Instituto Ipe Cultural & IBM's CSC: A Strong Partnership

Having been in Uberlandia for 6 business days, I want to get back to basics for just one blog post.  Some of you may be asking, “Why is IBM in Uberlandia?  What does the CSC program do for Ipê?”  A majority of this blog will give you insight into CSC Brazil 14’s mission at the local level. 

 

Fifteen IBMers have come from 11 different countries to tackle some pressing problems experienced by the city government (a.k.a. the municipality) and local NGOs (non-governmental organizations).  We have been broken into 7 teams working with 6 different clients.

What is my team doing at the Instituto Ipê Cultural?  Here is what Hazira and I have been challenged to complete during our month:

Project Title: Enhanced organizational structure and HR procedures

Activities to Attain Objectives:

1.    1.)  Hold initial meeting with Ipê Institute’s management team to review scope of work, understand mutual expectations, and determine assignment action plan;

2.    2.)  Revise scope of work within one week based on current situation;

3.  3.) Develop greater in-depth understanding of the organization’s programs and projects as well as understanding of the organization’s statute, goals and objectives;

4.    4.) Develop understanding of the organization’s HR processes through interviews with staff and clients;

5.  5.) Set up interviews and evaluations with staff, volunteers, and consultants in coordination with the management team;

6.    6.) Design HR processes;

7.    7.) Design customized HR tools;

8.    8.) Propose an organizational structure; 

9.    9.) Train staff on how to implement new strategy and/or tools;

1   10.) Provide regularly updated briefings with organization’s management and/or working group on assignment progress, including final summary presentation on assignment results and recommended next

Deliverables of the Assignment

1.       => A revised scope of work, if necessary, after one week based on the current situation and discussions with organization’s management;

2.       => Organizational Organogram, HR manual with tools, and HR policy;

3.       => A final presentation to management working group outlining the team’s key deliverables and solutions;

4.       => Action plan of next steps for implementing the project.

To date, we have completed 12 out of 13 interviews with key Ipê staff and volunteers.  By week’s end, we plan on having a deliverable for each person outlining a Job Description, Roles & Responsibilities, and Skills required to perform the job. We're getting closer.

At the end of the day, I had planned to walk to a local park.  The park is directly adjacent to a well-known church.  I had hoped to photograph the ipê tree, as well as some Brazilian marmosets (small monkeys) living in a nearby tree.  Itamar, Camila, and Daniella surprised me by offering to take me to an abandoned lot, in a far corner of town, to see a pair of burrowing owls, also know as coruja (co – rue’ – juh).  After some intense searching and a question or two to a local business owner (whose business was only 2 blocks away from the owls), we arrived.  The owls must have known we were on our way because the male & female were both sitting on a termite mound, which sits on top of their burrow, waiting to greet us.  Local neighbors told us that there are owlets in the burrow, but we weren't fortunate enough to see them.  What a wonderful surprise and for me, a perfect way to the end my day. After a 20 - 25 minute walk back to the hotel, it was time to prepare for the day's next meeting.

At the end of the night, Larissa & Bruno (our program consultants) met with the extended team from 8PM – 10:15PM.  It had been a long day.  At 12:15 AM (Tuesday), I was very glad to shut down and let my head hit my pillow.  

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