Workshop Day 1: “Think big, start small, act now”

The workshop kicked off shortly after 9am, with the participants making their way into the conference room of the hotel. A U-shaped seating plan had been set up, complete with stationary for each of the participants, a projector and Harry at the front to introduce the programme. After Julie facilitated personal introductions Harry outlined the shape and purpose of the programme. The purpose was twofold: 1) To develop and document a new or existing business model that would provide a solution to a problem at hand, e.g. an income generating social enterprise for economically and socially excluded WLHA (new), or the Marie Stopes’ health voucher scheme (existing). Documentation of this model could then serve as the basis of a funding proposal. 2) To increase participants capacity to innovate future BMs in their own context and work. The programme would consist of 6 steps which we would complete over three days.

Today, the first day, was dedicated to the first step of each team articulating a defined product, a solution to a problem at hand, and an experience that the product was offering. This new BM outline would include a Value Proposition (VP) to demonstrate how it adds value and justify itself. After an introduction to key concepts and steps towards BM innovation, Harry encouraged us to step outside of the box with our thinking and to conduct a PESTEL analysis in our groups for inspiration. We broke away then to identify and discuss enabling factors in the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal context. I had been told the day before by Sandra that my team might be unable to make it, which would have meant the project being scrapped and me joining forces with the other NACWOLA project- a peanut cooperative for WLHA. However, I was delighted that overnight my group numbers had not dwindled but rather increased to 6. New additions included Jacqui, the regional director of NACWOLA for eastern region, Esther, a project coordinator in Iganga and Ismael who is based at the head office in Kampala.

Our group discussion was therefore very fruitful, with lots of input from everybody on the team. We were able to identify key opportunities, one of which was the provision of solar powered mobiles to CSAs to allow timely transfer of data through SMS messaging & to send messages on safe sex practises, and health facility appointments. Joining the main group again, we reported back on enabling factors in the format of a group discussion. Harry then took us through the process of articulating a Product, Solution and Experience and identifying its users and end users. In our break away groups then we put ourselves into the place of users/end users to brainstorm on value factors (what they valued in the product) and to identify where we could add value. The time allocated for break away time was on the slim side. There was little sense of urgency among the Ugandan NGO staff and exiting/ entering the room and sitiing at a different table took considerably longer than Harry had probably anticipated, shaving off about 15 mins of working time.

By moving at a motivated pace however, our team managed to articulate a product, solution and experience, and to outline possible value factors for end users, the PLWHAs. Where CSAs were performing poorly, we discussed how to add value. Taking confidentiality as a value factor then, Sandra explained how frequent visits from a CSA can act as almost a default disclosure, and that on top of that, some CSAs were indiscrete and disclosed the HIV status of their clients. Community sensitisation on the role of the CSA as a general health worker was suggested as a way to reduce rumour, and continuous appraisal of CSA performance, including spot checks with clients, was suggested as a way of increasing CSA discretion. These ideas were then included in our VP and we mapped this out visually using the strategy canvas format suggested.

Back in the main group, Irene presented our strategy canvas and VP for PLWHHAs with humour and energy, and Harry offered valuable feedback. On the basis of this feedback we changed our product from ‘an empowering and supportive community to increase the demand, quality and uptake of HIV and wrap around services’ to the more concrete and project specific product of ‘training workshops for CSAs.’ Harry also noted that we still needed to produce one for the CSAs, the users, which would include an evaluation of the performance of competitors ie. Other organisations that community members could choose to work for. In reporting back, the workshops process of taking small steps to innovating a BM with potentially life saving impact was captured perfectly by one of the participants. He said, simply and succinctly, “think big, start small, act now.”

While some groups did struggle to articulate their product, solution and experience, and chose to follow their own alternative format, most made excellent progress and had established the core of their BM. Having completed these first and most difficult steps, morale was high and team members seemed to have bonded really well. Despite the intensity of the day and a late finish of 6pm, many NGO staff stayed for dinner, to talk further with their teammates and other participants. There was a buzz in the air, and many teams stayed together, working well beyond the delicious buffet dinner, and into the night.