“Before we started (The New Project Manager) workshop, we had a lot of delays,” said Dathar Al-Khashab, Director General of Midland Refineries Company. “Now days I see increased coordination from two or three sides- planning, operations, maintenance. We’re getting effective coordination from people who have attended the program.”

USAID/Tatweer’s long-standing relationship with Daura Refinery, which supplies essential refined oil and fuel to the heart of Baghdad, is exemplified in its on-going mentoring of trainees who return to the refinery focused on systems of change. And there’s no bigger advocate of change than DG Dathar himself. But he’s also realistic.

“We have to be careful,” Dathar said. “Some results of workshops don’t come quickly… And workshops shouldn’t be the end, they should be the start. They should be followed by on-the-job coaching, otherwise the training doesn’t get deep down into the mindset.”

USAID/Tatweer advisor, Hussain Aziz has taken on improving the capacity of Daura’s young engineers as his personal cause. Aziz explained that half the success is in choosing the right candidates for coaching. Properly mentored, these engineers planted in their individual departments, can spread knowledge through change management. Coaching is training of winners, Aziz continued.

“We deliberately pair older engineers with new ones to encourage on-site mentoring and conduct case study work collaboratively, to always encourage teamwork,” he said. The program-trained engineers inspire their co-workers to consider using up-to-date systems and methodologies, such as safety-first practices and Gant charts to show project workflow.

So far, eight classes of Daura’s best engineers have attended “The New Project Manager” workshop, and each of the 160 graduates return to the refinery with assigned task-based activities to further their training skills, but also to improve real-world applications for their departments.

Among the task-based activities are- an in-depth analysis of the best processes for financing refinery projects through the Trade Bank of Iraq, the oil feedstock composition impact on various refining units, the water quality intake and outtake used from the Tigris etc.

“Iraq needs new leaders with new ideas,” said Wissam, the oldest, but one of the most enthusiastic of one batch of students. “Tatweer helped us learn how to work as a team.”

“I learned how to plan a project step-by-step, and also how to better organize time in my work,” said a younger woman engineer named Huda.

Another woman Fawzia stood up and said, “I learned from Tatweer the courage to make change in Iraq. It’s not a case study. I’m not a case study. I want to be a tool, a good tool to point to where we start to rebuild. Tatweer helped me rebuild. Eveyone should start at their own place.”

Training/mentoring has been successfully coupled with a widely used IT Training Center, provided with USAID/Tatweer funding and opened in May, and Daura’s own comprehensive training program of putting new engineers in specialized departments for a month or more of mentoring, as a kind of year-long internship program.

The IT Center is conducting week-long courses on how to better utilize Microsoft Suite’s full range of programs to organize the refinery’s database. “All offices have access to records of over 6,000 employees,” one recent student said. “It’s important for all employees.”

For a legend who’s led Daura for almost fifty years, Dathar has a surprisingly youthful take on the future. “It’s not the facilities, it’s the attitude,” he said. “New engineers can surpass older engineers within one year of study and mentoring.”

(The Midland Refinery Company (MRC) with its headquarters at Daura Refinery, is in charge of refineries in Najaf, Samawa and Diywania. USAID/Tatweer conducts its mission of capacity development in synergy with MRC. Daura refinery is the “Top Gun” school for the future leaders of the Iraqi oil industry.)