2. Flexible and Adaptive Management

This section describes how the flexible and adaptive management approach taken by the Facility Manager contributed to the achievement of results, and the extension of reach beyond original targets.

‘Flexible and Adaptive management’ results

The flexible and adaptive approach to programme management delivered: • Adaptive, agile and results oriented project management which exceeded logframe targets by over 900% at Impact and over 1100% at Outcome. • Rapid reapportioning of budgets and adapted activities to cope with COVID-19 waves and multiple lockdowns. • Building scenarios for maximising results and impact for the vulnerable people through programme flexibility and adaptiveness. 136 change requests processed across both portfolios. Each change in project was informed by increased value for money, reaching more people, increasing impact through depth of breadth. • Positive changes in business practice such as the Sea Freight Flower project which resulted in an additional 30 shipments of flowers saving over 3,000 MT of CO2. • Increases in successful partnerships totalling 331 partners by the end of the programme doubling the original number of partners. • Excellent participation of partners at high level learning and sharing events.

Building partnership through regular communication: The Facility Manager explicitly adopted a partnership management approach based upon principles of trust, clarity and flexibility to guide ways of working, which was achieved through regular engagement and open discussion. This approach was taken to building partnerships with VSCF project lead partners as well as with the FCDO. The Facility Manager set up routines for regular engagement with partners, including daily emails/calls, weekly check-ins, and monthly meetings. A quarterly review process was established whereby lead and brand partners came together to review progress, lessons were discussed, and decisions about action taken. Regular communication with partners and the FCDO was a central pillar to the shared risk management strategy, given the risks identified in delivering a programme at speed, in the context of a pandemic, with high profile organisations. The FCDO team worked collaboratively with the Facility Manager and took joint responsibility for decisions.

“We really appreciated the Facility Manager’s offer of weekly meetings given the complexity of the programme and the level of public scrutiny we expected from this project because we were working with large profit-making businesses. Throughout this programme the Facility Manager has always been ahead and on top of programmatic issues and brought these to us early, providing well thought through scenarios so that we had all the information available to make informed decisions in good time.” Raania Rizvi VSCF Lead Adviser (August 2021-December 2021), FCDO

The Facility Manager engaged with FCDO every week throughout the Facility implementation to keep them informed about progress, risks, strategic communications (over 70 weekly meetings were organised with FCDO by the Facility Manager). Monthly, quarterly and wrap up meetings with partners also enabled discussions around management issues as well as the strategic matters. Brand partners were invited in quarterly meetings whereas the lead delivery partners, Facility Manager and the FCDO met every month to discuss strategic direction and progress of the projects. This also enabled early identification of risks and addressing these in a timely manner. While this process was rigorous, it was also appreciated by several partners and FCDO as it enabled strong ownership of partners, clarity of communications, reflective review of past quarter while looking for future ideas.

The Facility Manager provided simple standard templates which were used by all 8 projects for reporting using MS PowerPoint instead of long reports every month. Divisions of the monthly and quarterly meetings between two sessions (45 minutes for strategic discussion and 45 minutes for management issues including MEL) was hugely effectively in engaging with the correct stakeholders in each session. Brand partners and FCDO were not required to participate in the management session where the FM and the lead delivery partner discussed management matters and resolved those quickly.

Flexibility integrated into management processes. Flexibility and agility were essential to respond quickly to the rapidly evolving contextual challenges caused by the pandemic. For example, unanticipated surges in COVID-19 infection rates in Bangladesh in August 2021 and in October 2021 forced factory closures and disrupted the implementation of project activities across the garments portfolio. The Facility Manager supported partners to adjust workplans and prioritise activities which could be conducted without physical interaction during lockdowns. This helped provide much-needed immediate support to workers and did not detract from overall projects’ objectives.

