METHODOLOGIES AND

APPROACHES OF COMMUNITY
ACTIONS AND INVOLVEMENTS
ACROSS DISCPLINES
Group 4
Partnership Building with Local
Groups
What is Partnership?
A partnership brings together institutional
capabilities and human resources in the form of
skills, experiences and ideas to tackle common
problems that are often beyond the capacity of a
single organization or group.
Types of Partnership
 Networks
The relationships among partners within networks
are often less formal or informal. The main purpose
of most networks is to exchange information among
members and to share experiences in their local
activities.
 Coordination
Relations among members are more closely linked.
Definition of specific tasks among organizations,
which require resources (for representation,
management, fulfillment of specific tasks) beyond
information sharing.
Collaboration

Relations among members are strong with

functional more broad ranging areas defined
for joint activities.
Principles of Partnership
 Trust
Trust is the most important if the partnership crosses
many boundaries - interpersonal, inter-institutional,
cross cultural - at the same time. In such conditions,
relationships are open to risk of misunderstanding
and there is need for a clear expression of interest
and aspiration on both sides.
Mutuality

In this case, the partnership relations are

open to dialogue and exchange of views.
Respect is of utmost importance.
 Solidarity
Solidarity means sensitivity and commitment to the
problems, efforts and constraints of other partners
particularly of those living in conditions of poverty
and oppression. It implies a readiness to respond
appropriately and in a timely manner to varied
needs.
 Accountability
Any partnership involves rights and obligations. It is
a major challenge when one partner has the
resources and the other has to ask for it, or one has
the power to decide who gets funds and how much,
and the other is accountable for their use.
Requirements of Effective
Partnership
• Government must be open, receptive, sensitive,
responsive and must internalize, accept and
institutionalize partnership at appropriate levels;

• Local people, particularly the rural poor must develop

skills in negotiation and claim-making to effectively
engage the government in participatory local development
planning and partnership- building; and

• NGOs must be open to collaboration with the government,

share risks and be creative.
Sources of Conflicts in a
Partnership
1. Value disagreements.

2. Personality conflicts.

3. Communication misunderstandings.

4. Doubts about priority need for partnership.

5. Confusion over differing degrees of members’ autonomy.

6. Different power interests

How to Address/Reduce
Partnership Conflicts
1. Choose a person who is seen as being neutral to serve as
a process observer. The role of this observer can vary
from keeping time, offering clarification or remarks, to
suggesting possible ways of managing or resolving the
conflict. It is important, however, that all partners
agree upon the process observer’s role.

2. Select a specific conflict that is important to the

partnership and the partners concerned.

3. Have the conflicting partners state their positions

without interruption.
4. Have each opposing partner paraphrase the other side’s
explanations or point of view. This effort to understand more
clearly and fully each other’s position often results in useful
conflict management. However, more work may be needed.
5. Start an open dialogue for questioning, obtaining more
information and further explanation. This helps ensure that
each side understands the other. As the dialogue continues, it is
necessary to move beyond explanations. This would require two
interacting skills - both parties should behave assertively and
cooperatively.
6. Summarize the position of each party, emphasizing their major
points of view. Provide an opportunity to each party to correct
misinformation or clarify points.
Future Perspectives
 A community meeting on future
perspectives in local development planning
is a way to create a shared vision for
partnership building. It enrolls those
stakeholders, who have the power of
information on the topics at hand and those
who are affected by the outcomes.
Joint Management of Sectoral
Programs
A partnership between the state and civil society
for the management and delivery of social and
productive services to local population,
particularly rural poor, is an ideal form of
responsive networking by the government, with
the boundaries between the citizens and the
state blurred and citizens themselves making
decisions.
Reasons for joint partnership in management
of sectoral programs:
1. where resources (staff and money) are limited;
2. where client communities are geographically distant;
3. where the state’s role in managing common property
resources is fundamentally disputed; and
4. where certain social groups have historically rejected the
state’s authority, making it practically and politically
expedient to cede aspects of service delivery to the
community.
Community Profiling
 What Is It?
Community (or stakeholder) profiles are a useful way
of developing an understanding of the people in a
geographical area or a specific community of interest.
This understanding can assist in the development of
a community engagement plan and influence who the
key stakeholder groups are and how a project
develops.
 What can it be used for?

