69048 LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION CAPACITY FOR NATIONAL RENEWAL TIMOR-LESTE Year Two – Final Report October 2008 - November 2009 Submitted by CMPartners, LLC January 2010 50 Church Street, Third Floor, Cambridge MA 02138 USA – www.cmpartners.com LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 2 Program Goals and Objectives 3 Lessons Learned 5 Recommendations 7 Appendices 10 A. Program Calendar 10 B. Program Deliverables 12 C. Experience with Video 13 D. Master Participant List 14 1 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1) In Year Two, the LCCNR program trained 106 Timorese from three distinct sectors: those working to return the Internally Displaced (IDP); youth; and government officials participating in the National Priorities Program (NP). 2) The sector approach permitted the development of more effective working relationships between leaders, better retention of the skills and tools as leaders had a reason to use the skills to address common problems, and offered a new model of leadership to key Timorese constituencies. 3) The Training Team benefited greatly from the experience gained during Year One, and was able both to apply that experience to the delivery of the skills, and to develop more opportunities for our local Timorese team to deliver modules, run exercises, and to facilitate break-out sessions during the workshops. 4) Year Two of the LCCNR confirmed a finding from Year One regarding leadership and how it is exercised: the Timorese definition of a leader generally emphasizes authoritarian characteristics within a hierarchical structure, one that leaves little room for ‘new entrants’ into the category. When offering an alternative definition and attendant set of skills and tools, the LCCNR program challenged the efficacy of the Timorese definition, encouraging both debate about and a broader understanding of the concept of leadership among LCCNR participants. 5) The focus of the LCCNR program was on enhancing the knowledge and the skills necessary to assess and change (as needed) the attitudes, assumptions and behaviors of a leader. The one area that did not receive the attention it required was what could be called the institutional systems and processes. A leader needs to be able to translate their capacity-building experience into making their organization more effective – managing disputes, relationships and differing interests, as well as informing others. Any new leadership training should consider a systems perspective as well as skills. 6) The LCCNR program has come to a close and in keeping with our commitment to sharing our learning, this report is devoted to the lessons learned and includes a set of recommendations that any similar future program should consider. 2 I. Program Goals and Objectives: Building on the lessons learned in Year One of the program, in 2008-2009 CMPartners successfully extended the Leadership and Communication Capacity for National Renewal (LCCNR) training program to a wider range of leaders in Timor-Leste, including those working in critical state institutions, as well as leaders involved in addressing some of Timor-Leste’s most pressing issues. Particular emphasis was placed on a sector approach, jointly identified and agreed upon by the World Bank and members of the LCCNR 2 team. The three sectors included those working to return the Internally Displaced Population (IDP), youth, and officials working in the National Priorities Process (NP). In Year Two, program content highlighted not only skills reinforcement but also the development and management of the critical relationships necessary to improve the functioning of these key sectors. In total, 106 Timorese leaders participated in the second year of the LCCNR program. The program consisted of an initial retreat (3.5 days for the IDP and youth sectors and 5 days for the NP sector), an application session, two three-day follow-up workshops and the day- long SIMSOC exercise*. Participants were selected according to their leadership role in their specific sector and were invited to attend all activities with the other members of their sector. The IDP and youth sectors came together at the end of the program for a day-long session and certificate presentation ceremony. The NP sector participants received their certificates in a separate ceremony. Participants were offered a mix of skills and tools focused on building self-awareness in negotiation and conflict management, improving communication and relationship management strategies, managing multi-party negotiations, and facilitating dialogue for more effective problem solving. In brief, the program’s goals, objectives and operating hypotheses can be summed up as follows: LCCNR’s Year Two Goals: 1. Reinforce leadership capacities across state and non-state actors in both formal and non-formal institutions within specific sectors. 2. Enhance communication skills and encourage information sharing within and amongst state institutions, civil society and the public in the hopes of improving policy outcomes. LCCNR’s Year Two Objectives: 1. Assist the state in establishing the systems and attitudes necessary to fostering better communications. 2. Support leaders from diverse groups in society as they seek to improve their ability to engage with each other in a spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding. LCCNR’s Year Two Hypotheses: * Given time constraints, the participants from the NP sector were not able to participate in the SIMSOC exercise. 