Project Based Structure Booklet #1

2013

1. Understanding the context

Today, according to the State of National Area (SONA) report of September, we have 2859 active

members living a team experience in AIESEC in Brazil. 24% of them are allocated in GCDP, 15% of them are

allocated in GIP, 14% of them are working in TM and 52% of them are working in other areas.

Comparing these numbers with the results we had in September, according to myaiesec.net, we

realize that we need more than 2 members per month to give 1 RA of GCDP, and more than 6 members

per month to give 1 MA of GCDP. In GIP, the numbers are even worst: more than 3 members to give 1 RA

in GIP and more than 8 members to give 1 MA in GIP.

These numbers are quite scaring, and If we take a closer look at our membership, it is possible to

realize that we are not as efficient as we could be. AIESEC in Brazil is one of the largest entities in our

network, in terms of members, but our results are not responding properly.

Looking closer in the reason for us to have such low efficiency, it is possible to notice that our

massive performance comes in just a few months of the year and most of time we get lost with random

activities or preparation.

And the main reason that makes us have such a huge and concentrated performance is: our teams

timelines are out oh phase with the program timelines.

What does it mean?

It means that ideally a cycle that finishes in February requires a Team Leader working until

February, however, in reality the Team Leader changes in December, breaking the whole process. The

same thing happens with all the cycles that finishes or starts in all our “off peak” months. Visual examples

of this timelines will be sent next week until 01/10.

We don’t need a Team Leader elected in a month were he won’t be used to perform and it’s not

the best strategy to change the Team Leader in the middle of the process.

Considering this context, we found a practical solution for our efficiency problem: work in a project

structure.

Teams aligned with the programs timeline – Which means that they s

Teams are focused on specific

deliverables

Teams will be characterized as a

project

•Projects have clearly-defined aims that are set to produce clearly-defined results. Their purpose is to solve a "problem”, and this involves analyzing needs beforehand. Suggesting one or more solutions, a project aims at lasting social change.

Projects have a purpose:

•Their aims must be achievable. This mean taking account both of requirements and of the financial and human resources available.

Projects are realistic:

•Projects must have both a clear start date and end date, also they must be implemented in a specific place (or multiple places) and within a clear context.

Projects are limited in time and space:

•Projects are born from new ideas. They provide a specific response to a need (problem) in a specific context and most of the time, they are innovative.

Projects are unique:

•Projects are planned and broken down into measurable aims, which must be open to evaluation.

Projects can be assessed:

•Projects have distinct identifiable stages

Projects are made up of stages:

2. Understanding Project Based Structure

The project-based structure of AIESEC in Brazil must follow 3 basic statements:

A project is a temporary effort taken to create an exclusive product, service or result, according to

Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) of 2008.

The project structure we are proposing is very simple. Today, we live the Functional one, based on

departments, and we aim to change to the Projectized one, based on projects¹. Basically, our teams will be

focused on specific deliverables and their timelines will be aligned with the program they are working on,

not with the EB term. We aim to create teams that are highly specialized to deliver high volume in a short

period of time in all our operations.

In practice, it means that most of our operational timelines will be broken into projects.

Benefits of working in a project based structure:

The projects can be divided into 4 types:

Improve exchange performance:

Having specific deliverables and a limited period of time, the members will become more goal-oriented, what will improve results in different months of the year. They will also be able to focus on specific deliverables for “off peak” periods and the amount of people working to deliver exchange will increase substantially.

Flexible and accessible experiences:

Work with projects will allow more people to live the AIESEC experience, which will be provided with greater flexibility during the year. This will make us more relevant and recognized by our ability to develop leadership through experiences.

Quality and satisfaction:

The projects allow people to have their expectations better aligned with the work they will do. With expectations aligned, the quality and satisfaction of our experiences will increase.

Retention rate:

Having clear goals and a clear timeframe, we can guarantee member motivation and expectation for results, increasing our retention rate.

Projects focused to deliver ELD. They will be mainly short terms and multiplied according to each LC focus.

Operational Projects:

•Ex: Gira Mundo Project or Local Corporate Sales Teams

Projects focused on support ELD or deliver intermediate goals. They will be mainly short terms and multiplied according to each LC focus.

Functional Projects:

•Ex: Recruitment Cells or OC Y2B

Multifunctional projects focused on organizational development. They will be mainly long term and aligned with AIESEC 2015 ideal states. Strategic Projects:

•Ex: Brand Positioning Project or Alumni relationship project

Multifunctional projects focused on organizational development happening through different EB terms. They are mandatorily long term and are aligned with AIESEC 2015 ideal states.

