Case Study

Project Arrow
Transforming India Post
Draft Confidential
Contents
Executive summary.............................................................................................................................................................2
1. India Post: A large complex postal network................................................................................................................2
1.1 An Overview..............................................................................................................................................................2
1.2 India Posts Organizational Structure....................................................................................................................2
1.3 India Posts Finances...............................................................................................................................................2
1.4 Competitive Landscape...........................................................................................................................................2
1.5 India Posts Initiatives..............................................................................................................................................2
2. Project Arrow Executing the Vision to Transform India Post................................................................................2
2.1 Defining the Projects Goal......................................................................................................................................2
2.2 Identifying the Key Issues to Address...................................................................................................................2
2.3 High Impact and Easy to Implement Mantra for Choosing Focus Areas...................................................2
3. Project Implementation..................................................................................................................................................2
3.1 Selection and phasing of post offices for implementation..................................................................................2
3.2 Project team composition........................................................................................................................................2
3.2.1 Central-level Team Structure and Composition........................................................................................2
3.2.2 Circle level..........................................................................................................................................................2
3.3 Communicating about the project..........................................................................................................................2
3.4 Preparing for Implementation.................................................................................................................................2
3.4.1 Training of employees......................................................................................................................................2
3.4.2 Procurement of raw materials required for implementation.......................................................................2
3.4.3 Strengthening the IT organization..................................................................................................................2
3.5 Implementation Phases...........................................................................................................................................2
3.5.1 Phase I: A learning exercise that transformed post offices.........................................................................2
3.5.2 Emergence of monitoring using KPIs.............................................................................................................2
3.5.3 Phase II: Reinforcing the standardized procedures for easy implementation and scalability...............2
3.5.4 Documentation of the project plan The Blue Book................................................................................2
3.5.5 Phase III: Uniform implementation of project over a larger scale..............................................................2
4. Monitoring the Performance You cannot improve what you do not measure..................................................2
4.1 Reporting Mechanism..............................................................................................................................................2
4.2 Performance Scorecard...........................................................................................................................................2
4.3 Driving Accountability...............................................................................................................................................2
4.4 The Results So Far..............................................................................................................................................2
5. Sustainability...................................................................................................................................................................2
5.1 Leadership Focus.....................................................................................................................................................2
5.2 Upgrading and Maintaining IT Infrastructure........................................................................................................2
5.3 Employee motivation and buy-in............................................................................................................................2
5.4 Process Management Initiatives............................................................................................................................2
6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................................................2
Appendix...............................................................................................................................................................................2
Executive summary
Project Arrow is a vision that was articulated and translated into action in a short period of time. This study
highlights that the process of change can be effectively executed in government enterprises that may often be
perceived as archaic, slow moving, and bureaucratic. This case study captures the essence of creating and
managing change in India Post, a government enterprise, with a view (a) to improve customer service and (b)
compete with private sector couriers to reestablish the preeminence of India Post. Most important, the case
study serves to highlight that leadership vision, employee commitment, proper planning, and execution focus
even in a government enterprise can result in a successful transformation.
Like any large government organization with a huge employee base, time-worn processes and systems,
frequently changing leadership and imposed social obligations, the process of change needs an across -theboard buy-in. There are significant barriers to get a buy-in. These barriers range from entrenched vested
interests to human cynicism, which initially tend to stall change. This buy-in cannot be generated unless there
is a commitment from leadership with a clearly articulated vision, well-defined goals, and unflagging
commitment to execute in a time-bound manner and with a relentless focus on the end goals. However, at the
same time, not totally ignore the fact that changing mindsets and an entire work culture have to be given time
or takes time.
Project Arrow initially started off as an attempt, by the leadership to improve the look and feel of Post Offices.
While planning this facelift, the leadership team discovered that it was equally, if not more, essential to launch
a comprehensive program to improve core operations. In the absence of operational improvements, cosmetic
changes impact would decrease in a short time, leaving the organization unchanged. This realization kickstarted the development of a comprehensive and integrated approach to improve the services of the post
office to more effectively fulfill its assigned mandate to the Aam Aadmi (the common man). The study looks
at the challenges faced in the process of evolving and implementing the strategy given the complexity and
history of a large 150-year-old public sector organization. Elements of creating a buy-in needed to address a
wide range of constituencies ranging from grassroot employees, officers (who could be apprehensive of the
impact this project would have on them), streamlining the Information Technology (IT) systems, getting the
right investments, improving employee capability through training, and above all, getting the trade unions to
understand and support the change.
The attempt to transform India Post is not the first attempt at improving a government-run organization. There
are enough examples of a revamp being successfully undertaken, such as Indian Railways, National Thermal
Power Corporation, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and many of the public sector banks. What
makes this unique is that the transformation was being attempted over a very aggressive timeline. All the
government/public sector organizations, which were transformed and guided by leadership vision and
commitment, underwent the change and became more efficient and customer oriented. In a nutshell, the
improvement at India Post under Project Arrow can be seen in the larger context of ever increasing
capabilities of enterprises in the public sector under central government.
Project Arrow Transforming India Post
There are several audiences which will find this study useful. Broadly, they can be classified as follows:
Leaders of state and central government who understand the need to revitalize their organizations but
are challenged by existing inefficient processes/procedures, leadership apathy, red tape, lack of employee
commitment, and other socio-political issues
Large organizations in public and private sector, which employ a large number of unskilled or semi-skilled
labor, need to respond to competitive pressures, but are unable to do so due to work force challenges,
unionism, and lack of vision in their organization
People in the media who normally find enough content to highlight public sector apathy will access
something that is different from the conventional image of public sector enterprises
People in the postal department who have not yet implemented Project Arrow can see through this study
the issues involved when something new is kick-started
People in IT companies who are selling their software/hardware to public enterprises can use this
study to influence senior leaders in client organizations by highlighting how application of IT can bring about
transformational change in the functioning of the department through reduction in information arbitrage
Key Lessons Learnt

Change is possible even in a public sector enterprise
The cynicism of the public, fuelled by negative media stories on governance often eclipses some of the
achievements of public sector. India Post is a good example of how one can bring about change in a public
sector enterprise against the odds of widespread cynicism.
Leadership commitment ensures focus
Leadership focus and commitment are the main driving forces to bring about change. In the case of India
Post, most employees and managers were aware of what the issues were, but did not feel the need to do
anything about it because there had been no demand from leadership to improve. The role of leadership in
this case can be summarized as follows:
Articulating clearly the project vision and goal, keeping in mind that the articulation must be such that even
the Lowest Common Denominator should be able to understand and relate to it
Converting the vision into tangible Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on feedback from the
employees as well as a demonstrated willingness to change the KPIs and/or measurement basis when
warranted, provided the end goal/target remained unchanged. This proved to be a powerful catalyst
through which the employees realized that this was not a top-down effort but a collective effort to improve
the functioning of the unit. This proved to be a strong facilitator for enhancing buy-in
Ensuring accountability through robust monitoring systems. Regular video conferences were conducted to
monitor performance on KPIs with the senior executives at the regional levels
Removing the barriers to low performance by getting the required investments
Employee involvement is critical for success
The project did not entail passing instructions from the senior management for execution at the ground
level.
There was substantial two-way dialogue through workshops to get buy-in across all levels of the
organization. This ensured ownership by the ground-level staff in the process of identifying and rectifying
the issues. Illustratively, the Minister personally had structured interactions with beat postmen and
communicated the rationale of why this exercise was being undertaken and how they would benefit from it
The dialogue helped overcome initial resistance and skepticism of the employees toward the change. It
also helped shift the mindset of postal employees from being rule focused to being customer focused
An integrated approach is important to make a meaningful difference

