On October 15 and 16, the first two-day training module for leaders of membership business associations took place at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School as part of the second phase of the UNDP Project "Strengthening Membership Business Associations of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine" in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and with the support of Switzerland. This project aims to accelerate the development of the MSME sector by strengthening the capacity of membership business associations (BAs).

"We are here to better systematize practice," noted Elvira Faizulina, a kmbs expert. Thus, the first day of training began with team work among participants. Two teams identified the challenges they faced while working on projects. This kind of brainstorming helped participants get to know each other better, share their experiences, highlight, and discuss typical problems. The expert explained the system of building a "problem tree" and a "goal tree," and also proposed an alternative — product-based — approach to project management to the audience. "This approach allows the team to quickly see the goals. Not tasks, not objectives, not activities, but the systemic intermediate result that you are jointly creating."

"Who should you be at work?", asked Eduard Maltsev, Deputy Dean of kmbs, initiating an active discussion about personal development of managers, particularly in the distribution of three transactional roles, the so-called "ego states" (child, parent, adult). Leaders also discussed the role of responsibility in management and identified the values that leaders create in managerial roles through practical case studies in groups.

"The efficiency, productivity, capability, competitiveness of your organizations — it's about reaching out individually to each person," noted Eduard Maltsev. "It's very exhausting, requires competence, but if you understand what a person needs and how to synchronize it with the needs of your organization, then success awaits you."

The second day of the first training module for business association leaders at kmbs began with a lecture by Olena Zhyltsova on personnel management. "Human Capital Management is not about managing people," explains the expert. "It's about building and developing processes and systems that establish the behavior patterns you need. It's not about convincing everyone manually. It's about creating approaches and systems that work."

Olena Zhyltsova spoke about three approaches to personnel management: algorithmic, structural, and contour. Project participants asked for practical advice on various management aspects: team motivation systems (how to align their desires with the capabilities of the BA), how to unite leaders, which recruitment methods to use, and how to adapt new employees. The expert urged participants to always be ready for the loss of key roles and therefore to build up reserve personnel.

"Don't be afraid to invest your resources in training people," emphasizes Olena Zhyltsova. "You are growing the market, so in the long run, you will still win. Because in 2-3 years the market will change, the focus will change, and the person will return to you."

At the end of the first and second training days, business association leaders attended two open evening events within the Ukrainian-Swiss UNDP Project. On October 15, Bohdan Logvynenko, founder of Ukraїner and participant of Executive MBA-36, visited the school to start a series of lectures on "My Business — My Country." Mr. Bohdan shared his own experience in establishing internal and external communication, volunteering, building a financial system, and also spoke about his impressions from studying at kmbs.

"The training provided more awareness and understanding of what we are doing. In the process of learning, in joint discussions, I catch certain signals, markers for the future," says Bohdan Logvynenko.

On Saturday, October 16, Project participants had the opportunity to talk with Kostyantyn Koshelenko, Deputy Head of the State Property Fund and graduate of Executive MBA-24. With his lecture "Transparent Privatization — Opportunities for Business, Society, and the State," he began another series of evening events titled "State and Business." Mr. Kostyantyn demonstrated successful cases of new transparent privatization, explaining how it impacted business and the state as a whole. "If in 2019 the State Property Fund received 0.5 billion hryvnias, then with the new system this figure reached 3 billion hryvnias," says Kostyantyn Koshelenko.

"There were a lot of insights that should be implemented," shares impressions Olena Korogod, a participant of the UNDP Project, "I ask questions, the answers to which immediately improve my understanding of the processes happening with us right now. This is the greatest value of learning."

We wish the Project participants more insights and new ideas that will strengthen their business associations!