Long-Term Strategic Projects:

•Ex: Government Relationship Project or Expansion Project

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION: Alongside with projects, there will be some processes as well.

Processes are deliverables that don’t have a clear start/end point and that must be done continuously.

Example: Customer Servicing to enhance an entity NPS. Those processes will be delivered by members

outside the projects.

3. Adapting to the Project based structure

It’s not difficult to adapt to the proposed project-based structure. You can do it, actually in a few

simple steps:

Booklet 2: EB Structure will provide information on how an EB structure will be built and what will be

the responsibility of each one of the VPs, which will change quite a bit.

Step 4 - Make it happen: It is important to guarantee an effective supply and demand management during the whole year, but also to guarantee that EVERY

SINGLE TEAM is continually aligned with the project characteristics.

Step 3 - Plan your talents: Define what are the specific backgrounds, skills and trainings

demanded by each project. With this information available, you can choose your recruitment model and define where will be

your focus of recruitment in each period of the year.

Doing that, you will have a very clear timeline of recruitment and will be able to plan conferences, development activities and all

the other activities in your LC.

Step 2 - Plan your projects: According to what is needed, in terms of ideal state and goals, you can plan projects specifically focused in each one of them.

Do not forget to guarantee that your projects follow the project rules, presented in the last chapter.

Step 1 - Identify your needs: By mapping each program timeline, the goals and the drivers for your term, you can easily identify what is needed, in terms of

deliverables, in each month of the year.

Examples:

Considering Jovens Talentos program:

What changes in each area?

GCDP and TXP areas

• The GCDP and TXP areas will work mainly with short term projects and some processes.

GIP Areas

• The GIP areas will work mainly with projects, but with a longer duration. Short terms projects will be more sporadic. Some processes will be presented.

COMM and FIN areas

• COMM and FIN will work mainly with processes, but with sporadic projects in the year.

PR and DEV areas

• PR and DEV will be composed mainly with long term and strategic projects and processes. They will work with sporadic short term projects in the year.

4. What changes in the MC support

The MC will be fully adapted to support the project-based structure. The whole support will be divided

into 3 strong pillars: Education, Management and Operations.

All the information about education management and operations will be sent in the following booklets,

until the end of November

•in order to create a sustainable fast-moving organization, the MC will work hard to guarantee better knowledge management, making the learning curve of our membership shorter. The learning activities will be standardized and intuitive, to allow people to be faster prepared.

Education:

•To improve efficiency of our managers, the MC will provide some models focused on projects and implement tools for large scale project management, like Podio. The consultancy model will evolve to improve the way LCPs manage their teams.

Management:

•In order to create stronger networks and improve the support to the project managers, the MC will select NSTs focused on projects. The TXP network will be focused on Project Management and a Project Portfolio for each area will be released soon.

Operations:

5. Risk assessments and solution

That is a risk assessment made by the national Steering team of AIESEC in Brazil 2012.

Problems that might happen Impact Probability

Lack of HR High Average

Leadership not prepared for projects High High

Members not prepared for projects Low High

Few time for mistakes High High

Unclear JD’s High Average

Short Time for Transition (Knowledge Management) Average High

Stakeholder Relationship Average High

LC Professional Behaviours Low Low

Difficulty to manage a High-Volume of TXPs High High

Change the Mindset High High

Traumatize the network if everything goes wrong on Q1 High Average

Experience Upsales is Required Average Average

Team Management Average Low

Members Retention High High

Lose Organizational Culture (Talent Onboarding) High Average

Lost of interest in AIESEC’s Purpose High Average

TLP Capacity Building (how to do trainings?) Average Low

Members Retention:

Incentive System and positive reinforcement for who finalizes their XP;

Make process less bureaucratic and optimize them (upsales);

Make things clear.

Change the Mindset:

External Analyisis (alumnus and externals talking about Project Management);

Role Modeling (AI and @BAZI); CSNs Connection (transition) and CSN-ST.

Difficulty to manage a High-Volume of TXPs:

TXP Area as a Project Management Office (PMO);

Make the teams more Horizontal; Greater Autonomy (Communication, Budget,

HR).

Few Time for Mistakes:

A better task management system (Podio); Knowledge Management; Include Fuck-Ups in the Projects timeline.

Leadership not prepared for projects:

Standardize Education; Make the activities simple to understand; Team Mininums Tracking and Capacity Building.

Solutions:

6. References

PMBOK 2008