3 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 1. Increasing the frequency and quality of communication by Timorese leaders will improve the quality of leadership in Timor-Leste. 2. Targeting trainings at specific sectors, where participants are working on the same issues, will enhance LCCNR’s ability to effect leadership positively in Timor-Leste and will improve participants’ abilities to collectively address the issues facing them using the LCCNR skills and tools. 3. LCCNR Year #2’s emphasis on improving the communication skills of leaders in targeted sectors will help Timorese leaders build effective, enduring relationships with their constituents and across class, gender, ethnic, tribal, political, regional and other lines. This result will contribute to more effective and responsive Timorese institutions. Evaluation Findings: The final evaluation, submitted in November 2009, describes in detail the achievement of the LCCNR program’s goals and objectives. However, there are three key insights that are worth mentioning here. 1) The LCCNR program has reinforced the capacity of Timorese leaders who participated in the program and while impact on policy is difficult to measure, the program has succeeded in improving information sharing within and amongst different institutions to a limited degree; 2) The sector approach was critical to improving collaborative decision-making in at least two cases – within the Ministry of Social Solidarity and between Suco leaders in one volatile Suco in Dili – and the approach laid the ground work for more effective communication amongst members of the National Priorities process; and 3) the introduction of “communication skills� as critical to effective leadership challenges the traditional model of Timorese leadership which, according to participants, is an important, positive step in redefining successful leadership. The evaluation also highlighted the challenges faced by any leadership training program in Timor-Leste, in particular the cultural context with its strong emphasis on hierarchy and authoritarian approaches to conflict resolution, the Timorese lack of experience in thinking creatively and analytically, an often ambivalent relationship between Timorese and foreigners, and the lack of promotion of female leaders. The LCCNR 2 program took into account these challenges and the following sections outline the lessons learned and recommendations for the implementation of future leadership training programs. 4 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 II. Lessons Learned 1) Definition of “Leader�. The LCCNR definition of a leader is different than the common Timorese definition. As discovered during the initial baseline survey, conducted in December 2007, the Timorese have a very hierarchical definition of a leader, one that is authoritarian and leaves little room for ‘new entrants’ into the category. The LCCNR program defines a leader as someone who can influence the decision-making power of another. The objective of the LCCNR program was not to change Timorese culture, rather we hoped to introduce new concepts to participants and to allow them to evaluate whether or not they were useful. This approach was both welcomed by the Timorese and challenging for the training team to implement, given the cultural context. For example, during the closing session of one workshop, a Director General commented that “This workshop has been great, but we are not leaders. Ministers are leaders, the President is a leader. We are not leaders.� However, if the Timorese are to successfully face their challenges, incorporating new skills, concepts, tools, and definitions of effective leadership into their repertoire will be essential**. 2) Face to face contact. The success of the LCCNR 2 program, especially in the NP sector, was largely due to a change in strategy regarding building buy-in to the program. Rather than rely on email and formal letters, the team developed an approach to different ministries and officials that involved meetings to explain the program, the development of a program brochure, and interviews in advance of any training program to better determine the issues and challenges facing the prospective participants. This approach succeeded in developing a better relationship between the LCCNR team and the participants and served to build some trust. This trust was critical to ensuring participation during the workshops and to breaking down some of the barriers between foreigners and Timorese. 3) Co-teaching. Based on feedback from Year One, the LCCNR team made a concerted effort to more fully integrate the Timorese staff into the teaching team. This had a positive impact on participants as they began to see their Timorese counterparts less as administrative staff and more integrated into the substantive program. This facilitated comprehension (with less sequential translation for some exercises and activities) and made it possible to more quickly integrate Timorese-specific examples. However, as will be outlined in the recommendations section below, this aspect of the program should be strengthened further. 