Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 28, 2018 (SKNIS): Two half-day seminars are being held today, November 28, at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel to sensitize stakeholders on the Results-Based Management (RBM) System that will revolutionize the process in which national plans are carried out.
The RBM System promotes a more results-focused approach to programme and project management, in keeping with the decisions made by the Conference of Heads of Government. It refers to a management philosophy and set of tools designed to improve project/programme design; management; effectiveness and monitoring, along with reporting transparency and accountability of desired results.
Her Excellency, Ambassador Dr. Manorma Soeknandan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) who travelled along with members of her delegation to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, explained the rationale behind the development of the system.
“We have embarked on this road to develop this system because up until now, the way we have been working, is that when you have a project or a plan, we have had the habit of focusing on all the activities separately instead of looking at the overall picture,” she said.
She used the hypothetical example of a project to deliver 50 houses by the end of 2019.
“Up until now, the way we have been working is that once you have called people together, you have a meeting with them, you have achieved a result. Now with climate change, you want your roofs to be built in a certain way, so it is climate resistant,” the Deputy Secretary-General said.
“…So this mechanism, this tool now is going to say that every quarter…, this is what you have had to achieve. This activity should have been finalized. Next month, this activity should be finalized because that activity is not your result. Training your people or training your engineers to build certain types of roofs doesn’t mean that is a result, that is an activity. Your result is the 50 houses, having it ready to hand it over to your people,” she explained, noting that each activity comprising the project should not be considered an end result.”
“Are we achieving in a timely manner? Taking into consideration the timelines of the activities, are we doing it,” she added.
The seminar imparted information on the RBM approach to all invitees, and make them more aware of the work of the CARICOM Secretariat, as the key driver of regional integration in the Caribbean.