USAID/Uganda Strategy Development in the Time of COVID-19: Moving Together Virtually

USAID/Uganda’s current strategy is coming to an end, and after a mid-course stocktaking revealed several operational challenges and opportunities to adapt - including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mission and many implementing partners (IPs) are still operating virtually. Moving any organization forward on in a new strategic direction requires a process that meaningfully integrates collaboration, learning and adapting (CLA). In the past, USAID/Uganda has implemented large scale strategic processes with broad stakeholder engagement, participatory decision making,and a commitment to review evidence and learning throughout the process. This year, as the Mission embarks on a new journey towards adapting their strategy, teams have found innovative ways to ‘move together’ in a virtual environment. At the outset, the Program Office and the USAID/Uganda Learning Activity designed a process by which every part of the organization could play a key role. They designed virtual “brain trusts”- advisory bodies representing different parts of the mission to advise the Program Office on the strategic process, offer radical candor, challenging assumptions and exposing blind spots. The pandemic has provided an opportunity to question old ways of doing things and has allowed for the space to experiment with a more open, co-creative approach to find better ways of working as a team. Such an approach is one that allows for more constructive dialogue for innovative ideas to emerge.