Unlike the past initiatives, Project Arrow is an integrated approach to boost the performance of India Post,
while ensuring a consistent look and feel across all locations. At a subliminal level, in a manner of speaking,
this was an effort to restore the feeling of pride in working for India Posts.
Earlier, initiatives looked to address issues across a limited number of aspects, such as aesthetics,
computerization, or adding a new service, while issues across other areas continued to remain
unaddressed
Project Arrow simultaneously addresses the functional and infrastructural improvements across postal
operations. It looked at issues from a customer standpoint as against the internal process standpoint. This
invariably meant coordinating across multiple post offices
The effort was not directed at getting everything corrected, but more an application of the Parettos
Principle or the 80:20 rule (20 percent of the activities that affect 80 percent of the operations)
Demonstrating and highlighting the effectiveness of the project in an unbiased manner is essential to
building public confidence and acceptance in such projects. An independent body was engaged to
conduct audits and customer surveys to demonstrate that the claims were not just being made internally
but could also stand external scrutiny
Execution readiness is the foundation
Trained employees, clear operational procedures, and appropriate systems are critical for successful
execution and long-term sustainability of the improvements from Project Arrow.
Focus on training is a major element of Project Arrow. The focus was on teaching computer skills and
customer handling skills to the postal staff
Robust IT systems were used to extract performance data, thus eliminating possible human error and
ensuring proper reporting. While in the initial stages there was a manual input to track performance,
thereafter a Web extraction tool was introduced. Given the sensitivity for accurate data and more
important its acceptance by the post offices and the regional offices, the manual data input and Web
extraction was run parallel for an extended period of time, until the field accepted the accuracy of data
and did not reject it along lines of we know we are doing it right, but something must be wrong with the
system which is not showing the true picture
The project team came up with an implementation guide--Blue Book. This document will help standardize
implementation and monitor the process across all Project Arrow post offices. The Blue Book is an
excellent example of how a complex organization and its requirements have been simplified so that the
individual at the bottom of the pyramid is able to understand and implement it.
These learning are the crystallization derived from the context, thought process, and execution of the project,
which we will cover in the subsequent sections.
Institutionalizing change:
Under a visionary leader, it is possible for organizations to revamp processes to improve their services.
However, to sustain these gains, even if the prime mover moves on, it is imperative that the process is
institutionalized through process documents and sustained through continued leadership focus.
1. India Post: A large complex postal

network
1.1 An Overview
A simple and innocuous question was what triggered this case study.
When was the last time you visited a post office?
None of the individuals (outside the Department of Posts) associated with this case study could recollect their
last visit. This journey has been a revelation and an education.
Indian Postal Service (India Post), is the worlds largest postal network, and has 155,204 post offices: 139,046
in rural areas and 16,158 in urban areas. It employs over half a million employees (approximately 566,000
people). Its mandate is to provide services, such as mail delivery, money transfer, saving bank operations,
and life insurance products across the length and breadth of the country.
The Indian Post Office was established in 1837 by the British East India Company. In time, the Indian postal
system developed into an extensive, dependable, and robust network providing mail services to almost all
parts of India, Burma, the Straits Settlements, and other areas controlled by the East India Company.
India Post, apart from railways, and more recently, mobile telephone operators, is the only institution in
private/public sector that connects the remote parts of India to the rest of the world. Rural India, with a low
penetration of mobile telephony (13 percent) and Internet (less than 2 percent), still depends on postal mail as
a preferred, nonsubstitutable medium of communication. In addition, India Post also acts as a financial
intermediary to large parts of rural India by providing services, such as savings account, money transfer, and
insurance. These areas would have remained untouched by formal financial services provided by public and
private financial players due to commercial considerations. Hence, meeting social obligations of providing
services to Aam Aadmi (the common man) is an important component of the post office charter.
In 2006-07 India Post handled:
217 million registered articles and 6.5 billion unregistered articles
99 million money orders involving transfer of Rs.7,760 crores ($1.55 billion) an average ticket size of Rs.
780 (~USD 16) each
Under its saving schemes and deposits accounts, around Rs.5,63,000 crores ($112.7 billion) in funds
It managed 174 million customers through accounts and certificates
It had 3.3 million insurance policies and collected Rs.1,210 crores in premium ($242.6 million) an average
monthly ticket size of Rs. 300 (~USD 6)
1.2 India Posts Organizational Structure
India Post geographically divides the country into circles, which typically correspond to the individual Indian
states, except for the North East Circle, which includes all the northeastern states apart from Assam.
Some basic statistics relating to this structure are:
Total Number of Postal Circles
22
Total Number of Postal Regions
37
Total Number of Postal Divisions
442
Total Number of Circle Stamp Depots
19
Total Number of Postal Store Depots
46
Total Number of Postal Training Centers
Total Number of post offices in the Country
1,55,204
Total Number of post offices in Rural Areas
1,39,046
Total Number of post offices in Urban Areas
16,158
Number of Head Post Offices
816
Number of Sub-post offices
24,835
Total Number of GPO
17
1.3 India Posts Finances

India Post gets government subsidy as it plays a significant role as a conduit for the governments social
obligations, that is, it provides essential services to the public at moderate costs. There are fewer
opportunities for maximizing profits at the post office, given the obligations.
As a result, in corporate terms, India Post with revenue that just exceeds a billion dollar does not appear to be a very
large organization. However, the outreach of the organization to every part of the country makes it a significant
contributor to the countrys connectivity and efforts toward inclusive growth. Statistics and ticket sizes for 2006-07 are
testimony of the outreach of India Post to the rural populace where disposable incomes are meager.
2002-03
Revenues
Expenditure
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09***
4,010*
4,260
4,430
5,020
5,320
5,760
5,880
(801.9)**
(851.4)
(886.4)
(1,004.7)
(1,064.5)
(1,152.2)
(1,175.2)
5,370
5,630
5,810
6,230
6,570
7,270
9,800#
(1,074.5)
(1,126.4)
(1,162.7)
(1,246.7)
(1,310.4)
(1,454.4)
(1,959.2)
Net Deficit
(RevenueExpenditure
)
1,360
1,370
1,380
1,210
1,250
1,510
3,920
(272.6)
(275.4)
(276.3)
(242.0)
(246.9)
(302.2)
(784)
*All values in Rs. crores

** Values in bracket are in $USD million
*** Unaudited data
# Steep increase was on account of additional wage payouts on account of the Sixth Pay Commission
India Posts deficit is largely due to costs of salaries of personnel deployed at commercially unviable post
offices, pensions paid to superannuated employees, as well as other costs toward the social obligation of
providing most services at affordable fixed rates to the Aam Aadmi. While volumes of business dip, India
Post does not have many options for downsizing and letting its employees go. Offering employees options for
voluntary exit is a popular way of reducing manpower, but it too has very little scope. This not only adds to the
salary expenses but also to the pension payouts.
India Posts revenue growth was 6.6 percent (CAGR: 2002-08), while expenditure grew at a rate of 10.5
percent (CAGR: 2002-08).
Given the mandate under which it operates, India Post is likely to continue to face a net deficit in the future
due to the increased expenditure on account of higher salary and pension charges implemented by the Sixth
Pay Commission. The social obligation of India Post precludes passing on this increase in salaries and
pensions to the consumers. Also India Post is making USD 421 million worth of IT investments from 20072012. The pay offs of these investments will come post 2012. As a result, the organization is expected to run
a deficit of Rs.5,390 billion ($USD 1.08 billion) in 2009-10, compared to Rs.3,830 billion ($USD 766 million) in
2008-09, and Rs.1,200 billion ($USD 240 million) in 2007-08.
1.4 Competitive Landscape

