership and strategy execution in high performing teams. Changing the performance and behavior of others requires that leaders first identify the changes that must occur within themselves.

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Shivakumar Mugudalabetta has had plenty of project manage-ment experience. A surgeon by training, he joined the Damien

Foundation India Trust (DFIT) in 1996 to work directly with pa-tients, managing problems related to leprosy and tuberculosis. Then in 2003, Mugudalabetta began to work in the field on district public health projects.

PARTICIPANT PROFILE:SHIVAKUMAR MUGUDALABETTA SECRETARY & COUNTRY COORDINATOR DAMIEN FOUNDATION INDIA TRUST (DFIT)

DFIT is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that conducts and supports leprosy and TB control activities in India. Funded in large part by the Belgian government, it works directly with pa-tients, partners with other NGOs and provides technical support and training to the Indian government.

Photo: Courtesy of Shivakumar Mugudalabetta / The Union

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In 2010, Mugudalabetta transferred from his district office to the Foundation headquarters in Chennai. Two years later, he was named Secretary of DFIT in charge of a range of activities affecting more than 100,000 individuals around the country.

Yet despite all this first-hand management experience, when it comes to project planning, Mugudalabetta is largely self-taught:

“We are required to submit project proposals and action plans to the Belgian government. I was not trained in this, so I learned by observing previous proposals, reading through websites and so on. Although I was able to do it, I thought it would be better to get some training so I could learn about project planning in a more systematic manner,” he explains.

Last fall, Mugudalabetta attended The Union’s International Man-agement Development Programme’s course in Project Manage-ment. He found that it perfectly met his project planning needs: he learned how to monitor and assess the impact of each project, link-ing activities with results and using the right indicators to measure those results.

Returning from the course, he looked again at a proposal he had submitted to the Belgian government, laying out a three-year plan for DFIT’s government work in India. He now realized that the performance indicators in the proposal were not specific enough and there were no mechanisms in place to monitor and measure

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the impact of each activity. Armed with his new understanding, Mugadalabetta and his team went back and revised these indicators.

For example, one of the goals listed in the plan was to implement a triage approach to screening for TB in patients showing up at health clinics with a cough. The plan called for instituting this screening in health facilities in 15 districts by the end of the third quarter of 2014. But it did not address how DFIT might measure the success of this activity.

Based on what he had learned, Mugudalabetta was able to develop a list of process indicators, such as: how many health facilities were trained in the screening; how many actually implemented it; how many were able to use the triage approach to increase the number of patients that got screened; and how many actually increased the number of their TB diagnoses.

“Each of these indicators will help us to monitor the screenings, find any challenges and identify solutions in a timely way, rather than just blindly continue the activity,” explains Mugudalabetta.

He says his next step will be to share his new knowledge with DFIT’s 11 partner NGOs, many of which are being asked by their donors for results-based action plans. Mugudalabetta has invited the part-ners to a workshop on the topic in May. He is confident that they what he has to share will be tremendously helpful to them in en-suring that future projects have the greatest possible impact.

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MONITORING AND EVALUATION 2014 COURSEMay 12 – 16, 2014 • Register at union-imdp.org

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAY 2nd, 2014

PROGRAMME AGENDA

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) addresses the critical issues of performance assessment and pro-gramme impact. This five-day course prepares participants to measure and assess both programme efficiency and effectiveness.

BENEFITS OF TRAINING

1) Develop different levels of performance indicators

2) Strengthen the processes of supervision, audit and data collection

3) Demonstrate different means and methods of M&E for improved accountability

4) Analyse data to draw meaningful conclusions

5) Improve content and quality of reporting

6) Design elements of an M&E system

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Middle- to senior- level managers working in public health, as well as managers who oversee personnel across multiple levels, divisions and locations.

