Monthly Report #18

The team conducted all meetings and outreach virtually to ensure continuity of services to the client and its stakeholders. The TCMST provided regular updates to the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) Change Management (CM) Working Group Lead. This month, the team started providing coaching sessions to leadership in the Center for Economics and Market Development (E&MD) and the Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub (ITR). The coaching sessions aimed to support leaders and managers/supervisors in their roles as change sponsors and champions, respectively. The TCMST continued to support DDI Operating Units (OUs) with OU Formation through the Nine-Step Team Building Process. In April 2021, the team co-facilitated a two-day strategic planning workshop for the Inclusive Development Hub (ID) and a kickoff planning meeting for the ITR Task Force. The TCMST also worked with Program Office (PO) leadership to finalize the agenda and materials for the PO all staff retreat in May. The TCMST's activities in April with DDI Hubs and Program Office are described in more detail below. The team confirmed the retreat objectives and agenda with the DAA and Acting Director of the PO and set retreat dates for May 4 and 6, 2021. The TCMST finalized the facilitator agenda and materials for the retreat in collaboration with two consultants who will be facilitating the retreat. The planned retreat agenda includes activities such as getting to know one another, PO high-level team presentations, identifying opportunities and challenges, and hearing from leadership on selected questions from staff. The TCMST also facilitated a workshop with ITR leadership to guide them in the process of creating a Task Force charter, which will provide a framework for future Task Force activities. The Inclusive Development Hub (ID) staff enjoyed getting to interact with their colleagues, and leadership was very appreciative of the efforts to make the activities engaging and participatory. The TCMST worked with an external facilitator to finalize workshop materials and assign roles for various activities. The TCMST submitted the first draft of the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL) Pulse Check Report on April 5, 2021, and the final version on April 12, 2021. The PPL Program Office requested that the TCMST present the report to PPL leadership and staff, which was done on April 14, 2021, and April 27, 2021. Key activities planned for May 2021 include the PO all staff retreat, the ITR Task Force workshop, and the ID Hub's strategic planning workshop. The TCMST will also continue to provide coaching sessions to leadership in E&MD and ITR and support DDI OUs with OU Formation through the Nine-Step Team Building Process.