4) Materials. In Year Two, there was a significant effort put into translating materials for participant binders. While necessary, this was complemented by an even more important strategy of varying the media (using pictures, stories, real-life examples, video) and presentation of materials in order to increase levels of comprehension and retention. Conveying the concepts via cartoons, stories, and color resulted in a real, positive improvement throughout 2009. The compilation of all materials into a final binder, which was distributed to all 2007-2009, also served to ensure some level of on-going retention and application of the skills and tools by participants after the program’s closure. ** For a further discussion of the Timorese definition of leadership please see the LCCNR Baseline report and Discussion Paper 1 from year one of the project. 5 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 5) Interpretation. One major challenge that was never fully resolved throughout the LCCNR program was interpretation. There was a high turnover rate amongst available interpreters and the nature of the material added a high level of complexity to the task. Several strategies were developed to deal with this issue, such as integrating the Timorese team as co-trainers, training the interpreters, and conducting regular meetings between the trainers and the interpreters prior to each workshop. However, given the critical role that interpreters play in the retention of the skills and concepts, it is recommended below that a full-time interpreter or fully trained Timorese facilitators would be more sustainable solutions to this challenge. 6) Observation. People learn a lot through observing either others or themselves negotiating or carrying out a conversation and Timorese are no exception. When participating in the role plays and the Solomon circle exercise, the Timorese demonstrated higher retention levels and a better understanding of the concepts. The use of video in the final workshop was especially successful and was an excellent tool for challenging some of the cultural stereotypes about effective leadership – rather than the message coming from an international trainer, the participants were able to observe and evaluate their own performance. 7) Ongoing Evaluation. Although many programs are designed with two evaluations (a baseline at the beginning of the program and a final evaluation at its completion), the LCCNR program benefited from several intermediary stages of evaluation. We found that this dramatically improved our ability to both assess and improve our effectiveness as we went along. The training content and delivery were both altered several times throughout the course of the program in response to observations by the independent evaluator and his team. As our Timorese counterparts adapted themselves to new structures and challenges, the program was able to learn from and respond to these challenges in real-time, strengthening the program’s relevance and impact. 6 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 III. Recommendations 1) Understanding the context. From the beginning of the program, the LCCNR team collected and collated the news events in Timor-Leste that could assist and relate to the teaching concepts. This was meant to provide the teaching team with an opportunity to bring together the theory and real life events in the context of each program activity. For any future training program, the facilitation team should be required to regularly inform themselves about local and international events and analyze how these relate to the skills and tools being shared. This analysis should include both an international perspective on local events and a separate, local Timorese perspective on those events. 2) Program focus. To date, the focus of the LCCNR program has been on enhancing the knowledge and skills necessary to assess and change (as needed) the attitudes, assumptions and behaviors of a leader. The one area that has not received the attention it required is what could be called the institutional systems and processes. Skills are a fundamental first step, however any leader of a group, community organization or government agency needs, at some stage, to translate their capacity-building experience into making their organization more effective – managing disputes, relationships and differing interests, as well as informing others. Any new leadership training should consider a systems perspective as well as skills. Systems are what create a conflict-competent organization in terms of managing development and change. For example, during one ministerial seminar to which the teaching team was invited, the staff (who had participated in the LCCNR and wanted to share their learning with their colleagues) appeared to have a real problem building further capacity in their organization given their lack of experience with mechanisms such as: a. Systems/options for ongoing learning and training; b. Systems to identify what methods of conflict management/problem solving to apply; c. Mechanisms for staff feedback; d. Conflict prevention systems: how to actually manage difference before it escalates; e. Case conferences for exploring new ideas or difficult issues; f. Information systems that are linked to effective communication and managing conflict; and, g. Support systems for difficult cases such coaching or mentoring. We know that training seldom achieves long-term change unless the participant goes back into an organization that supports the learning from the training experience. By integrating a systems approach into the training program, the LCCNR could better achieve its long-term goals of reinforcing leadership across institutions, improving communication and collaboration amongst leaders, and effecting better policy outcomes through more effective leadership. 