Following the approval, by the WLRC Management, of the newly developed automated Program and Operations Management System (POMS) early February 2025, the ICT Team of the Centre successfully conducted a training session for all staff members on the Software. The training, conducted Feb. 17 – 20, 2025 in two batches at the WLRC Meeting Hall, was designed to familiarize the staff with the software’s purpose, features, key functionalities, and usage steps with guidelines.
From morning through 3:00p.m. of Day 1, the Lead Developer of the POMS Software and Head of the ICT Unit Mr. Yohannes Aragie navigated the staff through features, functionalities, steps and capabilities of the POMS with practical explanations to questions the participants posed on the spot.
To allow the participants internalise the lessons through practice, each participant was provided with an individual access account and had guided-practice using sample data before officially starting to use the system. The participants were given two days to practice uploading their annual plans and activities onto the system. They then reconvened and presented their automated plans in the System, discussed the challenges they faced during the process, and received additional support from the ICT team. Also some areas of the System that require further improvements were noted in the process. The staff expressed their liking of the Software and committed to learn to use it effectively.
The POMS was initially designed with the overarching goal to heighten efficiency in planning, implementation, and monitoring all program and operations activities; to improve documentation and management of data and information real-time; and enable the generation of high-quality performance reports. Once fully implemented, POMS is thus expected to streamline activity management, planning, budgeting, and reporting, enhancing operational efficiency across WLRC; improving project tracking and coordination; ensuring a more integrated and data-driven approach to program management.
The POMS was internally designed by the ICT Team of the WLRC, substantially expanding on the Enterprise Resource Planning software packages (ERP). The staff owed the Team appreciations for developing the Software. Finally, the WLRC management vowed its commitment to provide the necessary support for a smooth transition to, and institutionalisation of, POMS as part of its moves to use technology to enhance organizational processes and maximise overall performance and outputs.