Action-training in project planning and management : a review of the experience of the national planning project-Government of Jamaica, 1976-1979

Special evaluation, written by a project advisor, covers the period 1976-79. A local, multidisciplinary Project Development Resource Team (PDRT) was set up in the Ministry of Finance to conduct and develop an institutional capability to conduct AT. To this end, PDRT introduced coordinated systems for project planning (based on a Project Profile - a standardized initial conceptualization of a project - that has unexpectedly received wide use in the GOJ) and approval, and is introducing systems of project monitoring. Within this context, PDRT has geared AT to five specific areas, preparing project profiles, project implementation planning, project management, project administration, and project appraisal. PDRT has used different kinds of AT interventions depending on whether stress was placed on action (project development) or training (skill enhancement) - AT's complementary, but sometimes competitive goals. The specific content of any AT intervention is determined by the trainee's role in a project. Seminars have proven to be a particularly effective intervention with senior officials. As the project has progressed, the PDRT has expanded its role to become actively involved in project- and organization- related training of selected GOJ ministries and agencies. Initially, there were frequent staff vacancies and uncertain career prospects at PDRT; however, institutional changes introduced in spring, 1979 have permitted recruitment to PDRT on a more flexible and permanent basis. To date, PDRT has directly assisted a total of 114 projects (more than anticipated) through consultations (46), planning courses (39), and implementation courses (29). A project planning and management series consisting of four manuals and 45 modules will be published soon. A PDRT unit was most effective when it was small, stable, set up in a central agency, committed to projects, led by a native, and oriented to planners and implementers.