To plan or not to plan

Much of the work that happens in elections does not happen by accident. In fact planning is the only way to pull of such a major logistical event. Supplying the vote to all eligible citizens in a country, whether they choose to vote or not, is not something that occurs overnight. However, in many election management bodies (EMBs) that have run a number of elections, the matter of planning can become less of an issue. Strategic planning can become something that is engaged in every 5 years and a nice glossy document that is pulled out whenever an outsider asks about it.

In a number of cases observed over the past few years, this strategic plan is seldom reviewed or updated. No visible evidence actually exists that people are actually "living and breathing" this document. When I talk of evidence, I refer to posters on walls, everyday reference to goals achieved or being chased, regular planning meetings, staff being commended for progress... Planning is not something you do every five years. Some people argue that it should be done every 30 days, with goals and targets set that stretch people ever so much. It doesn't mean deviating from the broad plan every few days, but rather keeping your finger on the pulse of the EMB to ensure that its moving towards the ultimate goal that was set at the start of the major planning activity and checking if the assumptions made at that stage still hold true.

Having a bold vision means very little if the discipline doesn't exist to keep to it. And the discipline can be developed by regularly reminding everyone about what's at stake. This can mean routine communications about staff achievements towards the goals, and celebrating progress. Similarly, it does mean being brutally honest about what's lacking or weak in the implementation. "Happy talk" never helped anyone when they were going astray. In fact it makes the downfall so much harder. Regular honest reflection, along with achievement recognition and celebration, can go a long way towards ensuring that the bold vision is achieved.

Recently we saw an election held in the world's largest country, Russia, with 69 million voters going to the polls. Around the same time, about 9 million Venezuelans went to vote in a referendum around the same time. Starting on the 11 December 11 countries go to the polls to see out the 2007. Lebanon, Kenya, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Pitcairn Islands, South Korea, Bermuda, Bhutan, Switzerland all go to vote before 31 December 2007. This translates to more than 85 million people registered to cast their votes in the dying days of 2007. And before you've caught your breathe in the new year of 2008, Georgia and Pakistan both have elections on the 5th and 8th of January 2008 respectively. With more than 154 million voters potentially casting their votes just in December 2007, the amount of planning that has gone into this process is no small matter. With between 2 to 4 years between elections, one has to consider whether the time is being spent well in preparing for the next electoral event. Are all staff being kept busy and focussed on the same goal or are people retiring on the job? When the election is upon you, the time left for planning has disappeared and reaction becomes the order of the day. Spend the quiet days between elections wisely and fruitfully and the election could well be much less stressful than any you've had before. At the same time, the sense of achievement in conquering goals that stretch you and your colleagues, will be so much greater. And you would have done your country a great service!

To all those involved in the elections over the coming month into early January, I wish you good luck and godspeed.