DATE LOCATION FACULTY LEVEL FEE LANGUAGE

May 12 – 16, 2014




Euro 1,500 Course fee includes accommodation, break-fast, lunch, tea breaks, and course materials

English

“When we initiated our work two years ago we didn’t have any idea of the challenges we would face, and that we had to be managers,

administrators, leaders, and communicators. Attending The Union courses gave us the necessary tools to solve these situations.”

Dr. Natalia Celauro Organización Libre del Tabaco, Paraguay

Contact IMDP: [email protected]

Application deadline is 45 days prior to course. Upon acceptance into course, applicants will be invoiced. Fee payment is due within 30 days of invoicing.

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EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE:DR. RASMUS MALMBORG MANAGING DIRECTOR OF LHL INTERNATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS FOUNDATION

Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Rasmus Malmborg / The Union

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For Dr. Rasmus Malmborg, Managing Director of LHL Interna-tional Tuberculosis Foundation (LHL International), project

management spans continents. He currently oversees the funding of more than a dozen projects in seven countries for the Norway-based organisation, which is devoted to combating tuberculosis and ensuring patients get the care they need. (LHL International, itself, is funded primarily by an umbrella organisation called Atlas Alliance, which, in turn, is largely funded by the Norwegian for-eign ministry.)

LHL International’s projects are conducted in partnership with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), patient advocacy groups and national TB programmes. Among the many challenges Malm-borg and his team confront is supporting the national programmes in the face of competing political agendas. Managers of these pro-grammes sometimes have goals that do not align with the priorities of their country’s Ministry of Health, regarding the public health issues and geographic areas to focus on. Malmborg’s solution be-gins with listening:

“Our team listens to the national programme managers, discusses strategies for addressing whatever the problems are and then takes their concerns to the government. Sometimes we go directly to the minister of health.”

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This kind of active intervention by LHL partners has sometimes led government officials to recognise and prioritise an NGO they had previously ignored or not valued. In Malawi, for example, a woman named Mara Banda, head of a formerly-obscure local pa-tient TB organisation who took on this role, has since been invited to become a member of the National AIDS Commission.

Malmborg is thrilled when he sees LHL International-funded projects get this kind of recognition. “Part of our role is to support local com-munities to have a stronger voice,” he says, “It’s not us alone, of course. We work with experts from the World Health Organization, the International Union Against Tuberculo-sis and Lung Disease (The Union) and others. And Mara Banda is fantastic—she’s a great manager. In this situation, we did what we could to support her and make sure her voice was heard.”

Staff turnover is another common challenge in working with na-tional health care programmes. While programme managers may be excellent, it can be difficult for them to keep staff at jobs that may pay less than the private sector or that are located in remote


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areas. In addition, programme managers often have medical, rath-er than management, backgrounds, which can hinder their ability to keep qualified staff on board.

“This is where a programme such as The Union’ IMDP, which teaches these skills, is very important,” Malmborg says.

But politics also can play a role in turnover, as health ministries may shift funding for human capital to other health areas they deem a higher priority. That’s when Malmborg’s team again steps in as needed to help national programme managers work out solu-tions with top government officials.

Being in control of the funding can create project management dif-ficulties, too. Malmborg reports he must sometimes work hard to ensure that partner organisations don’t defer to LHL International in their decision-making. Cultural differences in many of the areas where he and his staff work can complicate things further still.

For example, one of LHL International’s projects is an operational research initiative called Triage-plus. The goal of the initiative is to improve access to TB services in communities in Sudan and Ma-lawi, as well as ensure patients with other lung conditions, such as asthma or COPD, get the care they need. LHL International partners on the project include Epi-Lab (a Sudanese NGO), Reach Trust (a Malawi NGO) and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medi-

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cine. Malmborg notices that leaders of Epi-Lab and Reach Trust tend to look to LHL International and the Liverpool School for di-rection, even when they themselves already may have a great deal of knowledge and information of their own to contribute.

To combat this tendency, Malmborg tries to make sure that every-one has a say in meetings. He has found this easier to do in Sudan than in Malawi:

“In Sudan, the culture is to be a lot more outspoken than in Ma-lawi. People can be very vocal. The Malawi culture is to be quiet; they wait a bit. They need to be encouraged to jump in.”