The organizations traditional business of mail and parcel delivery is facing intense competition from private
courier companies and new communication channels emails, social networking sites, and mobile telephony.
The last decade has seen a telecom revolution in India and telecom services have now made inroads into
regions of India where India Posts was traditionally the only means of communication for the citizens. Over
2000-2009, there has been a proliferation of private courier services, which provide faster and more reliable
delivery of mail, predominantly across major cities.
India Posts competitive or operating terrains can be distinctly segregated as urban and rural. Competition in
these regions is vastly different.
There is intense competition in urban markets for all the service segments of India Post. Strong brands,
good customer service, and efficient functioning of the private service providers constantly challenge India
Post. Courier services attract urban customers with reliable, efficient, and customer-centric mailing services,
while the private banks and financial services firms rely on better ambience, ease of access (online banking
and ATMs), and single-point access to a wide portfolio of services, to attract urban clients. Although
expensive, private players use robust IT systems to offer more convenient and customer-focused services
According to the Comptroller and Auditor General's 2007 report on the Department of Post, mail traffic
declined by 10 percent annually during 2001 to 2006, an aggregate decline of 48.12 percent. In contrast,
private courier services registered a 25 percent annual growth
Rural markets, given their low customer base and lower profits, do not attract private players in large
numbers. As a result, India Post with its vast rural presence is almost a monopoly. However, the slowly
increasing penetration of mobile telephony (13 percent in rural India) is replacing mail as a significant
communication channel in rural markets
1.5 India Posts Initiatives

India Post has undertaken numerous initiatives to ensure its relevance in the changing landscape. Its major
initiatives over the past decade were focused on building IT infrastructure, improving efficiency, enhancing
service offerings, and tying-up with other service providers.
1) Leveraging technology and new methods for enhancing customer services

India Post invested in IT to drive operational efficiency, speed up the process/operations, and strengthen
connectivity across offices. A detailed snapshot of the computerization effort is shown below:
In the past 10 years, India Post started utilizing Internet connectivity to offer services, such as ePost (2004),
ePayment (2006), and instant money order (iMO) (2006). While ePost and iMO are faster and safer online
mail and money order delivery modes, ePayment is a new service that allows customers to pay all their
bills, such as electricity bills and telephone bills, through post offices. These services have seen rapid
acceptance in the past two years as evidenced in the table below:
Service
2007-08
iMO
ePayment
2008-09
Growth 08-09 over 07-08
660*
950
(132)**
(190)
3,540
10,400
(708)
(2,080)
52%
294%
*All values in Rs. crores

** Values in bracket are in $USD million
To cut down the transmission time for sending money orders within the country, India Post now uses a
VSAT satellite network of 150 VSAT stations and 1485 extended satellite money order stations. This has
resulted in faster delivery of money orders to customers
The pick-up mail facility was launched in July 2005. The number of speed post articles collected from the
premises of customers has increased from 2,59,209 in June 2006 to 5,20,322 in March 2007 an
annualized growth rate of 267 percent
All in all, the new services launched by India Posts have received good response in the market and have
shown an upward trajectory in volumes year after year.
2) Increasing service offerings through tie-ups

With rural economic growth, there has been an increase in the demand for financial services. India Posts vast
network in the rural markets is an effective, ready-made channel for public and private sector banks and
service providers, who are trying to expand their reach in the rural areas. India Post has increased the range
of its financial offerings by collaborating with different banks and financial institutions. Its partners are
attracted by the opportunity to leverage India Posts mammoth network and skilled staff to reach customers in
areas that are outside their geographic network or are unviable on a stand-alone basis.
Several nonfinancial public sector units (PSUs) and multinational companies (MNCs) have also expressed
interest in using India Posts wide network in the country. These joint ventures can help India Post become a
commercially sustaining self-sufficient organization that acts as a one-stop, costeffective, multiservices
provider. The table below shows some of the public/private sector organizations that have tried to tap the
unparalleled reach of the India Post organization.
Partner
Service
State Bank of Sell

its
India
products
Details
asset
Initially, the scheme was started in five states, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. A pilot scheme was later extended to 10 states and India
Post plans to implement it in 5000 post offices throughout the country.
ICICI
Prudential
Insurance
Insurance
India Post will sell the companys pension products in select post offices. ICICI
Prudential Insurance will train India Posts employees and also provide the sales
collateral.
NABARD
India Post gives microcredit to self help groups (SHGs) through post offices in five
Provide microcredit districts involving seven divisions of the Tamil Nadu circle. The fund for this project
to self- help groups
comes from NABARD in installments. So far, loans worth Rs.15.9 million have been
given to 662 SHGs.
The organization provides international express delivery service, WorldNet Express
(WNX), in 220 countries. Customers can send documents and parcels on a courier mode
(delivery duty unpaid shipments) from 237 post offices located in 21 state capitals to 220
countries, with a maximum transit time of four days. India Post plans to expand this
service to more locations in the near term or short term.
Deutsche Post
International
delivery service
Western Union
Money
service
transfer India Post provides a network for the reliable transfer of money to urban, rural, and
remote areas.
Indian
Railways
Selling
tickets
railway Recently, the Railway Minister, announced as a part of her budget proposals that the
facility of booking railway tickets will be extended to 5,000 post offices.
Most of these initiatives, although successful, were isolated and their effect was restricted to only specific
postal services, though the booking of Rail tickets is the first step in offering nonpostal services through the
portals of India Post. There was limited focus on improving customer services and the overall efficiency of the
postal systems, which remains the main competitive factors in the urban markets.
2. Project Arrow Executing the Vision

to Transform India Post
2.1 Defining the Projects Goal

The Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, wanted to
transform India Post into a world-class organization. This vision acted as the strategic driving force for the
initiation of Project Arrow.
Project Arrows initial focus was on improving the look and feel of the post offices infrastructure. A team of
India Posts senior officers were asked to suggest ideas to make post offices aesthetically more pleasing and
customer friendly. The department involved an external consultant to facilitate the process. As the process of
improving the look and feel unfolded, the team also decided to focus on core operations of the post office.
Based on their assessment, the team came to the conclusion that:
There are significant areas within core operations, which, if improved, will allow the organization to deliver
improved quality of services to customers
The added focus on operational excellence will also enable India Post handle competition and regain
market share
Thus, the leadership came to the conclusion that while the look and feel is important, the core operations of a
post office are equally, if not more, important.
Therefore, what started out as a project to give a facelift to the external look of post office buildings and
physical infrastructure, transformed into an exercise to improve core performance and make India Post a
Window to the World for the Aam Aadmi (common man). For the first time, an integrated approach was
used to overcome the service issues at post offices by attempting improvements in all key facets of the
operational and customer experience dimensions of the post office.
Given the complexity and scale of India Post, Project Arrow stands out as an execution activity of integrated
initiatives involving employees from all levels and functions. The following factors make this a unique project:
Integrated project that covers
Technology
Processes
Aesthetics
Paradigm shift in the employees mindset (making them both technologically savvy as well as
customer/service oriented). The added challenge was that a large proportion of these employees were
close to superannuation and did not have either the drive or interest to learn new tricks just before their
retirement
10
Driving a strong customer focus. It is being emphasized consistently that the duty of the staff is to ensure
proper service to customer rather than only following the post office rules and procedures
Leadership will postal department and ministerial to ensure that there was sufficient funding and
guidance thereby ensuring that there was unwavering commitment to the end goals
Effective, regular monitoring in a transparent manner this increases the probability of sustaining the
projects impact and drives accountability across the organization. Approbations and opprobrium were
dispensed publicly and accepted for replication and corrective action because they were based on mutually
accepted data and facts
Proper implementation and adherence to new improved service levels (aesthetics, efficiency, and customer
services) on a large scale will create improved post offices with increased focus on customer satisfaction. This
would enable India Post to compete on equal terms, from a service perspective, with private players, and
given its low price of services use it as a significant differentiator to attract more urban customers.
At the rural level, given the low concentration of competitors, these improvements may not have any
immediate impact on competition. However, in the long term, when rural economies start to grow, post offices
will be better prepared to serve growing customer needs and compete effectively against new players. India
Post will have, in many ways, a first mover advantage in rural areas and has the scope to become the center
of economic and business activity in the rural arena.
2.2 Identifying the Key Issues to Address

