Monthly Report #27: Change Management Task Order

The team received news that the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) and the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) Innovation, Technology, and Research (ITR) Hub were interested in funding additional buy-ins to the Change Management (CM) Task Order. The TCMST met with RFS's Operations Manager and Acting AMS Chief to discuss RFS's CM needs, specifically regarding their transition into a hybrid working environment and managing changes within the AMS office. The team also met with the Bureau for Management's Office of Acquisition and Assistance's Office of Foreign Operations (M/OAA) to discuss a buy-in to assist with the implementation of a workforce retention plan. However, due to high turnover in M/OAA's front office leadership, those discussions experienced delays. The TCMST worked on finalizing reports for activities implemented at the end of 2021. The team's work with buy-ins from the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) included the Program Office (PO), Innovation, Technology, and Research (ITR) Hub, and Center for Economics and Market Development (EMD). In the Program Office, the TCMST submitted a draft CSO Customer Experience (CX) Team Charter on January 7, 2022. The team also reviewed an existing SOP on interagency agreements and submitted a draft document for the interagency agreements SOP package on January 10, 2022. The TCMST met with the PO Acting Director, Budget Execution Team Deputy Lead, and CSO Team Lead on January 27, 2022, to review the draft SOP package. In the Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub, the TCMST continued weekly check-ins with the ITR Acting Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Lead, and Executive Assistant to review the ITR strategic planning process and plan for next steps. The team submitted draft reports on Activity 1 of the strategic planning process and on feedback sessions for ITR onboarding slide decks held in December 2021. The TCMST facilitated SWOT analyses on four thematic areas in December 2021 and submitted a draft report on January 10, 2022. The report included summary SWOT analysis tables that consolidated SWOT analyses completed during two key stakeholder workshops and integrated staff input collected during the December 9 ITR All Hands Meeting. The team noted common patterns that arose across all thematic areas, such as strong internal expertise and internal and external relationships/networks, opportunities to be involved in high-profile areas and topics, limited funding with competing priorities, and activities that tend to isolate teams rather than encourage collaboration. The ITR Acting Director and MEL Lead plan to organize meetings with each Division to review the strategic planning process and answer questions, as staff may not have a complete understanding of the process and its objectives. The TCMST expects to hear back from M/OAA within the first week of February with a further update on the buy-in to assist with the implementation of a workforce retention plan. The TCMST's activities for January 2022 are summarized in the table below, along with the estimated percentage level of effort (LOE) for each client. These percentages represent average time spent on client activities and do not include time spent on overall administrative and management support. Client/OU Key Activities Estimated % LOE for January PO • Draft SOW for development of SOP Interagency Agreements • Draft CSO Customer Service Team Charter • Coaching 10% ITR • Draft ITR Activity 1 Report • Draft Report on ITR Onboarding Slide Decks • Meetings to discuss the transition to Activity 2 • Coaching 45% EMD • Draft PCD Team Focus Group Discussions Report • Coaching 40% RFS • SOW Development 5% The TCMST's work with the Program Office (PO) included finalizing reports for activities implemented at the end of 2021. The team's work with the Innovation, Technology, and Research (ITR) Hub included reviewing the ITR strategic planning process and planning for next steps. The team's work with the Center for Economics and Market Development (EMD) included drafting reports on PCD Team Focus Group Discussions. The TCMST's activities for January 2022 demonstrate the team's continued commitment to supporting the client and its stakeholders through the Change Management (CM) Task Order. The team's work with the Program Office, Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub, and Center for Economics and Market Development highlights the importance of effective change management in achieving the client's goals and objectives.