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Heifer Cambodia Holds Strategic Plan Workshop

 

Facilitated by Heifer China Country Director Chen Taiyong, Heifer Cambodia held a workshop to produce its five-year strategic plan (2010-2014) at the Cambodiana Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 18-21, 2009, under the chairmanship of Dr. Mohandra Lohani, Vice President for Asia/South Pacific (A/SP) Program. The workshop was attended by all Heifer Cambodia staff and two distinguished guests - Miss Dang Thi Doan Trang, Heifer Viet Nam Interim Country Director, and Ms. Lina Yustana, Finance and Administration Officer for A/SP Program. The workshop began with a warm welcome by Mr. Ho Bunyeth, Heifer Cambodia Interim Country Director, and was followed by Dr. Lohani’s speech highlighting the combination of the views from three different levels of participants in this workshop. Dr. Lohani gave an analogy of the eagle who can fly very high and see a wide view, but does not see any detail on the ground, the pigeon who flies not so high and can see in between a big picture and detail on the ground, and the ostrich who cannot fly, but can see every detail on the ground. The eagle represents headquarters, the pigeon represents the A/SP Country Programs and the ostrich represents Heifer Cambodia. He also encouraged all participants to fully participate in the workshop to obtain a very clear and comprehensive strategic plan for the next five years. He also reminded the country program to work toward effectiveness, efficiency and consistency (EEC) to produce a very good result, and to be a strong pipe to flow the resources from donors to poor people who need help and assistance.

During the workshop, the participants were divided into four groups for discussion with the facilitator Taiyoung introducing the Heifer Model – the Cornerstones values-based planning steps, which included defining the situation, visioning the future, planning the program/project and managing and monitoring. “The strategic plans are essential in setting direction and focusing resources,” said the facilitator, adding, “But the plans are not cast in stone. They need to be reviewed at least once a year to see if the course we charted is still the one we want to follow.” With the participants’ enthusiastic discussion after defining the situation, a visioning description was defined based on SWOT analysis. Then from Force Field Analysis, five key issues were identified. They included the Values-based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) Program, Leadership and Staff Development, Communication/Networking and Resource Development, Accountability and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation system and tools. Certain objectives to solve these key issues had been developed while strategies to achieve the objectives among with indicators were set. Looking back and forth between the visioning description and the key issue, objectives and strategies, a clear vision statement for Heifer Cambodia was summarized, saying, “Disadvantaged and marginalized rural communities are empowered and graduate as value-based corporative for sustainable holistic development.” The three-and-half-day workshop brings Heifer Cambodia a clear strategic plan for the next five years (2010-2014). The plan will be complemented with the investment plan to achieve Heifer’s mission. At the end of the workshop, the participants did the reflection and showed their satisfaction of the results and the spirit of the team work. Lessons learned and experiences the participants gained from the workshop include: Facilitation style; Leadership style; The strategy of conducting strategic plan development; Culture of reflection; Spirit of team work; and Other experiences related to self leadership.

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