Project Arrows first step was to identify key areas to improve, set performance metrics for these areas,
establish a method to measure performance, and provide a mechanism for course correction. To identify the
focus areas for improvement, senior India Post officers undertook a self-assessment exercise.
Initially, before the start of the project, at Delhi, few meetings were conducted where the senior officials were
divided into five groups to assess exhaustively the basic functional groups of the postal services, which
include:
Mails
Remittances
Savings bank
Infrastructure (renovation of post offices)
Technology
These groups did not have a fixed size or composition, but were formed with the functional divisions and
their officers along the lines described above. These officers deliberated on the objectives of each group
with the unit post office as the context, and also determined the KPIs for the project. Subsequently, the
groups were expanded into eight silos based on the deliberations of the five groups.
Thirty Directors visited 50 post offices as part of Phase I and observed their operations for five days. They
spent time evaluating across-the-board functioning of the post offices and performed:
Process mapping of various operations silo wise of the post office
Documentation of process deviations and corrective action needed
A few Directors even accompanied the beat postmen to experience, firsthand, the issues that the postmen
face while delivering mail articles and money orders. Not only did this help the senior members understand
the issues, it helped engage the junior members in the process of issue identification and at a later stage, in
executing the Project Arrow initiatives. In many ways, this also created a strong impression that this time the
effort for change was wide ranging and had the commitment of senior officers in addition to executives.
11
After the inauguration of Phase I, three workshops involving one or two external consultants,
directors, and regional officers of Department of Post were held at Mysore, Saharanpur, and Vadodara.
These workshops were brainstorming sessions with grassroot/junior-level staff and gave them the chance
to point the issues that different functions face, prioritize the issues, and validate some of the problems
already identified by the directors and departments senior officers. The workshops were successful in the
following:
Involving employees across all levels in identifying key issues and eliciting suggestion for
improvement. Some important suggestions received were:
Postmen multitasking: Since the postman has direct interaction with customers he could be given some
responsibility in business development and marketing. Apart from his regular duty of mail delivery, he
could also help the post office staff in sorting and making data entry in the computers, among other
things. Normally, the postman remains idle as it is the post office staff who sort and enter data in the
computer. Multitasking will ensure effective utilization of a postmans time leading to higher productivity
Deceased Claim: Delay in settling deceased claim and account transfer requests were another key area
of improvement which required immediate attention
Increase cash withdrawal limit: Cash withdrawal limit was increased from 2000 to 5000, which gave
consumers more flexibility
Getting buy-in of post office staff for executing on Project Arrow recommendations. This interaction also
served to address some issues which would have remained hidden and possibly stymied the project. For
example, the back office employees at post offices (who sort out mails to give to the beat postmen)
commented that all the face lift and improvement was directed at the front office and their lot would remain
unchanged. This prompted suitable action to be taken so that their work areas were also refurbished. The
very fact that someone had listened to their woes and taken corrective action galvanized them into
action and ensured their commitment.
The results of the self assessment were summarized by the various teams working on this and are presented
below.
Self-assessments results
1. Ineffective and archaic operational guidelines: Legacy planning and operations guidelines resulted in
inefficient service.
Low-cash authorization limit for post masters resulted in:
Insufficient funds to allow for same day delivery of money orders
Shortage of cash resulting in delay in payments
The procedure for opening, transfer, or closing the saving account was a time-consuming activity for the
customers
In case of death of the account holder, it took, on an average, two to three months to pay the beneficiary
In case a customer wanted to transfer his or her account, it took, on an average, two to three months for
the process to be completed
In many cases, the mail arrived after the postmen had left for their beats. This resulted in delayed delivery
of mail and money orders
Decisions had to be routed through a maze of approvals. This, at times, resulted in delays in purchase of
basic items, such as chairs, lighting fixtures, and antivirus software
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2. Non-optimal resource utilization: India Post was not able to effectively leverage available resources for
improving core operations and look and feel.
Despite being computerized for more than 10 years, the use of the system was not efficient. This led to
customer spending longer time queuing at the counters
Savings bank data were not complete and comprehensive:
The signatures were not scanned properly
The entries in the passbook were still manual
In some cases, employees were not able to use the new equipment due to lack of training, for example
low typing speed resulted in abysmally low inputs of records into the system
Money was spent on creating infrastructure that, in many cases, did not enhance either employee or
customer comfort
In many cases, the renovation resulted in creating a poorly coordinated office space and also led to
disparity in look and feel across post offices, for example money was spent on creating aluminum and
glass partitions/offices without looking at effectively using available space
Employees were not skilled to handle the complete slew of counter activities , such as mail booking, iMOs,
eMOs, and savings bank activities
3.
Lack of monitoring and accountability: The lack of proper monitoring and tracking resulted in low
accountability across the postal staff.
There was no system in place to monitor the performance of postmen. During the workshops and directors
visit to post offices, some postmen pointed out that no one ever asked them about their performance or
coached them on how to do their job more efficiently
There were also no measures to ensure same day delivery, collection, and dispatch of mail and money
orders
4. Poor maintenance of infrastructure: India Post is the worlds largest network of post offices, but lacks a
standard look.
Most of the post offices buildings and infrastructure were old and unkempt
Post offices lacked basic infrastructure, such as chairs for waiting customers
Cleanliness was an issue
Lack of signage on available services at the post office
The findings above did not surprise many employees; these issues were already known, but there was no
common platform or concerted effort to address them. Project Arrow was a good opportunity to make that
platform available to employees, which could form the basis of concerted and sustained effort.
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2.3 High Impact and Easy to Implement Mantra for Choosing Focus Areas
The assessment led to two themes Get the Core Right and Modernize Look and Feel. These simple
catch phrases served to drive the point home across the entire spectrum of what the intent of Project Arrow
was. The Get the Core Right theme seeks to improve service levels so that citizens can get efficient, faster,
and consistent service. The Modernize Look and Feel theme seeks to address the customers experience
whenever they visit a post office. If post office standardizes the physical infrastructure in customer centric
ways, then probability is high that customers will get a consistent experience. This means that post offices
have a similar look and feel, which creates a brand that is easily identifiable and ensures consistent
expectations from post offices.
The large number of issues identified during self-assessment, coupled with the large size of the India Post
organization, meant that the project team needed to prioritize the issues which it would address first. The
mantra to choose an action item was high impact, easy to implement. The team started to assess issues
which would be easy to implement and yet were expected to have a relatively higher impact on achieving the
project goals. Easy-to-implement issues were defined as those which did not require significant investment of
money or time in training, technology, or processes and required limited organization-wide coordination.
Get the core right: The core team prioritized the Modernize look and feel: The look and feel team
processes that were high impact, easy to acted upon the recommendations of external
implement.
agencies and focused on customer convenience,
cleanliness, and aesthetics.
The activities under Get the Core Right were classified under
The activities under Look and Feel were classified under four
four silos (subsegment or functional areas under the theme).
silos. These four silos were identified with the help of a leading
The core teams members, directors, and postal staff facilitated
advertising agency, which also designed a new logo for India
identification of key issues that plague operational
Post. The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) designed
performance. As a next step, measures to address these
the infrastructure prototypes (benches and counters), and after
issues, along with implementation timelines, were designed by
a number of revisions, the final design was selected for mass
the team working on getting the core right.
reproduction by the India Posts leadership team.
Executing the Look and Feel was relatively easy, as comprehensive branding guidelines were developed
centrally, for implementation. This did not require significant coordination across multiple offices and people in
different locations. Its execution was outsourced to vendors, for example benches, signage, and touch-screen
machines.
14
The improvement in core areas posed the following challenges:

