Guiding Principles for Capacity Building or Service Delivery Systems
Following the adage, “If you try to do everything, you accomplish nothing well,” guiding principles help clarify the overall direction for how capacity building will occur and how it will not. The goal of guiding principles is to guide materials development and facilitation practices, so they all align with a clear, unified set of principles that uniquely meet the needs of systems-change work.
Within cross-sector partnerships where each organization has different expertise, different styles, and different core missions, guiding principles for the initiative create a unifying element that offers direction to those creating and facilitating capacity building work.
Guiding principles are most important to the participant experience. When participants are engaging in training, learning, meetings hosted by various initiative partners, it’s essential that the vibe and heart of the initiative comes through clearly—regardless of who is leading or facilitating any one particular meeting.
Guiding principles provide that throughline. Here is a sample of the guiding principles developed with one of our clients who has a broad reaching group of people serving as trainers to support diversity, equity and inclusion with their clients.
Sample Guiding Principles For Capacity Building Alignment
At our Organization, are guided by the following principles, which are the foundation for our capacity-building service delivery engagements:
We center participants.…participants should be at the center of our sessions and support them so they can be student-centered. The learning and development we facilitate should be relevant to participants’ contexts and include their expertise and experience. It should also be intentionally designed and delivered in a way that effectively meets their needs with space for them to learn in a way that is meaningful for them.
Our services support transformational change.…the services we provide should support sustainable, scalable change with clear connections to student impact.
Authentic dialogue should be prioritized over comfort.…our participants learn more effectively and are deserving of an environment that supports authentic conversations and opportunities for growth and learning, even when that may be uncomfortable for some.
We name our subjectivity.…our own identities, lived experiences, and cultures cannot and should not be left at the door; neither should that of our participants/partners.
We will know that our service delivery is aligned with those principles if we see:
Responsive Practice/Adult Learning Principles
Consistent alignment with best practices in adult learning such as modeling, peer collaboration and engagement, and multiple modalities that support all learners
Conditions for participants to engage in the majority of the dialogue and discussion and be active participants in their own development experience
Consistent and intentional checks for participant understanding that lead to appropriate adjustments in facilitation and other service delivery
Inclusion of explicit, intentional connections between the “how” and the “why,” so that our service delivery is aligned with the values and goals of ATD services
Prompts and activities that elicit and provide space for reflection while also asking participants to go beyond reflection to actionable steps and strategies.
Strengths and Community Orientation
Inclusion of adult learning activities and design that emphasize the strengths and resources of participants and participant institutions
Encouragement and inclusion of time and space for building positive connections and relationships, fostering trust as well as embracing and leveraging the diversity of participants and facilitators
Sustainable, Scalable Implementation
Clear, tangible connections between individual and team
Learning/development and institutional implementation that leads to positive student outcomes and experiences
Delivery of activities, tools, and deliverables that can be directly applied to participants' work
An appropriate balance of knowledge-building, skill-building, and action planning in activities and content
To develop these guiding principles, we conducted one-on-one interviews and also facilitated a group process. The idea here was to support our client in creating a shared agreement so facilitators could easily and quickly prioritize and make aligned choices in the moment while they are supporting their clients.
Just give us a call if you want to learn more about how to do this. We can help.