• Providing basic information (where little is known)

before starting to work in an area

• Understanding the context of a community so that

specific areas, issues, and linkages can be identified
and analyzed
 What does it tell you?
• A basic understanding of a community as a whole

• Information on particular areas of interest (such as

which local institutions might be important for
household livelihood strategies and need to be
investigated in more depth)
 Complementary tools

Various participatory tools, key informant interviews,

focus group discussions
 Key elements

A variety of tools are used to build up an overview of

a community.
Requirements
 Data/information

This tool uses secondary data and documents that

relate to the community and any particular focus of
the profile (such as livelihoods and institutions).
Time

Approximately 1 to 2 days
 Skills

High level of participatory facilitation and social

analytical skills
Financial cost

If conducted as part of a participatory study,

additional costs will be minimal.
 Limitations

The community profile provides general data only;

therefore it lacks depth of analysis when used on its
own.
Community Profile:
Procedures and Examples
Time, Materials, and Skills Needed

This procedure requires one to two days and

requires a simple data recording sheet on which
key standardized qualitative and quantitative
information about a community can be
recorded.
 The data compiler should have a good
understanding of the economic, social and
political context of the communities that are
sampled and should have experience in using
the data collection methods used for the
exercise.
Possible Approach

The following possible approach (which relies heavily

on Messer and Townsley 2003) is a general example
that can be adapted to suit the local context, views of
local analysts, and the research objectives. These
steps and methods can be combined in various ways,
depending on the context.
Procedure
Step 1: Identify Research Issues and Set Objectives

Community profiles do not need to provide data on

every aspect of a community. The community profile
should provide an entry point so that researchers
have a better idea of where to look, whom to
interview, and which approach to use in future
research to provide deeper understanding and
learning.
 Start by developing an initial checklist of key
issues and questions of interest. This list is only
a starting point and can be added to or amended
at any point during the process. Issues and
questions might include the following examples:
Resources: What principal natural resources are
available in or to the community? Who uses them and
how? Where are these resources located?

Livelihoods: What different activities do

households use to support their livelihoods? Who is
involved in these livelihood activities (differentiated by
social and economic group)? How many people and
households depend on these activities? When and where
do these activities take place?
Community structure: How many people and
households live in the community? What is the gender
composition and age structure of the community? What are
the different social, economic, ethnic, and cultural groups?
How are those groups defined? Where do different social,
economic, ethnic, and cultural groups live?

Local institutions: What are the formal

organizations and associations? What are the rules,
regulations, and customs? Who is affected by them and
how?
Community infrastructure: What services are
available in the community (transport, power/water
supply, markets, agricultural extension, health, education,
and so on)? Who has access to these services? How
expensive are the user fees?

Community history: How long has the community

been in existence and how was it founded? When did
different social, economic, ethnic, and cultural groups
settle in the community? How has the community changed
over time and what has caused those changes?
Step 2: Select and Sequence Tools

A wide range of tools and methods can be used to

gather data to build a useful community profile,
which might include participatory tools, interviews,
and review of secondary data.
Step 3: Record the Data

A large amount of information can be generated

during the research; data recording from different
tools should be ongoing so that data is not mislaid,
forgotten, or reported inaccurately. At regular
intervals review the findings, discuss the directions of
the research, and record key information and
learnings
Step 4: Validate the Findings

It is important to cross-check and validate the

information obtained during the participatory data-
gathering process (and the analysis of this data) with
community members and local analysts. Information
can be validated through community meetings with a
wide cross section of the community or in smaller
focus group discussions
Points to Remember

A community profile should not seek to explain or

detail every aspect of a community situation/context.
It should focus on key areas or issues of concern to
the research and community and should be
undertaken with a flexible approach.
Needs Assessment
 WHAT IS A NEED?
needs that concern your particular community or
group. This could include hundreds of possibilities,
ranging from trash on the streets to vandalism, or
from stores moving out of downtown to ethnic or
racial conflict.
 What is Needs Assessment?
A needs assessment is a systematic process for
determining and addressing needs, or "gaps"
between current conditions and desired conditions or
"wants". The discrepancy between the current
condition and wanted condition must be measured to
appropriately identify the need. The need can be a
desire to improve current performance or to correct a
deficiency.
 What is Needs ASSESSMENT
SURVEY?
it's a way of asking group or community members
what they see as the most important needs of that
group or community. The results of the survey then
guide future action. Generally, the needs that are
rated most important are the ones that get addressed.
Characteristics of Needs
Assessment Surveys
•They have a pre-set list of questions to
be answered