Alignment of the organization from the highest to the lowest levels and improvement of the operational core
are not easy given the bureaucratic history and culture of this public sector giant
Additional workload on the staff and officers, while improving the core operations
Significant investments required in training and changing the mindset
These challenges were accentuated due to cultural issues associated with public sector enterprises; the
leadership themselves described the existing system as archaic and fossilized.
Notwithstanding these challenges, a separate, detailed preassessment exercise had to be conducted for each
of the post offices covered under Project Arrow to identify areas where actual performance metrics lagged set
benchmarks. In addition to common issues identified under the theme Get the Core Right, each post office
had its own unique challenges, such as lack of backup postman, delayed arrival of mail, addressee being
unavailable during the postman beat schedule, and large volume of mails. To address these local-level
challenges, a team led by a director tried to identify the major problems at preoperative stage and suggested
solutions to improve performance.
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3. Project Implementation
3.1 Selection and phasing of post offices for implementation

Project Arrow was planned in phases, with the number of post offices increasing in every subsequent phase.
Each stage was treated as a learning opportunity and the learning used to improve planning and
implementation for the subsequent phases. Thus, each phase not only saw an increase in number of post
offices being converted, but also witnessed a change in the way the project was being implemented.
Phase I, which started on May 1, 2008, covered 50 post offices. Greater emphasis was placed on the Look
and Feel aspect during this phase aimed at standardized branding across the system and more pride among
the staff. In addition, the project team continued to assess the core activities of post offices and identify ways
to improve operational efficiency. The team noted that there were no standard measures or goals in place to
evaluate whether the project was actually resulting in increased efficiencies at post offices. Based on the
learning of Phase I, the project team identified focus areas and KPIs to measure the efficiency of the post
office operations. These focus areas and the KPIs were standardized in Phase II and subsequently the
performance of all post offices under Project Arrow was measured using these KPIs.
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3.2 Project team composition

As a first step to implementation, cross-functional project teams were established at the central and the circle
levels to ensure proper execution and monitoring of Project Arrow. Officers and staff were encouraged to
provide feedback and suggestions to improve the overall achievement of goals and targets. This effectively
broke down the fear of approaching central office and enabled constructive suggestions to pour in , as well
as doubts about the methodology of data collation and analysis. Open communication channels to the central
office and lack of rigid bureaucracy significantly increased the buy-in. These are described below.
3.2.1 Central-level Team Structure and Composition

At the central level, the Minister of State (Communications and IT), Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, was the
project sponsor and led the Steering Committee of the project, while the core team functioned at the postal
department level with the Secretary (Posts) leading it.
For implementation, eight teams (as shown in the chart below) were formed at the department level
corresponding to each silo. Each of these teams included a large number of senior officials, covering all
functions of post office.
The program office and core team were responsible for execution of the project and monitoring its progress.
The program office played a major role in functioning as:
A single point of control to monitor the project
A point of contact at New Delhi (location of both the India Post headquarters and the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology) for the staff in different circles and offices
Various problems of the postal staff could be addressed by the program office
Complex issues could be communicated to the office of minister or the Secretary (Posts) for clarification
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3.2.2 Circle level

The team structure at the circle level has constantly changed since the kick-off of Project Arrow. Initially, the
circles had their own program office comprising of the Chief Post Master General (CPMG) and a few other
senior officials. The role of the program office involved monitoring the project progress at the post offices and
reporting it to the central team (program office and change agents) at New Delhi.
In the later stages of Phase II, the team structure at the circle was a replica of the central core team. This was
meant to ensure streamlined and systematic revamp of post offices in the circles. Even though change agents
were introduced at the circle level, they did not report directly to the change agents at the central
directorate/core team. Change agents at the circle level reported to the program office and the CPMG, who in
turn reported to the central core team.
Change agents were domain experts holding key positions in the functional divisions corresponding to the silo
they handle. For example, the officers in the marketing department were made change agents in the
Branding silo of the Look and Feel theme. Their role was to lead the operational transformation process for
their respective silos by setting objectives, evolving KPIs, identifying existing gaps in achieving
objectives/KPIs, suggesting process improvements, ensuring standardization of processes, and monitoring
the overall implementation for their silos. They play an active role in driving the execution of the project at both
the central and the field levels by directly engaging with the staff at a post office.
3.3 Communicating about the project

The communication of Project Arrows objectives and expectations was important to get the employees buyin.
This was done by the postal divisions superintendent, who was then stationed at the post office until the
revamp was completed
The training team conducted the awareness training to get the staff on board
Mrs. Radhika Doraiswamys (Secretary Posts) newsletter included information about Project Arrow and was
circulated to all the post offices of India in September 2008. In this newsletter, the great work at Phase I
post offices was acknowledged, while emphasizing on improving core activities at the post offices
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3.4 Preparing for Implementation

3.4.1 Training of employees
There are seven main training centers for postal staff.
Postal Training Center (PTC): There are six PTCs all over India: Guwahati, Madurai, Vadodra, Saharanpur,
Darbhanga, and Mysore. The PTCs were more involved in interactions and training of the staff at junior level.
The target audiences for the PTCs were supervisors, post masters, and assistant superintendent of post
offices (ASPs). PTC Mysore created the module for soft skills training. To execute Project Arrow, different
postal offices gave their training requirements. These requirements were segmented and training modules
were conducted depending on the need. Initially, these training programs were not welcomed by the staff, who
considered them an extra burden. However, as time passed with continuous and consistent communication
from the leadership, members started to be more receptive to training. As a result, the training offerings
expanded and training needs evolved, putting even greater pressure on PTCs to meet training requirements
arising out of Project Arrow.
Postal Staff College India (PSCI): PSCI, based in Ghaziabad, is responsible for training Group B officers
and above (around 1,500 to 2,000 employees all over India). Group B officers are gazetted officers of the rank
of ASPs and superintendents of post offices. PSCI has the same function as the PTCs, but its scope, delivery,
and audience are geared to meet requirements of middle- and senior-level members of India Post.
3.4.2 Procurement of raw materials required for implementation

The procurement process consisted of four stages.
Identify standard requirements depending on the size of a post office and the customer base that it serves
Work orders were given through competitive bid process among the preferred set of vendors
Depending on the requirement of each post office, certain items were procured locally and some at the
central level
Exteriors, interior, and floors were done by the local vendors
Hardware, software, and certain other items had centralized vendors
3.4.3 Strengthening the IT organization

India Post has been investing in the hardware and connectivity aspects of its IT backbone since 1994 as
indicated in section 1.5 of this report. However, the gains realized from these investments have been below
expectations as the postal staff was unable to efficiently utilize this infrastructure. For Project Arrow, a strong
IT system was a critical requirement, given its role in monitoring and integrating the operations of the postal
department. India Post partially tried to solve this by creating the post of system administrators for its post
offices. The employees chosen for this post were picked from a pool of postal assistants for their aptitude and
skills in IT. They were designated as system managers or system administrator. These members received
training at the PTCs or from reputed external computer training agencies.
19
Areas of concern indicated were:

Many members are reluctant to take this role as it may involve additional work at odd hours
Many members believe that they may not be recognized or compensated for additional work and skills
3.5 Implementation Phases

3.5.1 Phase I: A learning exercise that transformed post offices
The first phase was an important phase of Project Arrow, which attracted the attention of both the central-level
and the division-level teams. This phase also set the benchmark for the subsequent phases, and additionally,
helped in course correction in project implementation and monitoring.
Details of Phase I:
Duration
Number of Post Offices
May 1, 2008 to
August 15, 2008
Cost Incurred
50
Rs.12.74 Cr.
($2.55M)
50 post offices were randomly selected:

