Objective of the Program: The provincial service providers manage existing and newly constructed facilities cost-effectively and according to agreed plans and standard procedures (direct benefit). Better management and operation of the facilities have a positive impact on environmental conditions, reduce waste induced health risks and, therefore, contribute to poverty alleviation in the urban areas and surroundings (indirect benefit).

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The project is being carried out in two phases:

TC Phase 1: February 2005 to July 2008

TC Phase 2: August 2008 to July 2011

Objective of the First TC Phase: Wastewater companies in up to six provincial urban centers operate their existing storm water systems in accordance to agreed standards and are prepared to take over additional tasks related to the extension of the sewerage collection and treatment facilities.

Result 1: Capacity building [organization, management and operation] of wastewater management institutions in provincial urban centers ensure more effective operation and maintenance of the wastewater system.

Result 2: Revenue collection systems and mechanisms to recover operation and maintenance costs of upgraded wastewater systems in provincial urban centers are developed and introduced stepwise.

Result 3: Beneficiaries in the selected provincial urban centers are aware of their rights and responsibilities regarding wastewater management and participate actively.

Result 4: Cooperation and information sharing within and between local and national levels are increased.

The indicators of the objective and the results 1 to 4 are documented in the Project Planning Matrix for Phase 1 (PPM-1) which can be downloaded here.

Objective of the Second TC Phase: Wastewater disposal in supported provincial centers improved

Indicator 1: The wastewater companies operate according to commercial principles in line with the Enterprise Law and Decree 88/2007/ND-CP and revenue from wastewater tariffs cover at least the O&M costs in full.

Indicator 2: The wastewater installations are maintained in accordance with agreed inspection and maintenance programs.

Indicator 3: In the project areas of the towns under the program, at least 60% of the households that are connected to the sewerage system are informed about their rights and obligations in wastewater management (survey results).

Indicator 4: The relevant decisionmakers and technical departments are informed about the various options for decentralized wastewater management and endorse them (survey results).

Indicator 5: The Departments of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) in the participating provinces monitor surface water and effluent discharge into receiving water bodies in accordance to prevailing regulations.

The indicators of the objective and the results are documented in the Project Planning Matrix for Phase 2 (PPM-2) which can be downloaded here.

Implementation Approach of the TC Component:

Active participation of the concerned managers and employees of the partner organizations are the guiding principles for the implementation of organizational assessments and all aspects of project related planning. The transfer of skills and knowledge is carried out through the application of coaching, which assures that participants are structuring and formulating project related outputs. Communication is a major issue; hence, our local experts are the key elements for the success of our efforts.

Following the establishment of the PPM, which is representing the overall project activity plan, we implemented comprehensive institutional and organizational assessments to obtain a better understanding of the current conditions and constraints of the service providers. For the development of a capacity building plan, each of the service providers went through an extensive exercise which is called in the following “Corporate Development Planning (CDP)”, identifying and formulating the service providers’ development orientation (expressed through the directors mission, vision and value statement), followed by strategic goals, implementation strategies and a comprehensive action plan.

In addition, the project has prepared a series of training references, among others guidelines, manuals, generic policy outlines, and standard operation procedures (SOPs) for the service providers’ strategic fields of operations, including: institutional & organizational objectives, financial management and tariff setting, customer relations management and community participation, asset management, and human resource management. Furthermore, the team prepared a generic organizational structure suitable for wastewater management, including descriptions of basic duties and tasks of the concerned departments and units as well as job descriptions for the most prominent positions with the service providers’ structure.

These references are used by the project’s team for the improvement of knowledge and capacity building for the service providers’ personnel, applying “coaching”, “on-the-job” training and “exercising” methods.

The following chart is illustrating the project’s main outputs as well as the process applied.

Objective of Coaching as a Structured Capacity Building Process

The main objective underlying this participative management development approach is the desire to guide and empower the service providers’ staff members to actively support their capacity building and business development aims.

Coaching is about developing the best possible corporate performance for the participating service providers by enabling involved staff to make decisions that are based on situational analysis and specific information.

In addition, the project’s coaching team is also available to assist the various stakeholders, authorities and institutions that are supporting the service providers in their capacity development process.

Because of its effectiveness, the popularity of the coaching approach is growing rapidly. It is important to note that coaching, unlike training and other prescriptive approaches, does not profess to have all of the answers available at the same time. A coach's task is not to go over old ground or to force-feed information, but to work with the participants, helping them to find appropriate answers and solutions to their specific problems and challenges themselves. In this way coaching is a unique way of developing staff competence. It is evident from past experience that a well guided coaching process is motivating the concerned staff to reach their full potential, and, as such, achieve greater job satisfaction.