•They have a pre-determined sample of

the number and types of people to
answer these questions chosen in
advance
•They are done by personal interview,
phone, or by written response (e.g., a
mail-in survey)

•The results of the survey are tabulated,

summarized, distributed, discussed,
and (last, but not least) used
WHY SHOULD YOU DO A NEEDS
ASSESSMENT SURVEY?
• To learn more about what your group or community
needs are. A good survey can supplement your own sharp-
eyed observations and experiences. It can give you
detailed information from a larger and more
representative group of people than you could get from
observation alone.

• To get a more honest and objective description of needs

than people might tell you publicly.

• To become aware of possible needs that you never saw as

particularly important or that you never even knew
existed.
• To document your needs, as is required in many applications
for funding, and as is almost always helpful in advocating or
lobbying for your cause.

• To make sure any actions you eventually take or join in are in

line with needs that are expressed by the community.

• To get more group and community support for the actions you
will soon undertake. That's because if people have stated a need
for a particular course of action, they are more likely to support
it. And, for the same reason....

• To get more people actually involved in the subsequent action

itself.
OBJECTIONS AND CONCERNS
• I already know what the needs in the community are.

• We're busy people. We want to get going.

• We don't have the time to do a survey.

• We don't know how to do it.

• People are already surveyed to death. They'll resent

you for asking them yet again.
WHEN SHOULD YOU DO A
NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY?
Some good times to do a survey include:

• When your group is just starting out.

• When there is doubt as to what the most important

needs are.

• When your group members disagree on this point

among themselves
• When you need to convince outside funders or
supporters that you are addressing the most important
community problems (Sometimes, these assessments
are required.).

• When the community asks you to do it.

• When you want to be sure that you will have

community support for whatever you choose to do.
And are there times when you shouldn't
• When there is absolutely no doubt what the most important
needs in the group or community are.

• When it is urgent to act right now, without delay.

• When a recent assessment has already been done, and it is

clear that the needs have not changed.

• When you feel the community would see an assessment as

redundant or wasteful, and that it would be harmful to your
cause
HOW DO YOU CARRY OUT A
NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY?
A STEP BY STEP APPROACH
• Most effective community actions start with thought that
takes place not in the community, but inside the thinker's
head.
• An assessment can be conducted by one person, acting
alone, but generally speaking, a needs assessment survey
will be more effective and more useful if it is designed and
carried out by a group. This is especially true when no one
has special experience in this field.
Ask yourself: What are our reasons for choosing to
do this survey?

Why are we getting involved in this? The answers may be

immediately clear to you. They may also include many of
the reasons previously listed. But perhaps your reasons are
not entirely clear. Asking these questions gives you the
chance to become clearer.
Ask yourself: What are our goals in doing this
survey?

What do we want to get out of it? How will the results be

used? Again, your goals (and uses) may be very apparent;
they may also relate to your reasons above. But you ought
to be able to state them before you begin.
Ask yourself: Are we ready to conduct this survey?

Are we prepared to do the work that needs to be done, with

high-quality effort? Before you begin, make sure your
answer is Yes.
Decide how much time you have to do the survey,
from start to finish.

How much time can you allow? Your answer will depend
upon what is already known; upon the size of your target
group; upon the importance involved; and upon the
resources you have at your disposal. (How many people can
help? How much money is available to spend?)
Decide how many people are going to be asked.

• If you are surveying the needs of a small or even medium-

sized group, you can (and should) include every single
person.

• When the group is larger, you can make your survey

available to everyone who wants to answer it.
Decide what questions will be asked

These questions will depend upon the scope of the

assessment. If you are asking about all possible needs in
the community, then phrase your questions accordingly,
and allow for a wide range of possible answers. On the
other hand, if you are asking only about certain types of
needs -- transportation, or violence prevention, for
example -- then your questions will naturally be geared to
them.
Decide who will ask the questions.

If you do interviews, the more people asking, the more

ground you can cover. However, you'll also have to train
more interviewers, both in general interviewing skills and
in using a standard procedure, so that results don't vary
just because the interviewers operated differently.
Create a draft of the full survey.

Include the instructions; this is an often-neglected part of

survey work, but don't forget it. Your instructions will set
the tone for those who will be responding.
Try out the survey on a test group.