3) Consolidation after building. The LCCNR’s task was to enhance or reinforce leadership capacity and the sharing of information to improve policy outcomes. One of the recommendations to any new agency involved in a long-term program is to focus not just 7 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 on “building� but to also look at “consolidation� and support once the skills have been enhanced. This suggests three strategies. a. First, a balance needs to be created in the training program between working with new participants and helping past participants. If this balance is not there then participants risk returning to their “post conflict� environment after an intensive training experience feeling unsupported. More effort needs to be devoted to developing an appropriate mechanism for post training support as part of the ongoing training program. The application sessions and visits to participants in the LCCNR program were a step in this direction, however more needs to be done. b. Second, put more emphasis on building a solid Timorese teaching and translation capacity at the start of any new training program. This will ensure that the teaching team is modeling the values espoused by the program, emphasizing the capacity of the Timorese to resolve their own conflicts, and it will ensure the sustainability of the program as local capacity is built. c. Third, build in a training or orientation component directed at those leaders to whom our program participants report. We found that in Timor-Leste, it is particularly difficult for people to apply new skills unless their direct supervisor understands and is supportive of those skills. 4) Communication strategy. Ideas, insights, and lessons constantly arise out of a training program. The question is where do they go, how are they picked up, disseminated, applied and fed back to the community? As was revealed in the evaluation process, the Timorese as well as the international community are interested in learning from one another. While the LCCNR team made a point of meeting with donors, partners, and other international and domestic organizations to share the learning, a more structured process would be more beneficial. The development of a community communication strategy, integral to the training program and which is relevant to local conditions and focused on the sharing of insights, should be a critical piece of any ongoing work in Timor-Leste. 5) Materials. While the LCCNR team made significant improvements to the training materials over the course of year two, additional efforts could be made to enhance the training experience for participants, thus positively impacting retention of the concepts. A multimedia, multi-method approach consistent with local conditions, including role plays based on local problems, the use of video, and more focus on post-training materials (such as the final binder produced in Year Two), will contribute to this goal. A description of the LCCNR experiment with video is outlined in Appendix C, to highlight the positive lessons learned. 6) Concepts. The basic negotiation and communication skills offered by the LCCNR team as critical to effective leadership remain the core of the training program. However, participants and members of the training team have subsequently recommended several additional concepts and tools and it is recommended that innovative ways be found to integrate them into the training program. a. Group Mediation & Facilitation as Leadership skills. A common frustration among past participants seems to have been rooted in their efforts to apply the leadership tools in group meetings when they were technically not in charge. Participants reported having trouble thinking about the negotiation skills tools 8 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 when their interests were not the main issue on the table, or when others were having trouble seeing eye to eye. Integrating the tools to facilitate dialogue or reconciliation between other parties is an important next step for the LCCNR program. b. Influence Triage: A Key skill of good leader. Throughout the workshops, the teaching team discovered that helping participants disaggregate their big issues into smaller, more manageable nuggets made a demonstrable difference in how they were able to apply the concepts. Further focus should be made on assisting participants to understand how leaders increase their influence: One must first identify what issues they might be able to influence; then think about how they might increase their influence. This concept should be expanded into a full module. c. The power of Story in helping others to understand a concept. Throughout the LCCNR program, new participants entered the process at various stages. In order to deal with this effectively, the teaching team decided to invite groups of 3-4 participants from past workshops to explain a single concept with a story– not as a type of mini Training of Trainers, but for two purposes: 1) In order to practice sharing these concepts with others. It was important for participants to think about and practice just how they might explain their new skills or strategies to colleagues, family, or friends who might question their new approach or way of thinking; and 2) To understand the concept better themselves. There is no better way to internalize a new concept than to try to explain it to others. This approach should be integrated more systematically into the training curriculum, to involve participants more actively in each subsequent training activity, as well