In anticipation of the Umoja Extension 1 (UE1) Cluster 5 deployment, the Kuwait Joint Support Office (KJSO) has been educating its national staff about the changes coming with Umoja. One of the main structures in place to help ensure staff embrace Umoja is the close collaboration between KJSO’s UE1 Deployment Team and the DFS Umoja Project Management Office in UNHQ. “Change management requires staff to adjust to the new changes. All new system changes must be properly communicated and learned to effectively go forward,” said Thomas Wilson, KJSO’s Chief of HR and UE1 Cluster 5 Site Coordinator.
Wilson noted that when preparing to implement a project as big as UE1 Cluster 5, where all national staff in DFS supported missions will be affected, training is critical. “Having completed Cluster 4 for international staff, it is critical that we capitalise on lessons learned from C4 and conduct mandatory sessions on Umoja ESS/MSS,” he added.
When asked what challenges KJSO’s UE1 deployment team faced when preparing for Cluster 5, Wilson pointed to coordination and communication. Aside from keeping staff informed with Umoja production news and updates, client missions must also be aware of Cluster 5 deployment matters. He further explained that coordination with other missions, particularly when it comes to project submissions in COSMOS (the DFS shared communications platform), user access mapping, Umoja updates and other data related matters, is also a top priority. “It’s crucial that we coordinate with other missions and keep the lines of communication open. In the beginning, establishing such lines of communication was a bit difficult, but now I believe they are well aligned. ” Wilson noted.
Umoja will replace outdated legacy systems and manual processes with a modernised and more streamlined way of working. “My message to all the national staff is welcome aboard to the Umoja system! Let’s embrace this new way of working and move forward together,” Wilson concluded.
Article published on iSeek