The test group should ideally be composed of the same

kinds of people who will be taking the full survey. A test
group will let you know if your instructions are clear and if
your questions make sense.
Revise the survey on the basis of your test group
feedback.

Sometimes this test-and-revision process may need to be

repeated more than once.
Administer the survey

to the people you have chosen (once you are satisfied that
all necessary revisions have been made).
Tabulate your results.

For closed-ended questions, this can be a matter of simple

addition. For open-ended questions, you can code the
results into categories. Get some feedback from others
about what categories to use, because the ones you decide
on will shape how you interpret the data -- the next step.
Interpret your results.

Interpretation goes beyond simple tabulation. It asks the

questions: What is the meaning of the results? What are the
main patterns that occur? What possible actions do the
results point to? It's helpful if a group of people -- perhaps
the same people who carried out the assessment -- review
the results and share their own interpretations
Plan future actions.

Now comes the main payoff of your needs assessment

survey, and your main reason for having done all this work.
Bring the results and interpretations to your full group, and
decide what to do next.
Implement your actions.

Which of course is the reason we do these surveys in the

first place. The results are there to be used for action; and
your group should have already agreed to use them, going
back to the beginning.
Repeat your assessment at regular intervals.

Just as it makes sense to see a doctor once a year or so for a

checkup, even if you're young and healthy, it makes sense
to revisit community needs as well. Community needs can
change; you want to be sure you know if, when, how, and
why they do. For needs assessment is really an ongoing
process just like community action itself.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

PARTICIPATORY ACTION PLANNING

Leadership Development
 What is Leadership development ?
expands the capacity of individuals to perform in
leadership roles within organizations. Leadership
roles are those that facilitate execution of a
company’s strategy through building alignment,
winning mindshareand growing the capabilities of
others
 Leadership development is thought to be key to
business success. A study by the Center for Creative
Leadership holds that 65 percent of companies with
mature leadership development programs drove
improved business results as compared to 6 percent
of companies without such a program. Similarly, 86%
of companies with leadership development programs
responded rapidly to changing market conditions
whereas only 52% of companies with immature
programs were able to do so.
Developing Individual Leaders
 Traditionally, leadership development has focused on
developing the leadership abilities and attitudes of
individuals.

Classroom-style training and associated reading for

leadership development may ail from the possible
divergence between knowing what to do and doing what
one knows; management expert Henry Mintzberg is one
person to highlight this dilemma. It is estimated that as
little as 15% of learning from traditional classroom-style
training results in sustained behavioral change within
workplaces.
Three Variables of Leadership
Development
1. Individual learner characteristics

2. Quality and nature of the leadership

development program

3. Support for behavioral change from the

leader's supervisor.
Development is also more likely to
occur when the design of the
development program:
• Integrates a range of developmental experiences
over a set period of time (e.g., 6–12 months). These
experiences may include 360 degree feedback,
experiential classroom style programs, business
school style coursework, executive coaching,
reflective journaling, mentoring and more.

• Involves goal-setting, following an assessment of

key developmental needs and then an evaluation of
the achievement of goals after a given time period
Among key concepts in leadership
development one may find:
1. Experiential learning: Positioning the individual
in the focus of the learning process, going
through the four stages of experiential learning
as formulated by David A. Kolb:

a) Concrete experience.

b) Observation and reflection.

c) Forming abstract concepts.

d) Testing in new situations.

2. Self efficacy: The right training and coaching
should bring about 'self efficacy' in the trainee, as
Albert Bandura formulated: a person's belief
about his capabilities to produce effects.

3. Visioning: Developing the ability to formulate a

clear image of the aspired future of an
organization unit.

4. Attitude: Attitude plays a major role in being a

leader.
Developing Leadership at a
Collective Level
 Leadership can also be developed by strengthening
the connection between, and alignment of, the efforts
of individual leaders and the systems through which
they influence organizational operations. This has led
to a differentiation between leader development and
leadership development.
Leadership development can build on the
development of individuals (including followers) to
become leaders. In addition, it also needs to focus on
the interpersonal linkages in the team.
In contrast, the concept of "employeeship" recognizes
that what it takes to be a good leader is not too
dissimilar to what it takes to be a good employee.
Therefore, bringing the notional leader together with
the team to explore these similarities (rather than
focusing on the differences) brings positive results.