Y-save is a big brand and name in the co-operative industry in Uganda. If anyone can name only ten of the many active co-operatives in Uganda, Y-save will certainly come up. I purposed in my life that I would not settle for any unpleasant circumstance defined by lack of the ability to make a difference in both my personal life and in the community I live in. I then joined a saving group - Y-save SACCO at the time - which instilled in me the discipline of saving money every month. I am proud of the move and up to date; I still make the monthly savings.
Y-save is now a multipurpose co-operative which change came as a result of the desire for members to expand its profit making portfolio. As a SACCO, Y-save was legally allowed to use the savings collected from members for credit only. For over ten years, Y-save lent money to its members and the returns were provided it with enough to sustain the operations of the organization and a little to be shared as dividends at the end of the year.
Later on, the members of Y-save tasked their leaders to do better than keep afloat and share a little dividend. This is when the leaders decided to think strategically, laying down a clear road map towards increased profits.
The CEO embarked of convincing the BOD and the supervisory committee of the need to change to a multipurpose co-operative which would open up more income generating opportunities for Y-save. It was a tough process but it worked out. The BOD agreed to it and the process was carried out and now Y-save is a multipurpose co-operative. This proved that the leadership was willing to support this drive to expanding the income generating portfolio.
Next on the CEO's list was to establish systems that would support Y-saves new operations. With such an open plate, the risk of engaging in loss making venture was just as high as the one opportunity of nailing a profit making one.
Another aspect of the organization's corporate culture which supported project portfolio management was the regular monthly meetings which provided a breeding ground for transparency and accountability to the members. (www.y-save.org)
- Kerzner (2010) presents a case study, in which Tina (Wuelfing) Cargile describes McElroy cultural challenges as follows;
Without improvements, past procedures developed over time were performed as they had always been and time management of projects failed because deadlines were determined arbitrarily. This reminds me of how we did project management back in Watoto. Department operated independently like an island not knowing or bothering to find out what took place next door. Staff and line managers who were responsible for implementing the projects were not involved in determining project scope and turnaround moreover there was also limited communication between divisions. As it would be expected employees were incapable of adapting effectively to unusual requests. (Kerzner, 2010)
Senior management took steps to correct this as follows,
Kerzner (2010) shows that there was collaborative effort from upper management, project managers, line managers and employees through each of their inputs which showed that proper information flow - hence better reporting - and improved communication had to be improved country wide. "This also led to a rapid and radical shift in culture and approach" (Kerzner, 2010) as follows;
Projects were better planned, managed, recorded and archived when management decided to invest in proprietary software. This further helped in putting things right.
Employees were no longer operating as islands but worked from a well informed point of view as a result of all project material being made available to all of them in electronic form.
"Independent department network filing and folder structures were merged into a single one to reduce on redundancy and make all project materials accessible." (Kerzner, 2010)
Project management were better prepared to engage in problem solving with the client because they were involved in the estimating stage of project planning.
The durations and frequency of meetings were greatly reduced and increased respectively making them more relevant especially to high risk projects. Such meetings - as Ricardo (2010) would say - "are much more sharp and crispy" hence more effective in reaching their goals.
Other steps taken included the introduction of an open door policy by the project managers; assigning of deadlines to best accommodate client needs and internal workload; creation of a dedicated customer service department and analysis of how information was communicated
Bibliography
- Kerzner, H. (2010) Project management best practices: achieving global excellence. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
- Ricardo V.Vargas. (2010)Five minute PM podcast: Meeting management.