FREQUENTLY ANSWERED

QUESTIONS

Project-Based Structure

All the information will be released in the Project-Based Structure

wiki.

http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10234306

1. Why and how the Project-based structure will increase our

Exchange performance?

The most important thing is FOCUS. A project-based

structure pushes mainly teams with high focus on specific

deliverables, what makes them more assertive. The Project-

based structure also pushes more autonomy, because of its

focus and clear awareness about what is expected from them.

In this structure, it is expected that more people become

involved with exchange operations, pushing a result-oriented

organizational culture.

2. What should I do until the end of the year?

Align the whole concept and timelines with your EB elect;

Map your needs until March 2013 – This is part of your

plan;

Align with your LC about the incoming changes;

Check in the portfolio what projects supply your structure;

Project Managers should be elected;

3. What should I not do until the end of the year?

Do not innovate or create different projects;

Do not elect Coordinators or Middle Managers the way we

do today;

Do not forget to align everything with your EB elect and

your LC;

Do not throw the message to the LC – Explain the whole

flow

4. Will you release a Project Portfolio?

Yes and is high recommended (almost required) that LCs use the

projects described in the portfolio, at least in this adaptation

period. The portfolio will be released at 01/11. You can find it in

the Project-based structure wiki

5. Where Internal Communication will be allocated?

Internal communication will be allocated in the DEV area,

because it’s a tool used to shape organizational culture, which is

DEV responsibility.

6. How DEV area links with Project Structure?

A structure based on project accelerates organization results, but

also bring some challenges and burning questions. How a leader

can deliver high volume experience in only 2-3 months? How

guarantee that the projects won’t start from scratch eatch time?

Learning and knowledge management are two main challenges

that surround a project-based structure. So DEV will strive to

provide capacity to run those projects. See some activities in the

area that will help:

- Fast and focused education;

- Reports for knowledge management ;

- Project management education in basic, medium and high

level;

- Transition for ST, MT and LT experiences.;

7. What will be DEV responsibilities?

DEV will work basically with Training, Development and

Knowledge Management, accelerating the member’s learning

curve, improving efficiency and performance, guarantying

management capacity for structure based on project and keeping

the most amounts of knowledge and experience as it can.

Learning activities are being planned as:

- Transition for all members that change their position,;

- A LEAD program that is more customized according to leader

reality and moment,;

- Induction ongoing faster, so members are prepared to perform

rapidly and in a high level;

- Local education cycle to capacitate members according to

demand;

- Organizational competence to shape the LC culture according to

its ambition;

- Learning program with 3 different levels of knowledge – basic,

medium, high.

- Special program for sales and selection members, considering

that this job is similar to all AIESEC core business.

8. My LC won’t have Dev, what should I do?

In LCs that won’t have a Learning & Development area, all the

education planning will be delivered by trainers. For this, it’s

important that they have a systemic vision, are proactive,

communication/facilitation skills and high capacity to self-

management.

However, in this case it’s important to highlight that the VPTM

role will be guarantee the LC’s management capacity.

All the LCs will have trainers, but their job description will be

different in LCs that have VPDEV and in LCs that don’t have.

9. What’s the role of COMM and FIN in this Project-based

structure?

Both COMM and FIN areas will provide support to the LC projects.

They will have a lean structure and, sometimes, work with

functional projects focused on specific demands. E.g.:

Recruitment Cells, Audits Process Creation, etc.

The MC will provide Job Descriptions and the organogram of each

area until 01/11 in the Project-Based Structure wiki.

It’s important to remember that you must have more than 70% of

your members allocated in operations-related jobs.

10. How to guarantee organizational culture in this Project

based structure?

You can guarantee organizational culture through an efficient

upsales management. Upsales is to sell an ELD program to

someone who already has lived another ELD program. The idea is

not to make all the experiences in AIESEC faster, but make them

more tangible through projects. There will be people experiencing

just one project and there will be people experiencing much

more.

It’s a TXP responsibility to guarantee effective up-sales and it’s a

DEV responsibility to work with Organizational Culture though

different actions.

9. How to sell it to my LC?

A message will only penetrate into your LC’s roots if it’s repeated

constantly. To reinforce the message: Use booklets, visual

handouts, FAQs, LC meetings, Area Meetings and all the channels

you have. Make it clear.

Explain the whole flow, starting with the efficiency issues that we

have, going through the timeline of teams versus the timeline of

programs, value-proposition based experiences and finally to the

solution presented by the MC.

