Thomas Kerscher Capacity Building Specialist

In most cases, capacity development involves a substantial number of assessments and interventions, requiring know-how and input. It is therefore legitimate for management to ask whether the system needs help from outside. In the event that commitment has been secured through designing a commitment strategy, the following criteria can be applied in deciding whether a system is able to embark on a capacity development programme without external assistance:

• The system lacks resources, and chooses not to develop its own internal and fully qualified resources;
• The issues are highly technical, and non-recurring (otherwise consider job enlargement);
• Permanent employees must leave their positions to deal with the issues, and thus temporarily vacant positions are created;
• Permanent employees are competent enough to lead the capacity development process, but cannot be redeployed.

If all of these four criteria are met, then there will probably be a need for external assistance. Development agencies should assess the extent to which the criteria are met, before offering their assistance. If a donor funded programme is launched although one or more of the criteria are not met, it will rather complement or substitute capacity rather than develop it.

Internal Resources Checklist

When management decides to call for external assistance, there are three reasons why agents or consultants should check the internal resources as a first step toward addressing capacity development. The first reason is to avoid potential territorial battles between internal and external resources. Secondly, internal resources may be very effective allies in addressing capacity gaps. Thirdly, permanent internal resources should in the medium and long-term replace the temporary external assistance.

The following questions can be used in assessing the extent to which internal resources can be called upon in a capacity development intervention:[1]

1. Existing staff can gather and organise the data they need to understand issues related to capacity shortages fully and assess the effects they may have on organisational effectiveness; (y/n)

2. Existing staff can organise and analyse the data and distinguish between symptoms and their root causes; (y/n)

3. Existing staff can identify obstacles (technical, structural, procedural, political, emotional, cultural, etc) that might interfere with the capacity issues; (y/n)

4. Existing staff can mobilise and involve representatives of relevant groups and subsystems and help them to develop realistic and effective action plans for addressing the capacity shortages; (y/n)

5. Existing staff can mobilise and involve representatives of relevant groups and help them develop effective strategies for achieving the organisation’s desired future state; (y/n)

6. Existing staff can manage the implementation of the action plan, including:

a) Dealing with resistance; (y/n)
b) Co-ordinating the efforts of all people involved; (y/n)
c) Monitoring reactions from individuals and groups that are likely to be impacted; (y/n)
d) Scanning for emerging, unpredicted side effects; (y/n)
e) Identifying the need for adjustment to the action plan. (y/n)

7. Existing staff can perform and manage tasks effectively, without being unduly affected by their own biases and vested interest; (y/n)

8. Existing staff will say what they truly think and feel about issues without fear of upsetting their superiors, peers and subordinates; (y/n)

9. Existing staff has sufficient status and credibility to be accepted by executives and opinion leaders; (y/n)

10. Utilising existing staff will not significantly interfere with normal operational responsibilities; alternatively, routine operations can be transferred to others without a significant drop in organisational performance; (y/n)

11. Management is prepared to recognise and properly reward people for their contributions in dealing with the capacity shortages. (y/n)

If the answer to any of the questions 1 through 6 is “no”, does the organisation have the resources necessary to enable existing staff to develop their potential to deal with the capacity shortages? If this is not possible, then the organisation should consider seeking external assistance in capacity development.

If the answer to any of the questions 7 through 11 is “no”, is the organisation willing and able to convert all the “no” answers into “yes” answers? If this is not the case, then the development agency should consider sponsoring a capacity development programme.