Not only does Malmborg go out of his way to provide this encour-agement, he endeavours to further empower his agency’s organ-isational partners by urging them to support and learn from each other. When someone at Reach Trust has a problem or question, he might suggest they ask the folks at Epi-Lab—and the other way around. It’s an approach that has worked out well, he says:

“Now we have researchers (in partner organisations) who find it easier to contact each other, rather than always reaching out to LHL International.”

He takes a similar approach with his own staff. LHL International has a staff of around 10 professionals. Malmborg insists that each member of his team take responsibility for at least one project, but

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he also wants to ensure that they lend their individual expertise to supporting each other. To promote this exchange, as well as en-courage sensitivity to cultural differences, he asks anyone return-ing from a trip to deliver a one-hour presentation to the rest of the staff. Returning staff members describe what they have seen and learned, what new opportunities there might be in the country and what decisions need to be made.

“It’s important that we are all part of a team,” says Malmborg. “It’s an important management issue that the people here feel they are empowered to make quite a few decisions on their own. We’re more like a Silicon Valley start-up than a classic NGO. I think it works quite well.”


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PARTICIPANT PROFILE:BECKY BAVINGER PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM, BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES

In 2013, IMDP was invited by Bloomberg Philanthropies to col-laborate on a new course “Project Management for Road Safety”. The course builds on the successful management courses offered by IMDP for tobacco control managers through the Bloomberg Ini-tiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, but focuses on the needs of people involved in road safety. With 1.24 million deaths attributed to road accidents each year, road safety is a major public health concern. Since 92% of the deaths occur in low- and middle-income coun-tries, the issue of road safety is a prime concern for both Bloom-berg and The Union.

Photo: Courtesy of Becky Bavinger / The Union

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The first offering of “Project Management for Road Safety” was held on 24-29 June 2013 in Kuala Lumpur and Rebecca Bavinger, one of the participants, agreed to be interviewed about the course. As a member of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Health Team, Rebecca provides support to the road safety and family planning programmes, so she was particularly interested in how these skills would advance the programme’s goals.

What was your goal in taking the project management and what did you hope to learn? My goal was to help evaluate the usefulness and applicability of the training for our road safety partners. I was also keen to learn more about project management from an international perspec-tive. This is, of course, very important for my own work.

Was the course what you expected? Were there any sur-prises? What were the most useful aspects of the course and the way it was taught? The course was quite a bit different from what I expected. I thought it would be more about human resource management, budgeting and budget tracking, reporting, M&E, etc. However, I feel that the course

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was more focused on "programme design", as we focused a lot of our time on theory of change, setting up indicators, problem tree, etc.

How have you been able to apply what you learned? Has it made to your ability to be successful in your work?Yes, I have been able to apply what I learned. For example, when reviewing quarterly reports from our Road Safety partners I am able to track what output versus outcome indicators they are meet-ing. I am better prepared now to help develop a program using a theory of change and establish valuable indicators to track impact.

Has the course affected the way you work in any ways you didn’t expect?I think one of the most valuable things for me was having the op-portunity to interact with the in-country staff. I've communicated with many of them via email or teleconference, but being able to put a face to the email address was really important.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2014 COURSEJune 16 – 20, 2014 • Register at union-imdp.org

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAY 2nd, 2014

PROGRAMME AGENDA

Project management is a fundamental component of successful programmes. This five-day course equips participants with an integrated, logical framework approach to project planning, implementa-tion and review.

BENEFITS OF TRAINING

1) Balance the variable equation of project management in regards to scope, time and resources

2) Apply the logical framework process for stakeholders, problem/objective tree and planning matrix analysis

3) Practice planning tools for managing projects, large and small

4) Successfully manage projects from inception to conclusion

5) Assess best practices and lessons learned for project replication and scale-up

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Junior- to middle- level project managers working in public health.

