Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Brainstorming session at BPPT


Today we had a review session with all BPPT coordinators (about 20 people total).

The purpose of the meeting was to 1) check that we got an accurate understanding of the workflow and, most importantly, 2) involve all coordinators in creating a vision of how BPPT will look like in 2015 by gathering their individual perspectives. To achieve this goal, we facilitated two brainstorming sessions pairing coordinators by area of interest, asking them to describe a) what new services BPPT will provide by 2015 as well as what quality improvements clients will experience; and b) what issues and obstacles are in the way to get there.

The project sponsors were compelled by the methodology, that they recognized having the "collateral" effect of creating ownership and a shared vision for the team of coordinators.
We collected a wealth of information that together with the BPPT team we will be feeding into the design of the "future state" of the licensing process. The immediate next step is to review the list of opportunities and issues identified with the department leaders (reporting to the Head of BPPT), to gather their perspective and priorities.



Cultural corner: KAKI LIMA.

Litterally meaning "five feet", 3 of the cart and 2 of the vendor pushing it, these are street vendors peddling their food on their 3-wheeled carts. Many of these vendors have their own distinctive calls (a beat on a piece of wood, a yell or a bell) to announce their wares ranging from drinks, sweets, rice and noodle meals. Each kaki lima vendor typically sells only one dish.




#ibmcsc Indonesia  

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Weekend in Bandung

Saturday and Sunday in Bandung, exploring the city. The highlight of the weekend has been the show at Saung Angklung Udjo on Saturday. This place is an educational laboratory and training center to preserve the Sundanese culture – Angklung in particular. It consists of a theater where they perform shows, a bamboo handicraft center, and a bamboo instrument workshop. You can learn more here.
The photos and the links that follow do not serve justice to the emotions elicited by the show!

The whole audience was introduced to the use of the angklung, a musical instrument made of two or three bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held in one hand, whilst the other hand strikes the instrument. We were able to play a song - as an orchestra - after 15 minutes of training. This was obviously not due to our ability, but to the mastery of the presenter (and Angklung orchestra director).
They gave to each person in the audience an angklung. Each angklung produces a different note, so out of 140 people in the show, there were 20 people playing the same note. He assigned to each note a hand gesture, which was the sign for the holder of that angklung that was time to play it. The result is this:




But his orchestra can do much better things...




On Sunday we went to Pasar Baru, one of the oldest markets in Jakarta (since the 18th century), famous for everything you would like to bargain on. People come from outside the country to Bandung to shop here.





#ibmcsc Indonesia  

Friday, March 1, 2013

A day in a remote BPPT office

Yesterday we were invited by the coordinator of the remote BPPT offices to join him in his trip to the Bogor branch. He visits the remote offices once a month, this week was the turn of Bogor (what a lucky chance... keep reading!).

We left Bandung at 7.20am and by bus we arrived in Bogor at 11.00am. This bus was extremely comfortable - it even had a separate smoking session!

The remote offices allow applicants to request only some types of license, those most frequently requested in the area. We were able to have an in depth experience of how the process works in these remote sites, especially in terms of information sharing with the central office. There is a lot of paper moving between sites, and data exchange is definitely a challenge. Seeing the process "live" allowed us to update the workflow with a number of key details.

At night we returned by bus to Bandung. Slightly different experience... this time it took us 4.5 hours in a fairly less modern bus!

Angkot
Cultural tip of the day... Bogor is located 60km to the south of Jakarta. It used to be the capital of Indonesia during the Dutch occupation; today its population is estimated at 3 million people.
Angkots, an abbreviation of ANGkutan KOTa – which means "city transportation" –  are the most popular and affordable transport option in most Indonesian cities. We used it to go from the bus station to the office for $2500 rupiahs, which is $0.25 of USD! Then from the office we went to...



The Pond
... the famous Botanical Gardens, where the Bunga Raksasa (giant flower) blooms (but we didn't see it...).
Flowers in the pond











#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Drafting current state

To help BPPT in their transformation our team is using an approach we often apply in IBM for similar purposes: 1) describe the current state 2) describe the desired state 3) identify the gaps between the current and the desired state 4) identify the actions required and the potential obstacles to fill the gaps  5) develop an action plan with check points and milestones.

With reference to describing the current state, today we completed the draft high level description of the workflow from the time a citizen or a broker enters the BPPT office to request a license to the moment the license is handed to the applicant. 
To collect the description of the tasks performed, we interviewed each department coordinator, as well as professionals involved in key pivotal tasks. Critical prerequisites to successfully complete this process (and our overall project) and gather important (sometimes hidden) details were to 1) establish a relationship of trust, 2) provide a vision to all parties involved of the goals and the benefits of this project, 3) create a sense of ownership and engagement in this project from all coordinators (and in turn) employees. 