as to enhance their learning. d. Metaphors are STRONG as teaching points in Timor-Leste. We were lucky enough to come up with a good metaphor that really resonated with this NPS group – swimming together is always safer when you are a new swimmer, therefore our training veterans should look for ways to support one another after the workshop as they try out your new leadership skills. This story served three purposes: a) It helped them to begin to imagine what they might do differently after the workshop; b) It provided them a powerful visual image for what we were asking them to do; and c) It served as a type of a rally cry for the group (“we need to swim together�). This type of metaphor has a powerful impact on the Timorese and is worth using this metaphor with participants and thinking of other, equally appropriate metaphors to consolidate the learning processes. 7) Exit strategy. Colin Powell once said “never intervene if you don’t know your exist strategy�. The underlying concept seems to resonate for any intervention. How will you leave, what will you leave, what will people do after you leave? What happens to the intellectual capital? What local agency is ready and willing to pick up where the outside agency has left off? What is the transition mechanism? What is the strategy to sustain the learning/skills? Do we just sell the computers and the car and walk away? Each of us on the team has sowed some seeds on what could be thought of as fairly rocky ground, who will water them, tend to them, nurture them? Our recommendation to a new agency is that a) the program should have a 3-5 year implementation horizon and b) the exit strategy needs to be planned at least 12 months before its execution. This planning should be done in partnership with a local agency and preferably not an international donor like World Bank, in order to ensure true sustainability. 9 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 IV. Appendices A. Program calendar and activities Time Frame Activity October-November 2008  Conducted interviews  Met with participants from Year One  Team capacity building session  Participant selection process completed for group one – IDP Sector  Revision and adaptation of curriculum  IDP Sector – first training  Initial mentoring and application session with Senior Trainer December 2008-January  Year Two baseline assessment completed (Month Four) 2009  Participant selection process completed for group two – Youth Sector  Mentoring with Timor-based team o Meeting and interviews with some of the newly trained participants to better understand challenges; needs; etc February-March 2009  Youth Sector – first training  IDP Sector – second training  Simsoc Session with IDP leaders  Continued adaptation of curriculum  Second application session  Mentoring session with participants (leaders from Barrio Pité)  Assessment process for third group – initial interviews with World Bank team and partners  Follow-up training session with Timor-based team April-June 2009  Mid-term evaluation visit  Youth Sector – second training  IDP Sector – third training  Participant selection process completed for third group – the National Priorities Sector  Diagnostic process for National Priorities Sector (including visits to Ministries by Senior Training and members of the Dili- based Team) July-August 2009  National Priorities Sector – first training  Youth Sector – third training  Youth Sector – Simsoc session  Continued mentoring sessions with IDP and Youth Sector participants  Joint final session and Certificate presentation for Youth and 10 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 IDP sector participants September-October 2009  National Priorities Sector – second training  Final evaluation visit  Presentation of results evaluation – planned and then cancelled due to family emergency  Networking Activity organized and implemented – Dialogue Group, facilitated by Dili-based team  Mentoring with IDP participants, particularly Barrio Pité leaders addressing questions of petitioners  Ministry of Economic Development NP Sector participants organized a session and invited LCCNR team to attend and provide feedback November 2009  National Priorities Sector – third training (Extension)  Final mentoring sessions  Distribution of final materials to all first and second year participants (a booklet containing all tools presented during the LCCNR program, intended as an ‘aide memoire’ for participants and as a tool to help them share the skills with others. 11 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 B. Program deliverables (reports) As per the proposal, the following documents were produced and submitted by CMPartners throughout the year:  Regular reports on the training workshops and follow up activities, outlining successes and challenges: o Periodic email updates to the World Bank Program Manager; o January 2009 mid-term report; and o July 2009 mid-term progress report.  A coaching and mentoring plan for the Sector-based training groups, including expected inputs from the off-site training team: o Mentoring Plan submitted in January 2009; o Regular activities of the international trainers during each visit including:  An application session after each initial retreat,  Extensive mentoring to a group of trained leaders from Barrio Pité (Dili);  Monitoring of a group of trained leaders from Baucau, including the PNTL team there;  A dialogue which included Year One and Year Two participants; and  Follow up by the Ministry of Economy and Development.  