They were a mixture of rural, semiurban, and urban post offices. As rural post offices cover much larger
areas, transformation of these post offices was expected to have a greater impact, while, the urban post
offices, covering a smaller area, had much larger volumes. In addition, it was expected that a revamp of
urban post offices would give Project Arrow the maximum and necessary visibility
These post offices were regionally diversified, spread all over India covering 10 circles out of a total of 22.
Preference was given to the constituencies of the ministers of communication and information technology
The size of the post offices varied from a three-member post office to a 150-member post office
As it was the first phase, the level of involvement of the leaders, core team, and senior officials in
implementing the project was quite high. The Minister of State, Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, personally met
the post masters of all the 50 post offices to impress upon them the importance of this project. The change
agents and other core members visited the post offices several times during Phase I. Directors visited the
post offices to:
Motivate staff
Increase staff participation
Look at processes and improvement measures
Post masters were given awareness training on Project Arrow so that they, in turn, could motivate their staff
and keep them informed of the rationale and progress of Project Arrow
Apart from the efforts of the senior officials, around 9,900 employees received training at the PTCs. In
Phase I, the trainings were focused on creating managerial skills, customer handling skills, and an
awareness of Project Arrow. These trainings were conducted at the circle level by post masters and
directors, with the involvement of the PTCs
The initial stages of Phase I predominantly focused on improving the Look and Feel and preoperative
assessment of core operations of post offices. After the completion of the Look and Feel aspects of post
offices, they were inaugurated on August 15, 2008. However, the initiatives on core activities were still under
review, with a goal to ensure consistent high performance at post offices
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3.5.2 Emergence of monitoring using KPIs

During the initial part of Phase II, the discussions involving the change agents, CPMGs, and post master
generals of Project Arrow circles and the three workshops at different locations resulted in the formulization of
objectives and various KPIs for the post office. In fact, the name of the project came up in one of the forums
after debates on various other names. These were followed by meetings at Saharanpur (postal training
center) to suggest various interventions required to attain the project objectives. The members developed a
number of KPIs that became a part of the project in Phase II and are now being used to monitor the
performance of all post offices under Project Arrow.
3.5.3 Phase II: Reinforcing the standardized procedures for easy implementation and
scalability
The learning from Phase I was translated into standard procedures and measures for each of the silos, which
could be uniformly implemented in all post offices in the subsequent phases. As a result, Phase II had a set
platform for effective implementation. Unlike Phase I, post offices in Phase II were better aware of the
objectives of Project Arrow and the means of achieving them.
Details of Phase II
Duration
August 16, 2008 to
December 31, 2008
Cost Incurred
Rs.73.0 Cr.
450
($14.6M)
Coverage under Phase II was expanded to cover 450 post offices:

This phase too included a mix of rural and urban post offices, and 60 head post offices (nodal post
offices). A head post office (HPO) has 20 sub-post offices attached to it, so covering HPOs has a wider
impact
The number of circles increased to 12 in Phase II from 10 in Phase I
Apart from the big rented post offices, all department post offices with their own building were considered
while selecting post offices
Staff from the post offices covered in Phase II visited post offices converted in Phase I to understand the
conversion process. Directors at the divisional level continued their visits to these post offices to ensure
proper implementation and boost staff morale
As part of improving the Look and Feel, India Post launched its new postal logo on September 23, 2008. In
this phase, people from the civil department of national telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
(BSNL), were involved in executing the Look and Feel activities of the post offices. As BSNL is under the
same ministry as Indian Post, it was relatively easy for the two entities to coordinate. This also offered
potential opportunities for the convergence of IT and other communication channels between the two
Around 20,000 employees were trained in this phase due to the increase in the number of post offices.
Unlike Phase I, trainees in Phase II were more aware of Project Arrow. They were also more aware of the
kind of training they would undergo. The trainees of Phase I acted like the ambassadors for Project Arrow
Additional areas of training, such as soft skills and computer skills, were introduced in Phase II. Modules
were created for uniform training in all the post offices
Training was also provided by external agencies, especially for soft skills. For IT training, external vendors
were involved in a few regions
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3.5.4 Documentation of the project plan The Blue Book

The project details and the execution plan were comprehensively documented in the Blue Book, which was
developed at the end of Phase II. This document incorporated the learning from the first two phases. The first
draft of Blue Book went through a lot of iterations and reviews before the final draft was released in January
2009. It highlighted project activities and the people responsible for it. This document is expected to help
standardize implementation and monitor the process across all Project Arrow post offices.
The Blue Book clearly identifies end-goals that should be attained across focus areas for the eight identified
silos.
Against the goals, there is a prioritized list of issues that need to be addressed
All issues have KPIs that are nonnegotiable and tracked in all monitoring meetings (see monitoring section
for details)
The Blue Book identifies issue drivers and the resultant key activities that need to be executed to ensure
that the KPI is met
Against each of the key activities, there are suggested improvement initiatives that all post offices can
implement to improve their performance
All activities have a well-defined timeline and responsibility matrix
A sample entry in the blue book is described below:
Some fundamental guidelines followed while formulating the final draft are as follows:
The language used in the Blue Book should be user-friendly as it is meant for staff at all levels. The key
users would be:
CPMGs of all circles and PMGs of all regions
All training centers of the Department of Posts
Superintendents, postmasters, officers, and staff involved with Project Arrow
Any other officer and staff of postal department who could use this document as a Ready Reckoner
It is comprehensive and exhaustive as it contains all the answers to any question that the execution team
could have
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The future intent is to publish the Blue Book in regional languages. The purpose of the document is:
To provide post offices covered under Project Arrow a structured approach for implementation of Project
Arrow objectives
To list series of improvement initiatives so that all post offices can implement them to improve their
performance
To standardize processes for rollout of Project Arrow post offices
3.5.5 Phase III: Uniform implementation of project over a larger scale

After two phases of implementation, the processes were standardized and documented, thereby creating a
reference tool that acts as a guide for the implementation in the subsequent phases. Post offices in phase III
have utilized the Blue Book for uniform implementation.
Details of Phase III (Stage I)
Duration
January 1, 2009
to June 30, 2009
Cost Incurred
1,100
Rs. 525 Cr.

($105M)
Phase III started by covering around 1,100 post offices, including 470 head post offices, thus ensuring that
all the head post offices were covered under Project Arrow. Twelve circles were covered during the first two
phases and the start of phase III now includes all the 22 circles under Project Arrow. The aim of this phase
was to convert 4,500 post office, but given the scale of implementation, it has been split into three stages
During this phase, 1,099 post offices (out of 1,100) were visited by directors, who are the immediate
supervisors for implementing this project. With the implementation plan documented in the form of the Blue
Book, educating the staff and monitoring the results were easier
Training programs had clear objectives. Given the large number of trainees, the training was conducted in
three batches
In the Look and Feel aspect, many activities have been initiated across these post offices, such as
site preparation, supply of computers, and training (postmasters and postal assistants)
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4. Monitoring the Performance You

cannot improve what you do not
measure
Project Arrow highlighted the absence of a standardized monitoring mechanism to evaluate the performance
of a post office. As a result, special emphasis was placed on having an effective, regular, and extensive
monitoring mechanism. Technology plays a key role in both the extraction of KPI data and facilitating the panIndia meeting of monitoring team and implementation team.
4.1 Reporting Mechanism

Initially, postal department developed a Web-based data entry application where post offices uploaded
operations and financial data. This required employees to manually enter data and that, at times, resulted in
data integrity issues.
Then, a new upgraded data extraction tool was developed that allowed data extraction from existing
databases. This process enabled the core team members to verify the data that are manually entered. The
new tool allows for:
Select KPIs to be directly extracted from existing post office database, such as Meghdoot
Mail not sent out for delivery (speed and registered post)
Mail undelivered (speed and registered)
Money orders undelivered
While some of the other KPIs could be directly extracted from Web-based data entry application , for
instance:
eMOs booked
Number of ordinary letters sent out for delivery and undelivered
Number of deceased claims case pending
Initially, there was resistance to using the new tool as there were significant variations in the data extracted
manually and that extracted using the tool. Over time, as people got better at using the system and inputting
correct data, the deviation between the two data sources decreased (below 10%) for most of the post offices.
24
Snapshots of Various Tools Used for Monitoring
Online Web-based Tool