We are really proud on how we are doing in all 3 points especially considering the very limited time it elapsed since we started at BPPT. One of the components of developing a relationship of trust was definitely to open the discussion to personal and cultural matters. You would love to be part of the coffee break in the morning... it has turned into a cultural exchange session with more and more people coming to the local "cafeteria" for coffee and bahasenglish discussion.

Speaking of which... cultural tip of the day! In one of our "coffee breaks" we discussed differences about showing feelings and emotions between people from USA, Brazil and Italy on one side and Indonesians on the other side. While we recognized personal and regional differences within our own countries, in general we found ourselves much more open in showing our feelings and being willing to say "no" than Indonesians seem to be. It is considered very inappropriate to loose temper in a business meeting, to the point that who does in fact "looses face". However, in close relationship settings (such as family) emotions are displayed openly. An important topic for us to keep in mind...

#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Second day at BPPT

Today we spent the whole day extracting knowledge from the people we are working with at BPPT, understanding in depth their processes and organizational structure. 



It was outstanding to see how far they went to help us understand their work flow. We had a simulation of how an application is submitted. We "lived" the process from the moment a citizen (one of us in the simulation) enters the BTTP office until they get their license. It was a great start of documenting the current state - especially considering we had to leverage our translator most of the time, as our bahasa is still 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Speaking of language... Tip of the day.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world. Of its large population, the number of people who speak Indonesian fluently is fast approaching 100%, making Indonesian one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are often fluent in another regional language (examples include Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese) which are commonly used at home and within the local community.
The Indonesian name for the language is Bahasa Indonesia (literally "the language of Indonesia").



#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

First day at BPPT

Today we had our first meeting at BPPT - Badan Pelayanan Perijinan Terpadu Provinsi Jawa Barat (“West Java One Stop Shop Licensing Agency”).



We had a very interesting and productive meeting with the full board of department leaders and coordinators represented. 
The most important goal - fully achieved - was to clarify and agree the high level objectives of our assignment. This will include providing help to review their business and marketing strategy to meet the new service demand of the province, and to align their HR and business processes to their enhanced mission.




From today I will start adding some bites about my experience of the Indonesian culture.
Tip of the day on the Indonesian cuisine: there is no such a thing as an "Indonesian" cuisine. It differs region by region, so you will find Sumatran cuisine, Balinese cuisine , West Java (Sundanese) cuisine, East Java cuisine, etc. The challenge now is to get deep in all of them - but sounds like a great challenge!

#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Kick off meeting

Introduction day!
This morning we met with the people from the government agencies of the West Java Province with whom we will be working with.
Bapak Husein Ahmad, Secretary of BAPPEDA, welcomed us higlighting the needs of the province and the expectations about our assignment. In a nutshell, we are expected - in relation to our skills and capacity - to support their effort to centralize and integrate the provincial services to the citizens.
The kick-off presentation
Kick-off meeting at the Bappeda location

The IBM team will split in 3 groups to serve 3 different agencies:
  • Badan Pelayanan Perijinan Terpadu Provinsi Jawa Barat (BPPT)
  • Balai Pusat Data dan Analisa Pembangunan (BAPPEDA)
  • Dinas Komunikasi dan Informasi Provinsi Jawa Barat (DISKOMINFO)
The BBPT and IBM sub-teams

Flavia, Terry and myself are assigned to BPPT, a provincial government agency established in 2008. BPPT's mandate is to provide an integrated licensing service that was previously managed partially by several technical units of provincial home affair department.

Tomorrow we will have our first meeting at BPPT to plan our activities for the next 4 weeks...
Stay tuned!



#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Transfer to Bandung

This morning we left Jakarta heading for Bandung.

After 4 hours driving south we got to the Magnolia Hotel in Bandung, our home for the next 4 weeks.








#ibmcsc Indonesia 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Arrival in Indonesia

After 3 months of preparation through weekly teleconferences, e-learning and reading, today the team got together in Jakarta.
The Indonesia 4 CSC team

We were welcomed by Dany and Waya from AVB, an NGO company which supports IBM in the program. They are taking care of all logistical aspects, making us feeling spoiled!
Team dinner

Dany and Waya
Dany and Waya

This morning we spent a few hours visiting the city, socializing and getting to know each other in person.


In the afternoon we had a briefing at IBM by the Country General Manager and then we immersed in the local culture. Guess what we started with? 

#ibmcsc Indonesia