DATE LOCATION FACULTY LEVEL FEE LANGUAGE

June 16 – 20, 2014

Entebbe, Uganda


Junior- to middle-level professionals

Euro 2,000 Course fee includes accommodation, break-fast, lunch, tea breaks and course materials

English

Contact IMDP: [email protected]

Application deadline is 45 days prior to course. Upon acceptance into course, applicants will be invoiced. Fee payment is due within 30 days of invoicing.

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It is important to make a distinction between a project and a programme. A project is a temporary endeavor (with a defini-

tive beginning and end) undertaken to produce a unique product or service (new undertaking or unfamiliar ground). A programme is an ongoing endeavor with a collective body of work (projects) around one common mission or theme.

SAILING THROUGH PROJECT MANAGEMENTTOM STUEBNER DIRECTOR, THE IMDP

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Project management is the application of skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to meet the needs and expectations of stakehold-ers for a project. The purpose of project management is prediction and prevention, not recognition and reaction.

Project Success, Failure and ConstraintsProject success is usually achieved if donor requirements are satisfied or exceeded, completed within the allocated time-frame, completed within the allocated budget and accepted by the donor or customer.

Project failure can usually be attributed to scope creep, poor re-quirements gathering, unrealistic planning and scheduling and lack of resources.

All projects face the triple constraint of time, cost and scope. If the scope increases then time and budget will need to increase. If time is limited, then budget will likely increase, and the scope will need to be reduced. Similarly, if budget is limited then the time will likely increase and the scope will need to be reduced.

Role of a Project ManagerTo be successful, a Project Manager needs to develop a high level of competency at all the functions of project management, especially in the management of the process and the people. Most impor-tantly, the Project Manager will be responsible for being account-able to all stakeholders by showing efficiency (use of resources) and effectiveness (meeting goals and objectives).

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SIX PHASES OF THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

PROJECTS SHOULD FOLLOW A LOGICAL SEQUENCE FROM THE INITIATION PHASE TO THE CLOSING PHASE.

STEP1 Initiation Phase includes defining the need, return on investment analysis, make or buy decision and budget development.

STEP 2 Definition Phase includes determining goals, scope and project constraints; identify-ing members and their roles; defining communication channels, methods, frequency and content; and risk management planning.

STEP 3 Planning Phase includes resource planning, work breakdown structure, project sched-ule development and a quality assurance plan.

STEP 4 Implementation Phase includes executing the project plan to accomplish project goals, developing a training plan for the team, building the system and quality assurance.

STEP 5 Deployment Phase includes user training, production review and starting to use the product or service.

STEP 6 Closing Phase includes contractual closeout, post production transition and docu-menting lessons learned.

SEVEN KEY AREAS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

STEP1 Scope Management refers to defining and controlling what IS and IS NOT includ-ed in the project.

STEP 2 Issue Management refers to the restraints to accomplishing the deliverables of the project, and should be identified and documented throughout the project.

STEP 3 Cost Management refers to the process of ensuring the project is completed within the approved budget. Budget relates to both the quantity of needed inputs (resources) and the quantity of desired outputs (services or products).

STEP 4 Quality Management refers to the process of ensuring that the project will meet the stated needs (the purpose for undertaking the project).

STEP 5 Communications Management refers to the process of ensuring timely and appropri-ate generation, collection, dissemination and storage of project information.

STEP 6 Risk Management refers to risk (potential negative impact to project) identification and the development of mitigation strategies, which includes updating and tracking the identified risks.

STEP 7 Change Control Management refers to how changes to the project scope will be executed. All changes require collaboration and should be documented with formal approval by the donor or sponsor.

The Union, North America 61 Broadway, Suite 1720 · 10006 New York, NY, USA Tel: (+1) 212 500 5736 · Fax: (+1) 347 772 3033 email: [email protected] · www.union-imdp.org

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THE HEALTH MANAGERTHE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME® (IMDP)

ISSUE 3, 2014

THE HEALTH MANAGER Issue 3, 2014

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