Happy New Year to you all, the fact that you are reading this post means that you managed to make it into 2017! We wish you a peaceful and prosperous new year. The year 2017 should be much better than 2016, most of us would like to forget 2016 in hurry-terrible year.

So most of you should be in a planning mode-new year resolutions, dropping off  bad habits, upskilling, new job hunting, new relationships etc. Planning is good as it enables you to measure progress against set targets, it gives you control over events, it allows you to put aside resources for certain activities. Planning helps to reduce surprises and in some cases planning brings peace of mind.

Fear of Planning

Now despite the many advantages that come from planning why are many people afraid of planning? It is tough to get an answer but the common reason is that most people are afraid of failing! The fear of failing is the number one reason why some would rather sail through the next 365 days taking each day as it comes. In some cases it can even work that you just live from day to day taking advantage of opportunities and risks as they arise but its a very risky way of living.

Factors to consider in your 2017 planning

1. Global Events: Do not plan in isolation, consider global events or issues. What does the victory by Trump mean for your country, area and community? What are the predictions in terms of climatic changes? Are we going to have good rains in 2018? Will it be Elnino or its opposite?
2. Election Period: Zimbabwe will be entering an election mode with temperatures expected to rise in the coming few months, how is it going to affect you? Do you have any lessons learnt from previous elections?
3. The Economy: The Economy is closely related to Politics mentioned above, what is going to be the impact on your resolutions? What are Economists saying not only about Zimbabwe but about Africa and our region?
4. New Trends: What are the emerging trends that are still to come to your country? For instance in Nigeria Bitcoin fraud has taken the country by storm, it is slowly coming this side. What are the new gadgets that  are coming up and making an impact in other countries but yet to come to Zimbabwe?
5. New issues that came up in 2016: So what is totally new that cropped up in 2016 that caught everyone by surprise? Is it the emergence of bank queues? Is it the new electronic way of registering new students at schools? Is it the new instrument that banned imports? Is it the banning of the Quails? You may need to create your own list of possible new issues that will take everyone by surprise.
6. What is missing? The above 5 factors could have missed important issues, brainstorm and find out what it is that I have missed.

Planning as a Family

One of the reasons why some plans fail is due to the fact that most people plan alone. Do not work in isolation if you have a family then take time  to sit down and plan together. What do you want to achieve in 2017? How are you going to do that? Its important to have a family goal where everyone within the family shares the same vision. Do not forget to include your children too in the planning session. They are key stakeholders and decisions being made affect them. They need to know of challenges expected, they need to pull in the same direction. The advantage of including children is that they learn about planning at an early stage.

Risks and Opportunities

What were the top 5 risks that cropped up in 2016 for you? Were you affected? Are there any lessons learnt? Will the same risks crop up in 2017? What new opportunities came up in 2016? Did you grab opportunities that came up in 2016? What other regional opportunities exist? Do you have a plan to take advantage of them in 2017?

So ZBIN wishes you success in your planning sessions as you set your 2017 targets. Don’t worry about failing as studies in the USA have shown that most people do set new year resolutions but only 8% achieve them. In the follow up article, we will cover planning at corporate level.

All the best in 2017

ZBIN continues with Diaspora Strategy coverage.  Information covered on this website is helpful to countries in Southern Africa such as Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

We have already covered the importance of a Diaspora Strategy, the advantages that a country derives from having a strategy in place, how to engage the Diaspora and the various Diaspora Networks that exist. Today we look closely at the role of governments in the Diaspora Strategy Implementation. Should a government actively play a role in the implementation or they should just facilitate?

Successive Irish Governments have built a multi-layered relationship with the global Irish community, one that has marked us out as a role model for many other countries. The Government and the global Irish community have in the past worked closely together on issues such as the peace process in Northern Ireland and the rewards of such cooperation have been considerable. Now is the time to shape a more strategic relationship which will bring benefits both to Ireland and to our global community and which has a more developed economic focus. Our global Irish community constitutes one of the most powerful and far-reaching resources at our disposal and, using our worldwide network of Embassies and Consulates, we have identified some of the most successful individuals from that global community.’ Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD April 2009, following his convening of the Global Irish Economic Forum in September 2009

The above statement captures the simultaneous simplicities and complexities associated with pursuing diaspora strategies. With these in mind, the precise role a government should play in a diaspora context can be highly contested. Given the plurality of approaches adopted by different countries, it is difficult to prescribe any single coherent policy program that a government might adopt in shaping its diaspora strategy. However, there is broad consensus that the role is usually located somewhere between two approaches. On the one hand, a government can adopt an implementer role. This locates the government as a central force in creating and accomplishing the strategy. On the other hand, a government can also adopt a facilitator role, encouraging and developing multi-layered networks with diaspora members and groups. Looking at the various countries, ‘government involvement tends to vary along a continuum from minimal involvement to heavy involvement. Most commentators feel that government’s role should be as facilitator rather than implementer and that government has an important role in giving its blessing, support and, in some cases, finance to diaspora initiatives. The most obvious issue here is establishing why this remains the dominant perspective.

Facilitator rather than implementer: why?

Diaspora engagement Diaspora strategies, like most other forms of engagement, are fundamentally based on networks. Given the volume of diaspora networks co-existing in terms of engagement with the home country, the optimum situation is for governments to create conditions conducive to the existence of a variety of organizations, facilitate collaboration and cooperation between the networks and home situations, provide access to the diaspora for dialogue with government representatives, and fast track promising ideas and/or work in partnership with private sector initiatives. Governments need to be aware that successful diaspora engagement is heavily reliant on dynamic and innovative individuals and organizations at home and abroad. It may be more difficult for a government to merge these objectives through an implementer role. If a government decides to adopt an implementer role then the engagement emphasis is shifted to the government in creating and sustaining suitable networks or policies. Meanwhile, a facilitator role is in itself a form of network. The government is drawn into a more consistent, coherent and communicable engagement with the diaspora. As such, the diaspora is given much more ‘face time’ with the government within the strategy. Therefore, the strategy obtains a larger capacity-building mechanism that works favourably in terms of the realisations and aims indicated above. This, if correctly utilised, can contribute to a growth of mutual trust and understanding between government and diaspora. Such strategies, in a practical sense, ‘do not need to be over-determined and can be quite light in conception and application, and are best thought of as an overarching framework for providing a level of coherence to the range of concrete diaspora policies devised and implemented by a variety of public, private, and voluntary agencies.’

Agency and sustainability One of the most obvious benefits a government can draw from a facilitator role is that of increased agency within the diaspora strategy. This approach encourages more relationships and engagements, which in turn can be used to provide a greater sustainability for the strategy. In this context, the public, private, and voluntary sectors are more systematically engaged, multiplying the central interlocutors in the strategy. Meanwhile, an implementer role reduces such agency and this can be problematic. In essence, a facilitating role places a larger emphasis on sustainability than an implementer role by diversifying agency and producing greater transparency. This can help to encourage and develop a mutual trust and understanding between government and diaspora.

Agency and sustainability One of the most obvious benefits a government can draw from a facilitator role is that of increased agency within the diaspora strategy. This approach encourages more relationships and engagements, which in turn can be used to provide a greater sustainability for the strategy. In this context, the public, private, and voluntary sectors are more systematically engaged, multiplying the central interlocutors in the strategy. Meanwhile, an implementer role reduces such agency and this can be problematic. In essence, a facilitating role places a larger emphasis on sustainability than an implementer role by diversifying agency and producing greater transparency. This can help to encourage and develop a mutual trust and understanding between government and diaspora.

Credit: Diaspora Toolkit