Comments to: crs@uvm.eduReviewed as of 4/20/98
THIS DOCUMENT WAS PRODUCED BY THE NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM. IT IS POSTED BY THE CENTER FOR RURAL STUDIES FOR PUBLIC
USE. THE CENTER FOR RURAL STUDIES ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THE CONTENTS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, REFER TO THE USERS GUIDE.
MAKING A COMMITMENT TO CAPACITY BUILDING
If capacity building is to become an on-going part of the life of
an organization, someone (or more than one) needs to make a
personal commitment to it. This exercise will help you decide who-
-you or someone else--should take the lead.
There are actually several distinct activities that need to be
carried out to implement a successful program. One person could do
all of them, or different people could do each, or a small team
chould share them.
1. There needs to be an INITIATOR who will focus the group's
attention. This can be done in various ways, the best way
depending on the situation and the group: talk with members
individually, or stand up at a meeting, or get the support of
officers and outspoken members, or pinpoint things that could be
done better (whose toes are you stepping on?), or sketch a verbal
picture of the group with all the skills it needs, or get other
members to read this manual, etc. More on the options in another
chapter; for now, the point is that someone needs to get things
started.
2. There needs to be a TRAINING COORDINATOR. This is the person
who would have special responsibility for thinking about the
group's training needs and ways to meet them. The job could
include planning of training activities, or making sure that the
group as a whole or a planning committee gets together and does the
planning. The job would probably involve getting the group to set
aside times for training, locating resource people, overseeing the
training budget (if there is one!) and seeing whether the training
accomplished what the group was after. The job could, but would
not have to, include leading the training activities or serving as
a resource person or expert. It could instead involve locating such
people as they were needed. We believe that virtually every
citizen board, council, issue organization, and action group would
benefit by designating a training coordinator, someone who would
carry out the functions just described.
3. There needs to be a TRAINING FACILITATOR who would lead training
activities, either scheduled workshops or spontaneous discussions
of "what we've learned" that come up in a meeting. This doesn't
need to be the same person every time; it doesn't have to be an
insider. It does need to be someone who understands the learning
goals of the group, is comfortable in a position of leadership (but
willing to share control with others), is a good listener and can
help to draw people out, and who can instill confidence in the
group's ability to learn and to succeed.
4. There may need to be RESOURCE PEOPLE who can demonstrate
procedures or provide specialized information. These people may be
group members, representatives from other citizen groups, local
lawyers, politicians, scientists, or people with "process"
expertise in areas like problem solving or the fund-raising
process. Sometimes a separate resource person won't be needed; the
same person may be able to play both parts, or a facilitator may be
sufficient in a topic where the group is its own best expert.
SOURCE: Beyond Experts: A Guide for Citizen Group Training, by
Duane Dale et al., Citizen Involvement Training Project, University
of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1978.
Comments to: crs@uvm.edu
Reviewed as of 4/20/98