After the success of its very first forum, Institute of Public Administration (Bipa) is all set to host its first ‘senior leadership development’ workshop. 

The workshop will be held for Undersecretaries from March 31 to April 2 at the Bahrain Exhibition Centre.

The debut forum was hosted by Bipa under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Atiyat Allah AL Khalifa – minister of cabinet affairs, which wiitnessed the attendance of 43 dignitaries from all ministries and government organizations.

This workshop is a platform where Bipa will put their plans of leadership development into action, said a Bipa official.

The workshop entitled “Leading in the Public Sector” is part of a comprehensive leadership development framework organised by Bipa and the UK National School of Government.

"The objective is to enable senior leaders in the Kingdom of Bahrain to improve their understanding of leadership in context to the public sector, said Dr Raed Mohammed BenShams, Bipa director general.

"It aims to allow those involved in shaping and delivering strategy and policy, to understand how policies can be developed and delivered effectively. The Workshop will also aid senior leaders to appreciate the need for the strategic management of government communications and management of the media," he added.

A new mindset shift is expected: from well articulated and written decisions bounded by organisational walls to country-wide applicable policy making involving the whole body of government and focused on reforming public services by solving cross-boundary problems, he said.

The content of the Workshop will mainly focus on three main subjects: Leadership, Policy Making and Media Management. 

“It is very important that we provide the basis of how the Public Administration system can excel at delivering first class and customer oriented services to one and all in the country”, Dr BenShams said.

“This Workshop will offer a platform to all attendees to discuss the role of leadership and its impact on the organisational climate and atmosphere. We will also discuss how a leader equipped with effective communication methods and tools, fortified with well-organized publicity and campaigning, can help our Public Administration systems to achieve the benchmark and be recognised as the best in the region.”

Dr BenShams pointed out that "the workshop would not only provide the  undersecretaries with the international best practices and tools for creating more effective and executable government policies, keeping citizens and stakeholders up-to-date about important issues and helping all to access government services with ease, but will also explain the need to inform people of the rights with which come responsibilities as well."

The workshop will be attended by senior leaders and dignitaries of the Kingdom from the Undersecretary level.

This interactive workshop which will consist of a variety of methods such as presentations, case studies, group activities and discussions offering participants an opportunity to consider their future development needs will also serve as an occasion for reflection and action planning to ensure that everything that has been shared by the facilitators has been captured and will be put to practice at the workplace.

Leading edge gurus in their respective fields of specialisation including Kay Evans, Dr John Potter,  Graham Davey, Rob Wright and Kevin Traverse-Healy will lead the workshop.-TradeArabia News Service