Meghdoot
4.2 Performance Scorecard

These scorecards report on performance against the KPIs and are focused on driving performance
improvement. The intention was to provide a snapshot of performance that is represented in an easy-to -read
manner using color codes, easy-to-read layout, and ability to analyze the data.
Key attributes of the scorecard:
Linked to priorities and scope of organization/department, for example number of registered articles
received, number of registered articles not delivered, and number of money orders not delivered
Prioritize and report select areas and KPIs to direct employee priorities to high issues that have a high
impact on performance
Variances clearly highlighted and tracked
Can be easily integrated into larger performance management framework
Below is a typical sample dashboard which is used to measure achievement of KPIs and to drive
accountability. It is worth highlighting that these sample dashboards are tabled and discussed in reviews one
week after generating the dashboard.
Sample Dashboard
Data Extraction Tool Report
25
Web-based Tool Report
4.3 Driving Accountability

The performance against KPIs is regularly tracked by both central and local leadership of India Post.
Video conference: A steering committee headed by Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and consisting of Secretary
(Posts) and other senior officers assesses and evaluates the progress made every 10 days through a
videoconference. The chief postmaster general of the circle represents the post offices within the circle
during these meetings. All the post offices get a performance scorecard based on the data gathered through
a Web-based data extraction tool. The post offices, which score below a threshold, are required to explain
the reasons for performance shortfall and the corrective measures that they would implement to resolve it.
Usually, the time frame for initiating corrective action and demonstration of improved results is less than two
weeks.
26
Earlier post offices used to get the scorecard before the meeting. Now, the upgrade of the monitoring
software to a central network allows the post offices to check their scores on real-time basis, thereby
ensuring that they are prepared for the performance reviews.
Recently, few circles also started video conferencing at the circle level every 15 days to understand the
problems and progress at the level of a post office. This is in addition to the regular central leadership-level
video conference. This enables the post offices to effectively share their implementation experiences and
resolve local-level issues to improve performance before the review meeting with the central leadership.
27
Report from external agency: An external agency was hired to survey around 50 post offices to get inputs
from employees and customers on how Project Arrow has affected operations of India Post. The objective
of this survey was to hear directly from the customers whether the efforts of Project Arrow are translating
into better customer experience.
Efficient implementation of the citizens charter: Every post office has a citizens charter. This is a
statement that clearly states self-selected goals of quality and timely services. The charter describes the
products, services, delivery standards, and the complaint mechanism to its customers. The post office
evaluates and displays its own performance against these self-selected goals. The project team did not
develop the charter as a monitoring mechanism; however, due to its characteristics, it has become one of
the monitoring mechanisms.
As the operations of post offices implementing Project Arrow have stabilized, the responsibility for these post
offices is being transitioned to a single/nodal officer in each district, who has to ensure that the momentum for
change is not diluted.
4.4 The Results So Far

Based on the data extraction and the Web-based tool, the national-level KPIs for the core post office functions
registered mail, speed post, and money order have registered significant improvements. The results
clearly point to improved performance since the launch of Project Arrow. As expected, post offices in Phase I
are performing better than the post offices in Phase II across delivery of registered mail, speed post, and
money order.
Registered mail delivery the same day Performance against KPI of this core operation was inconsistent
for post offices in both the phases. The performance levels had regularly fluctuated above and below the
tolerance level 95 percent of registered mails received should be delivered on the same day. Performance
of post offices under Phase I was consistently above the tolerance level since March 2009; the Phase II
post offices have started to meet or exceed the KPIs since April 2009
Speed post delivery the same day Post office covered under Project Arrow Phase I and Phase II have
consistently achieved a performance level of 95 percent against the KPI of this core operation
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Money order delivery the same day Money order delivery had highly inconsistent performance levels.
The tolerance level for this core operation is 95 percent. While Phase I post offices have seen periods when
performance was above the tolerance level of 95 percent, with performance stabilizing above that level in
recent periods, Phase II post offices have not yet managed to cross the target in any review period
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5. Sustainability
All large-scale changes need time to be accepted and, more important, institutionalized. The
other challenge that large change management projects, such as Project Arrow, face is sustainability in the
long run. There are developments in certain areas that point to Project Arrow being a success in the long run.
What is now required is a wider organizational will in large part being driven by the leadership to ensure
that the gains made are not lost due to shift or loss of focus.
5.1 Leadership Focus

Leadership focus and commitment is the main driving force in ensuring a smooth execution of this project. As
originators of the idea, the leadership exhibited high level of ownership in dealing with the challenges of
conceptualizing and implementing Project Arrow.
Participation of the leadership in monitoring of Project Arrows KPIs has instilled a high level of accountability
across all levels of the organization. With scaling-up of implementation in the near future, this intensity of
leadership monitoring needs to be maintained; otherwise, there is a risk that the gains made in the project will
not be sustained. Leadership can display this focus by:
Making regular follow-ups and seeking status updates that will be effective in establishing the continuing
importance of the project and ensuring desired outcomes.
Real-time monitoring using technology video conferences and online tools demonstrates leaderships
active involvement and impresses upon staff the need to adhere to project requirements.
5.2 Upgrading and Maintaining IT Infrastructure

IT systems and connectivity are essential for effective management and monitoring of the large postal
network. Many postal services are online and many activities, such as tracking, are performed using the IT
systems. New versions of software have been installed and these provide the facility for data extraction. All
the senior officials have access to the data and the circle heads can use it to identify the challenges that
certain post offices are facing in their region.
The postal department is looking at recruiting candidates with basic computer skills.
Existing employees with minimal or no computer skills are being trained. The ones who show desired
aptitude and skills are being appointed as system administrators.
A National Data Centre is being developed as the command center for data from across the postal network.
Automation of the standard monitoring process using IT tools is an effective way of ensuring adherence to
the performance standards. This reduces human intervention and control, and tends to offer a long-term,
reliable solution for ensuring monitoring.
30
Lack of IT skills among employees could prevent optimal usage of the IT systems. With new services and
increasing traffic, the IT systems need to be upgraded and integrated on a regular basis to ensure smooth
functioning of the post offices. Selecting employees with poor qualifications/skills as system administrators
can lead to ineffective maintenance of IT infrastructure.
5.3 Employee motivation and buy-in

Project Arrow appears to have addressed buy-in issues across different levels and taken necessary steps at
appropriate times to keep employees motivated. Getting the buy-in of people at different levels will make the
process long-lived.
There were various contact points between the senior management and the postal staff:
The workshops conducted at three locations in India to understand the different problems faced by the
postal staff and any suggestions that will help make post offices more efficient
Project team/training team visited the concerned post offices to educate them on the project
Creation of program office to get regular feedbacks and concerns of the postal staff of Project Arrow post
offices
The project team worked closely with the postal staff of the post office identified for revamp to get them
involved in the initiatives they took under Project Arrow
The high-performing post offices are rewarded for their efforts at the national level. The prizes for the best
three are:
First prize of a weeks foreign training for PM, PA, postmen, system administrator, and field trainer
For second and third positions cash awards for the entire staff of the post office
Apart from these prizes, certain post offices have prizes for best postman and postal assistant every week
or month. These steps keep the staff motivated to work harder to become the best. In fact, the postal staff of
performing post office generates a sense of self-pride in them as they are appreciated across different
government organizations
Clearly defining the roles and responsibility of every postal employee is very important for the smooth
running of the post offices to avoid conflicts in the long run. All the details on who is responsible for a
particular job are defined in the Blue Book and it is regularly revised for new updates
In the future also, there is a strong demand of such motivational measures across these post offices to keep
morale high. The Postal Department should take additional measures to acknowledge the efforts of the
people who are regularly involved in day-to-day activities of Project Arrow post office.
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5.4 Process Management Initiatives