You will be the only one generation to have the honor to build the

way AIESEC will work in 2015. This is such an amazing

opportunity that can motivate a lot of people.

10. How to work or guarantee upsales?

1. To have an effective pipeline management (who is in

each project? when each project finishes? when another one

starts? How much people do we need for each project?)

2. Approach in the right time – the TXP team must

approach every single ELD participant in the right time to offer

opportunities with a clear value proposition, made upon demand

to that public.

3. Clear value proposition – Guarantee that all the

positions you are offering have a clear value proposition and a

good service.

4. The VP TXP must have clear focus on upsales.

11. How the Project-based structure is aligned with the short

term strategy?

Once the projects are focused on specific deliverables, they will

be, most likely, shorter than the current ones. It means that our

short term portfolio fits perfectly with the whole project-based

structure concept.

It is stimulated to have projects that last 2 or 3 months, but

projects with more than 3 months are allowed.

12. What will be the MC support and when will it happen?

The MC will provide:

Booklets to clarify the structure

(November/December/January)

Classroom trainings to all the Local Committees

(November)

Management Models focused on projects (November)

Learning and Development Models focused on projects

(December)

Portfolio of projects for each area (November)

Job Description, timeline and Organogram of each area

CONAL 100% focused on the project-based structure

13. How will GIP work in this structure?

GIP will not have many differences.

For GIPo

1. Each project will be based on one and just one of the

national programs, if the LC runs more than one

national program, another project must be created.

2. Each project will manage the whole EP flow, from

promotion, going through raising, matching and

realization

3. An LC can run 1 national program and have 2 or more

projects for it, based on markets (Universities or operational

units).

For GIPi:

1. All the teams must have the project characteristics (specific timeline, resources, realistic, purpose, can be assessed, made up to stages, uniqueness)

2. Some projects can be created to push a very specific performance.

E.g. Local Corporate sales team – A team of high specialized sellers with the goal to make 900 meetings in 3 months, for example.

3. The programs have, most of times, a very long timeline (since raise until reintegration). So, it can be broken into different projects, encompassing just part of the processes.

E.g.: A project for Sales and another one for Match and Delivery. Service, can be a process, according to the demand you have.

14. What about my Operational Units? They have to work in this

structure as well?

Yes. It will be easier for an operational unit to work in a

project-based structure, mainly because they use to have a very

lean structure and capacity for a lot of results. The must be

focused and have clear understand about what they have to

deliver

15. Is my Operational Unit a Project?

Yes. Expansion to new market fits in all the projects

characteristics, so it is a project and it must be treated as one.

1 National program,1 market

1 National program, 2 universities 2 National programs, 1university.

Examples

:

16. What is the role of TXP ?

The TXP area has the following activities:

Generate team member experiences demand through

Jovens Talentos portfolios focused on specific needs;

Generate team leader experience demand through Jovens

Líderes portfolios focused on specific timelines;

Supply team experiences demand through several

recruitment models, considering specific backgrounds and skills;

Track the project-based structure timelines, guaranteeing

that operations are working well;

Guarantee satisfaction of team experiences through NPS

and also quality standards through TPP;

Generate team experiences and supply them in new

markets for expansion

The TXP area will work as a PMO (Project Management Office),

which means that it will be responsible to support each project in

the LC, guaranteeing that all of them are working very well the

way they should and providing support. The VP TXP will have

autonomy to break matches and realizations of Team

Experiences if one of the parts doesn’t accomplish the

responsibilities they should.

17. How a VP will be able to manage 7 projects at the same

time?

A project-based structure naturally pushes more autonomy

of project managers. It means that the tracking and management

of each one is easily and more strategic. Nevertheless, in order to

make team management easier, the MC will provide different

Management Models during November. Another thing is the

implementation of Podio in AIESEC in Brazil, an online platform to

support project management.

The VP TXP is also responsible to track each project’s

effectiveness.

19. How the structure affects retention rate?

The concept of retention rate had to be adapted from the

program-based one. It means that retention rate is calculated by the

number of people that lives a program until the end. Considering this,

once we have clear ends in all the projects together with a clear value-

proposition, it will become more attractive to finish each experience,

making our retention rate better.

On the other hand, it will be possible for people to get into

AIESEC to live a project and leave the organization (As a promoter). This

movement is totally acceptable, once we have to explore and develop

the leadership potential of everyone, even those who are just able to

live our experiences in certain periods of the year.