Equally, the Facility Manager introduced new activities in response to traction from within the sector, to support partners’ ambitions to take an innovation to scale. For example, the Sea Freight Flowers project attracted considerable interest from within the industry. To promote the potential economic, social and environmental impact of the sea freight on trade from Kenya to Europe and UK, the Facility Manager produced a CO2 emission study, an economic appraisal and a business case to strengthen sea freight uptake. This was complemented by an awareness and training campaign for 200 growers in Kenya. Subsequently 30 additional consignments have

been shipped autonomously by the industry saving over 3,000 MT of CO2 over and above the 13 consignments delivered through the pilot. The Facility’s responsiveness to evolving industry dynamics has contributed to industry wide uptake of some innovations led by the Facility for example the sea freight flowers project has opened opportunities for sustainable trade beyond flowers for perishable produce from Kenya to UK and European markets.

Strong financial systems managed flexibly. Inevitably, flexibility within workplans requires similar flexibility with resource allocation. To respond to needed adaptations to activity plans, over the lifetime of the VSCF, the Facility Manager processed 80 change requests in projects budgets in the garment’s portfolio, which together totalled £335,000 and 56 change requests in the agriculture portfolio budget worth £182,000.

Scenario planning to guide changes in strategy. The Facility Manager used scenario planning during implementation to inform and guide decisions about changes needed to VSCF strategy as a result to changing conditions ‘on the ground’. For example, when the Myanmar coup took place, the Facility Manager prepared three scenarios for the way forward and analysed the implications of each scenario. Based on the VFM assessments, FCDO took the decision to exit Myanmar responsibly and allocate the subsequent savings to other VSCF projects. By reallocating funds to VSCF garments projects in Bangladesh, the Facility reached an additional 72,496 workers and community members at the cost of £2.10 per worker.

Coaching and guiding partners. The VSCF was not designed to deliver capacity building services to project partners. Indeed, the selection of partnership projects was informed by the capacity of the partnership to respond quickly, deliver effective interventions and monitor results. Even so, the Facility Manager was inevitably called upon to support partners with reporting requirements, and to play an intermediary role between partners’ and FCDO’s expectations on reporting, which was particularly valued by both.

“We simplified reporting processes for our partners, and provided steer and support, particularly for our private sector partners not as familiar with the rigorous reporting processes required by the FCDO. I think the real value of the FM role was to provide a mediator role between FCDO and the multitude of very different types of partner involved in the programme – both for- and not-for-profits. We were keen to be as flexible as possible when partners had a legitimate explanation for needing flexibility. We stretched deadlines for CARE and Impactt, agreed to significant changes in project design for Fairtrade, and provided additional funding to Flamingo. Mott McDonald has 15 years of experience managing grant mechanisms, and as a business ourselves appreciate the flexibility required by private sector partners. It was this combination which really contributed to our expertise and capacity to deliver this programme well.”

Nic Ramsden, BP4GG Team Leader (July 2020 to July 2021), Mott MacDonald

Flexibility to bring new partners to projects. Partnerships without an in-country presence struggled with implementation, and to deliver at the pace required. For example, the lead partner of the ‘Bridging the Gap: Supporting the transition from crisis to resilience’ project did not have a direct in-country presence in Myanmar, and this may have contributed to delays experienced with the implementation of core project activities, even though local partners had been secured at the outset of the project.

Summary of lessons for future programming

“The FM did a great job not only supporting partners manage FCDO reporting requirements but also providing capacity building. I definitely observed the FM provide monitoring technical capacity that really helped the partners improve reporting their results.”

Kate Cooper, Impact Investment Adviser, FCDO

This section has described how a flexible and adaptive management approach supported the achievement of VSCF results and helped to drive the increased reach. It has highlighted some key lessons:

• In high risk, rapidly changing contexts, frequent communication with lead partners, and the client is essential, and may require different communication formats (e.g. meetings / emails / workshops / reports). • Shared responsibility for decision-making is essential at each level of partnership and can be aided through the choice of communication formats used. • Adaptive management requires flexibility in workplan and budget management practices. • Local partners are essential for rapid and responsive delivery in contexts where implementation conditions change quickly and often. Flexibility may need to include the possibility to bring new partners into consortium arrangements. • Scenario planning with associated risk assessments provides a useful tool within an adaptive management approach.