Different processes like reporting and monitoring have been standardized so that every Project Arrow post
office can be evaluated on a common platform.
These processes are fairly transparent and every circle has the opportunity to learn from experiences of
other post offices
All the processes are being standardized to minimize the replacement cost of postal staff and reduce the
learning time
As converted post offices are getting stabilized, ownership of these post offices is being transitioned to a
single/nodal officer in each district (usually the superintendent of the post office), who is required to ensure
that the momentum and adherence to changed processes is not diluted
To ensure that the large-scale rollout is successful and that success is sustained, it is critical that the PTCs
and PSC continue to upgrade the skills of employees across areas, such as customer handling, IT, project
management, quality improvement, and coaching. This will ensure that the existing processes and
requirements are understood and, if required, employees have the skills to evaluate and implement according
to the change in requirements.
32
6. Conclusion
Project Arrow demonstrates that changing a large and complex organization, which is mired in legacy
systems, is possible. Public sector enterprises (PSEs) in India are considered inefficient and bureaucratic,
with minimal customer service culture. There have been instances in the past when PSEs have successfully
transformed themselves, such as the Indian Railways and BSNL.
The fact that India Post embarked on a transformational exercise is commendable. The fact that it was able to
deliver some improvements highlights the results a strong leadership and a committed workforce can achieve.
A change in culture and an improvement in functioning can ensure that the organization becomes more
customer-centric, generates higher revenue, and is able to expand the portfolio of efficient services it offers to
Aam Aadmi.
While it is still early days, the model has proved to be scalable across regions, urban-rural complexities, and
size of the post office. The leadership, now more than ever, needs to be focused on ensuring that it maintains
its sense of ownership and drive for results to address sustainability challenges.
33
Appendix
Activities for Get the Core Right

Description
Issues
Key Measures
Mail Delivery
All mail is not sorted for

Revise mail arrangements
Mail operations are fundamental to India Post,
and mail processing, transmission, and delivery
delivery on the day of receipt.
look for alternative transport.
are its core activities. It is the most common
All
mail
is
not
delivered
on
Streamline predelivery
association customers have with it. Mail is
the
day
of
arrival.
processes.
collected from 589,666 letter boxes in the country.
This is processed by a network of 489 railway
All letter boxes are not
Ensure availability of
mail service offices and sent by road, rail, and
cleared every day.
equipment and accessories.
airlines all over the country.
Missorting and delay in mail
dispatch.
Saving Bank
Delay in settling deceased

Post Office Savings Bank provide financial
service to people who have no bank accounts.
claim and requests for
The Post Office Savings Bank is the countrys
account transfer.
largest retail bank in terms of network (more than
Entries made manually in

150,000 branches, 17.2 crore accounts, and
aggregate deposits of Rs. 3,51,547 crores).
passbooks.
Revise cash balances and

withdrawal limits.
Digitize all manual records.
Re-engineer savings bank
operating processes.
Shortage of cash delays

payment.
End-of-day account
balancing is time consuming.
Remittances
Low cash availability, low line Review cash balances and

India Post provides customers the facility to
receive remittances from more than 205 countries
limits, and delays in
line limits.
and territories. It is a growth area and India Post
transmission.
Supervise and monitor

needs to provide highly efficient services to grow
All
money
orders
are
not
postmen performance.
and regain market share.
being paid on the same day. Provide system backup and
Low use of eMOs and iMOs.
daily monitoring of network
connectivity and error
reporting.
Service Levels
High office service level is crucial for all

operations in core areas. Customer perception
about India Post depends on the standard of
service and upkeep of the post office.
Present level of ambience

has no standardization.
Undertake thorough
cleaning of post office.
Counter-transactions often
exceed the prescribed time
limits.
Codify and track

postmasters compliance to
the daily checklist
prescribed.
Current staff attitude in post

offices is significantly lower
than the aspiration.
Formulate and implement

local Citizens Charter.
34
Activities for Modernize Look and Feel

Description
Issues
Key Measures
Human
Resources
Human Resources (HR) training

Identify training requirements Conduct awareness programs and
ensures that the post office staff is
for post office staff to sensitize
workshops for change agents, division
trained and motivated to conduct
them to Project Arrow
heads, and post office staff.
his/her daily tasks. India Post aspires to requirements. Implement
Create a training database and
identify, train, and sensitize staff to
training modules.
project objectives and requirements.
monitor implementation of the plan.
The key components include identify
Identify and reward high-performing
training needs, prepare trainers, and
post offices.
impart training.
Branding
India Post aims to build a unique brand

across the country. To achieve this, all
post offices need to be compliant with
the new branding guidelines developed
by the directorate.
Familiarize staff with the Corporate

Ensure consistent brand
image for India Post through
Manual of India Post and implement it
uniform and exhaustive use of
in all the post offices.
brand logos and signage
List out the branding requirements for
across all post offices.
each post office and complete it.
Have a streamlined procurement
process with timely orders placed with
the vendors.
Technology
Infrastructure
Technology ensures that all postal

operations are smoothly carried out and
less time is consumed by back-end
operations. India Post targets to
achieve total computerization and
facilitation of Web-enabled services.
Key components include provision of
hardware/software and connectivity in
all post offices.
Calculate hardware, software, and

Identify and implement
technology components
networking requirements for each post
required in Project Arrow in
office and fulfill them timely.
post offices, such as WAN and
Review the available resources and
Internet kiosk.
prepare blueprint for site preparation.
Right infrastructure helps to give a

uniform look and feel to post offices
and facilitate smooth operations. India
Post aims to standardize all required
infrastructure across all post offices in
India. Key components include
standard exterior and interior
appearance, required fixtures, and
furniture.
Be familiar with the Blue Book to

Identify and complete all
infrastructure requirements in
understand the requirements.
post offices to change the
look and feel of post offices to Collect field data, analyze gaps, and
finalize the scope of the work.
the standard of Project Arrow.
Monitor software installation and

ensure completion before launch date.
Consolidate the requirements, and

prepare and submit estimates for
timely procurement.
Monitor installation and ensure
completion of all work before the date
of the launch.
35
Sample Set of Instructions from Blue Book

Get the Core Right
Modernize Look and Feel
36
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Project Arrow

Transforming India Post

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

Key Lessons Learnt

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

An integrated approach is important to make a meaningful difference

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

1. India Post: A large complex postal

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

1.2 India Posts Organizational Structure

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

Total Number of Postal Regions

Total Number of Postal Divisions

Total Number of Circle Stamp Depots

Total Number of Postal Store Depots

Total Number of Postal Training Centers

Total Number of post offices in the Country

Total Number of post offices in Rural Areas

Total Number of post offices in Urban Areas

Number of Head Post Offices

Number of Sub-post offices

Total Number of GPO

1.3 India Posts Finances

*All values in Rs. crores

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

1.4 Competitive Landscape

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

1.5 India Posts Initiatives

1) Leveraging technology and new methods for enhancing customer services

Growth 08-09 over 07-08

*All values in Rs. crores

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

2) Increasing service offerings through tie-ups

State Bank of Sell

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

2. Project Arrow Executing the Vision

2.1 Defining the Projects Goal

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

2.2 Identifying the Key Issues to Address

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

four silos (subsegment or functional areas under the theme).

The core teams members, directors, and postal staff facilitated

advertising agency, which also designed a new logo for India

identification of key issues that plague operational

Post. The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) designed

performance. As a next step, measures to address these

the infrastructure prototypes (benches and counters), and after

issues, along with implementation timelines, were designed by

a number of revisions, the final design was selected for mass

the team working on getting the core right.

reproduction by the India Posts leadership team.

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

The improvement in core areas posed the following challenges:

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

3.1 Selection and phasing of post offices for implementation

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

3.2 Project team composition

3.2.1 Central-level Team Structure and Composition

Project Arrow Transforming India Post

3.2.2 Circle level

3.3 Communicating about the project

Project Arrow Transforming India Post