SOL-613-16-000013-_USAIDZIMBABWE_RETREAT_FACILITATOR.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK: USAID/ZIMBABWE Retreat Facilitator

Purpose

The USAID/Zimbabwe Mission seeks the services of a leadership and organizational development expert(s), who can assist the Mission in fostering greater leadership and organizational resilience. The facilitator will also work with the Mission to address issues related to communication and teamwork within individual teams and across the Mission.

Background

Over the past 15 years, Zimbabwe has experienced tremendous internal turmoil, due largely to political and economic uncertainties which have had direct and detrimental impact on the lives of all Zimbabweans, including USAID staff. Throughout this period of time, USAID/Zimbabwe has had to operate in a constantly changing country environment, sometimes under severe stress and extreme economic and political conditions that not only affected the work environment but also on the well-being of individuals and their families.

During the period 2012 to 2013 the Mission embarked on a year-long process to identify and resolve impediments to better communication, collaboration and a high morale environment. Reports and interaction with staff indicate that there is evidence that the Mission made significant progress in building a sense of shared vision and a culture of mutual support among Mission staff. This was achieved through a series of retreats and targeted interventions with selected staff and the various management and operational units.

In late 2013 the Mission decided to continue team-building efforts and taped into the services of USAID/Washington’s Staff Care program. The program provides assistance to all of the Agency's workforce in addressing a range of day-to-day life and resiliency issues, healthy lifestyles, fitness, improved lactation facilities, increased counseling services, etc. The effort is to promote a vibrant, healthy and diverse workforce and is currently being rolled out to USAID Missions worldwide. At the request of USAID/Zimbabwe, Staff Care conducted an assessment in December 2013 to support the Mission in developing strategies, programs and policies to strengthen the Mission’s capacity to promote a healthy, rewarding and productive work environment. Staff Care followed this with a series of retreats for the Mission’s technical and support offices.

Office specific retreats focused on team building and organizational strengthening.

Workshops were held on other subjects such as managing work/ life balance, planning, prioritizing and time management, and mentoring and coaching.

In 2014 until March 2016, Mission engaged a local firm to continue efforts. Staff Care was very well received and there was great demand for continued work in this area.

This included another round of Mission and team retreats, as well as the establishment of a learning curriculum to build staff skills in teamwork, communication, time management through a sustainable learning environment.

In 2016 USAID/Zimbabwe, developed a new five-year Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). For the next retreat, the Mission would like to go a step further, examining how to successfully implement the new strategy by focusing on achieving results through more effective team work. The Mission is already considered to have several high-functioning teams and this is an opportunity to build on collective strengths and create a unified Mission-wide team that maintains the momentum and enhances the performance created through earlier retreats.

Retreat Goal:

Improve the ability of USAID/Zimbabwe to operationalize the new CDCS through a shared vision and the necessary core teamwork skills to support this vision.

Objective

1. Create a shared vision regarding the teamwork necessary to implement the

CDCS.

2. To assess USAID/Zimbabwe’s strengths and challenges to ensure that the Mission has the necessary skills to support the vision.

3. Ensure that Mission staff understand their roles and contributions to the CDCS.

(This is particularly important for new staff.)

4. To identify opportunities for improvement, particularly in the following areas:

● Operational effectiveness (including coordination, collaboration and achieving synergies) vis-à-vis the new CDCS

● Internal and external communication effectiveness – building consensus, agreeing on expectations and establishing norms

● Empowering team members to understand roles and responsibilities and foster a culture of inclusion and accountability

Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required:

● Advanced skills in facilitation, team building, and retreat planning.

● Demonstrated knowledge of organizational processes, including strategic planning, communications, consensus building, and team building.

● Prior experience working with U.S. and other international development organizations working in a cross-cultural environment.

● Strong interpersonal and excellent communication skills.

● Demonstrated fluency in oral and written English.

● Flexible nature and ability to adapt to changing directions/thinking that may occur during the retreat.

Contract Requirements

Retreat Planning:

● Designing and conducting a survey to identify themes and potential issues to be addressed at the retreat. The Mission will establish an ad hoc retreat working group to provide assistance in preparing for and organizing the retreat. The working group will be comprised with staff, who can assist during the retreat as needed.

● Examine models such as appreciative inquiry as a means for discovery.

● Familiarize with USAID/Zimbabwe’s new CDCS.

● Design and conduct a pre-retreat information gathering through one-on-one interviews with selected staff and an on-line survey instruments that allow anonymous responses.

● Develop the retreat agenda with stated goal and objectives. This includes a timeline and suggestions for the length and format of the retreat. The Contractor must consult with USAID/Zimbabwe leadership prior to final approval of the agenda and schedule of activities.

Retreat Facilitation:

● Plan various interactive activities over the course of the retreat that will help facilitate the interaction needed to move the group successfully to the goal and objectives.

● Clearly state the objectives of each session both at the beginning and end of the sessions.

● Map out ideas from the activities - develop a collective action plan that identifies major achievable changes/actions during the year following retreat (initial thoughts should be presented at the close of the retreat).

● Listen to discussions and tone of the retreat proceedings and then be flexible to modify activities and discussions as appropriate.

Retreat Follow-up:

Design evaluation tools to be used immediately after the retreat and at the six and 12 month marks to track progress against retreat recommendations.

Develop systems to monitor and support progress against the action plans and maintain a high level of staff engagement.

Prepare a report action plan that summarizes results and recommends specific actions as required to maintain progress and keep momentum moving forward.

Prepare a presentation to summarize key lessons learned from the retreat.

Deliverables

● A proposed design, outlining possible approaches and activities.

● Pre-retreat survey instrument.

● One-on-one interviews with selected staff from all teams, management, FSN

Committee representatives and all team leaders.

● Detailed retreat agenda.

● A brief post-retreat presentation to the staff that summarizes the retreat and identifies expected next steps for the Mission.

● A summary report providing a record of retreat proceedings, evaluation results for the retreat, recommendations, and a realistic action plan.

● Post-retreat monitoring/survey instrument.

● Two out briefings. One with Mission Director and Deputy Mission Director and another with the Front Office, Office Directors and their Deputies.

Evaluation Criteria

Key personnel to include the lead consultant.

Ability to provide at least a two persons team that includes the lead consultant to carry out the task.

An all inclusive budget not exceeding US$25 000.00

Place of Performance and Duration

Harare, Zimbabwe. The consultancy will be for 11 days, and will include time for travel, preparatory/planning work, facilitating the retreat, and out briefings and follow-up. A six-day work week is expected.

Submission Those interested and available for this consultancy may submit their proposals to:

Attention: Robert Appiah, Supervisory EXO rappiah@usaid.gov

By July 27, 2016

Questions may be addressed to: bshirichena@usaid.gov mailto:rappiah@usaid.gov