MODULE 7

ASSESSING CAPACITY AND CAPACITY NEEDS

Understand existing capacities and capacity needs within specific context

Agree on common and mutually understood goals

Involve all relevant local stakeholders

Awareness of scope of previous capacity assessments

Assess feasibility and the risks to the development

goal of institutional framework

Establish organisational change readiness

Choose a relevant assessment approach

Ask the right questions

Capacity assessment is vital to capacity development process!

Introduction

Capacity Development Manual – SIDAFormal and non-formal institutional frameworks

3 different ways to do/use capacity assessment

1. Local actors assess capacity of organisation(s)

2. Development partners assess themselves and each other

3. Development partners dialogue with local actors

Important points to remember:

• Assessment should preferably be ‘owned’ by relevant

local entity

• Start with small group of people

• Do not need to involve all the stakeholders all the time• Key stakeholders must be suitably involved

• Include less powerful stakeholders in process

Who should do the assessment?

Essential requirements before implementation of capacity assessment

• Common understanding of capacity and capacity development framework

• Validated development goal• Clarity about the purpose of the

assessment• Clarity of the mandate of the entity

to be assessed• Assessment of change

readiness

Framing a capacity assessment process

Validatedgoal

Mandate Assessment for what?

Ready for change?

Capacity Development

= .......

What to assess?

Mandate defined – starting point for assessing current capacity and future needs

Mandate not clear – harder to assess could represent a capacity need in itself

Important to look at whole system

zoom in and out

Not easy to exert influence on institutional frameworks Development

goal

Assess feasibility + risks

Be aware of ways affect programme

What to assess?

Look at hard and soft capacities

Think about themes for application Capacity framework - prioritise areas of assessment

eg. human capacity / systems and procedures /

knowledge management / good governance

Understand cross cutting issues

– especially gender

hardtechnical skills

structures

softpower distribution

incentives sanctionsleadership

values + beliefs

Toolkit for assessing organisational capacity

Check list for organisational assessment covers assessment areas:

• Outputs of the organisation

• Inputs and resources

• Leadership• Motivation/incentives• Balance between functional and political dimensions

• Fit between formal and informal organisations

• Networking capacity

Appropriate assessment approach and framework

Affirmative starting pointParticipatory self assessment

methodology Needs as realistic steps

More flexibleKey stakeholders define important

issues

Where we are now

What capacity do we need?

Stakeholders might not know best way to frame next capacity needs

Incremental approach

Developmentgoal

Appropriate assessment approach and framework

Where we are now

Ideal Situation

Gap to be filled

Could be more objective as determined by external consultants

Don’t value existing capacityIdeal goal often too ambitiousOften focus on hard capacities

Gap analysis

What questions to ask in an assessment?

Outputs

Hard and soft capacities ?

Inputs?

?

?

Hard and soft capacities ?

?

?

?

?

Remember: too much information can be as problematic as too little!

What local capacity is available for

CD?

Hard and soft capacities ?

Mandate

Assessment guidance and tips

Attention given to organisational political/power dimensions

Assessment process reasonable

Feedback and decision making process clear

Conclusions from the analysis substantiated by facts, figures and arguments

Capacity assessment involves all the key organisations

All stakeholders, including beneficiaries, appropriately involved

Capacity assessment reason clear and agreed Previous capacity

assessment processes taken into consideration