Regular written reports on the mentoring activities: o Periodic emails from Dili-based Program Manager, as well as from the International trainers.  A monitoring and evaluation plan for the LCCNR 2 program: o The monitoring and evaluation plan was part of the December 2008 report from the International Evaluator and based on recommendations provided in Year One of the program.  An initial, year two baseline report: o Submitted January 2009.  A substantive, mid-year report on progress to date, including challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for the final half of Year Two – due end of December 2008: o Submitted December 31, 2008  A mid-term evaluation report: o Submitted July 2009  A final evaluation report of the LCCNR 2 program: o Submitted Nov 2009  A final substantive report on the LCCNR 2 activities and outcomes, including lessons learned and recommendations for going forward: o This final report, submitted January 2010. 12 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 C. Advantages of using a variety of media in the training context – the LCCNR team’s experience with video taping A major success during the final NP workshop occurred during the filming and review of individual bilateral negotiation exercises. These negotiation cases were self-selected and represented actual issues they faced, or might face (Negotiating the completion of a construction contract with the Ministry of Economy & Development, and Negotiating a Social Security System in the Ministry of Social Solidarity). There were several significant advantages associated with using the videotape technology: a. They saw themselves – while this is always a benefit in skills-based training, it was particularly poignant with the Timorese, many of who had never watched themselves strategically trying to influence another. b. They explored iterations of how best to engage the other party – This is a particularly difficult issue in hierarchical environments: “How can I get them to engage with me at the table?� The common stumbling block in Timor- Leste seems to be that negotiations begin with some version of a strategy of telling the other side what they SHOULD do. This is understandably unattractive to most counterparts. Through several different attempts to begin the negotiation, participants got to see how their opening strategies played out and how their counterparts might respond differently if there are offered an attractive role in the negotiation (e.g. Give me your advice. Let’s brainstorm. Let’s try to identify common interests. Etc.) c. Body language – As is always the case, it requires actually seeing a video of ourselves in action to really understand how we come across and what we are unintentionally communicating in a non-verbal way. d. Really exploring the other side’s Interests – In all of the first rounds of negotiation, each team failed to really discuss their counterpart’s interests. That makes the success of the negotiation less certain. By watching themselves roll out a strategy that was very self-focused, negotiators were able to see how ineffective that is. This opened a space for deeper questions about whether or not they had really understood the other party’s interests. In each group during the second round, they all opened the negotiations with an expression of the other party’s interests, and they in turn were able to see the significant impact on their counterpart. e. True Inquiry observed – The participants were trained extensively in the difference between real inquiry and provocative advocacy disguised as questions (“red-zone advocacy�). The videotape allowed them to observe themselves and their colleagues trying to apply this theory, and finding that it requires breaking some deeply imbedded habits. The positive impact of asking questions first before advocating was self-evident when they saw it for themselves, and it was particularly helpful to them to identify for themselves what True Inquiry looks like in the context of Timorese culture. f. Value of video as a preparation tool – Although the technology was used as a training tool, participants discussed at length the possibility of using the same method as a preparation tool for their real-life negotiations. As the technology of Digital Video has become cheaper and more accessible (the LCCNR team used a “Flip Video� camera) many participants agreed that they could 13 LCCNR Training Program CMPartners Final Report, Year Two – January 2010 probably borrow a simple camera to use in their offices to practice and review negotiation strategies in preparation for actual negotiation challenges. g. Videos helped to show value of silence – Participants discovered that one of the disadvantages to extensive structured preparation in Timorese negotiations was that the well-prepared negotiator has difficulty stopping once they start talking. One of the most common observations by participants of their colleagues was that they needed to stop talking after initially making their points in order to really hear their counterparts. h. Logistical Concern of Audio – The one downside found to using compact video was the audio portion of the recording. The smaller cameras require indoor recording and holding the camera relatively close to the subjects. So the first round of video recording was not as good as later attempts. Regardless, there was plenty in the first round to observe simply from watching the participants body language. D. Description of participants See attached Excel spread sheet. 14