| Plexus Consulting Group | Success Stories | ||
| International Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture |
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Practice Areas The Plexus Team
Plexus Consulting Group, LLC |
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Summary The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the specialized agency for agriculture and rural well-being of the inter-American hemispheric system. Founded in 1942, it has 34 member states, offices in each of them and headquarters in Costa Rica. IICA addresses issues of:
Organizational Structure The Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), IICA’s governing body, which is made up of its member states holds regular meetings every two years. The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), at its Thirtieth Sessions, gave the IABA a new dimension and recognized it as the primary ministerial forum for analyzing and building consensus on policies and strategic priorities for the improvement of agriculture and rural life in the hemisphere. In addition, in the Declaration and the Plan of Action adopted at the Third Summit of the Americas, the Heads of State and Government extended the Institute’s role beyond that of providing technical cooperation services, asking it to promote dialogue and consensus building on issues that are critical to agricultural development, the environment and the rural milieu, within the framework of efforts to promote integration and hemispheric prosperity. The General Directorate is the Institute’s executive organ. It comprises all the executive, technical and administrative units of the organization, and is headed by the Director General. To provide its cooperation services, IICA works in strategic partnerships with national, regional and international institutions, both public and private, linking its Northern, Caribbean, Central, Andean and Southern Regions through its network of offices in 34 countries in the hemisphere. Situation The IICA General Directorate approached Plexus Consulting Group to provide operational planning, team building, and executive coaching to its key arm, the Office for Strategic Partnerships housed within the office of its Representative in the United States in Washington DC. IICA had just adopted its 2002-2006 Medium Range Plan, and had new leadership assuming the positions of Director General in Coronado, Costa Rica; and Associate Deputy Director General in Washington, DC. The Director General was anxious to focus on effectiveness at the inception of his term, and the new Associate Deputy Director General was charged with balancing eight official roles among his duties, including chair of the Northern Hemispheric Region, and liaison to the European Community. A gifted agricultural economist, the Associate Deputy Director General sought the services of an outside consultant to focus on the practical realities of developing a staff team that would complement his advocacy negotiation, and resource development functions. Action IICA retained Plexus Consulting Group for a six month project to engage in team building, operational planning, executive coaching, and facilitation of a series of seminars dealing with mission centered strategies, vision and values, reciprocal roles and responsibilities, performance measures focused on outcomes, transparency and accountability, and avenues and vehicles of communication. The Plexus team leader, Gina Ryan, led the staff through a discussion of critical successes and opportunities influencing the effectiveness of IICA’s plan accomplishments. Team members were asked to complete confidential questionnaires, and were interviewed individually. In an atmosphere of trust and openness, the individuals were able to express with frankness and candor their hopes and aspirations for the organization and opportunities for their contributions to it. Following the individual interviews, team members met in a series of group meetings to design an operational plan based on the IICA 2002-2006 Medium Range Plan. Working together, the team members were able to set priorities, identify overlapping responsibilities, and come to an agreement on who would be the most appropriate leaders in several key areas. A couple of team members resigned at this point, declining to undertake a full time staff commitment within a new structure. Part of the team building exercise focused on preparation for the annual meeting of the representatives of IICA from each member state at the headquarters in Costa Rica. The Plexus Consulting Group advisor was engaged to accompany the team from the United States to continue facilitating the operational planning process, and to engage in ongoing evaluative dialogue with executives of the General Directorate. The annual meeting served as an occasion for other team members as well as the associate deputy director general to crystallize the focus of their relationships to IICA. Results Participating in the annual meeting resulted in additional resignations, refining job descriptions for those who wished to continue, negotiating graceful exit strategies, and developing a short range transition plan that would accommodate the requirements of the General Directorate as well as the oversight of the Washington DC office. The General Directorate was presented with two operational plans that had input from all team members. One plan integrated the functions of the Office of the Representative in the United States with the Office of Strategic Partnerships. The other separated them with an eye toward making the role of the director more manageable. The integrated plan was ultimately chosen as the most desirable model for IICA’s Washington DC based functions, and provided a roadmap for the successor to the associate deputy director general. |
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