"This guidebook offers instructions for strengthening the organisation of community radio stations, in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. The all-embracing essentials of community radio station management, ie, governance and programme/financial/technical management, are discussed i
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n detail. Aspects of these organisational tasks are human resource plans, resource mobilisation, fundraising, accounting, maintenance of equipment and the determination of a clear broadcasting policy. But not only advice for practical matters is given: The publication further discusses the underlying mission, vision and goals of organisations, which are viewed as not sufficiently thought through by many community radio stations, yet crucial for their survival. The guidebooks' step-by-step lists, tables and forms, in part taken from existing community radio stations like Radio Sagarmatha in Nepal, are particularly useful, as they show how theoretical and abstract manuals can be turned into practice." (commbox)
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"Planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) remains a challenge for many development organisations in spite of countless PME workshops, experts and manuals. Yet, we believe that effective PME is essential for organisational survival (and therefore for sustainable development) and that this can be nur
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tured through careful and sensitive PME training and facilitation. We do not propose here a PME manual: our aim in these pages is rather to share some of our real-life experiences as PME facilitators and to offer suggestions to support PME processes, with a focus on civil society organisations. As a group of facilitators who have worked on PME issues in different contexts, we realised that we confronted three common challenges: 1. First, a perception of PME as imposed, ‘technical’ and expensive [...] 2. Second, in terms of PME contents, there is a frequent focus on a particular project, or programme, rather than on the wider organisation, its reason for existence and the broader context in which it operates [...] 3. Third, we see PME support processes that emphasise training workshops which, however well delivered, seldom lead to successful PME application, let alone sustained use. This refl ects the limits of a one-shot method, as opposed to a more process-oriented approach, where PME is about day-to-day activities and attitudes, rather than ‘PME events’. So why this book? While we work in various countries, for different organisations and in different roles, we propose to share experiences that refl ect these common challenges and help to: 1. Embrace a ‘total organisation’ approach to PME, not only rooted in programmes, or projects, but with a wider perspective: that of the ‘total organisation’, with its financial dimension, its environment, its collaborators and competitors, in a context informed by local and national cultures [...] 2. Enhance custom-made PME. We have found that PME support is rarely effective if it is not customised to a particular organisation and its stakeholders [...] 3. Bring PME into daily learning practice so that it becomes part of mental processes within a partner organisation, changing mindsets and attitudes, while refl ecting contexts and capacities." (Pages 3-5)
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"This Praxis Paper offers a brief overview of current thinking and practice in relation to the impact assessment of organisational capacity building interventions. The paper highlights some of the conceptual, methodological and practical challenges (issues of clarity, power and culture, among others
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) and then goes on to provide an overview of some of the practical approaches that have been adopted by NGOs and CSOs to overcome these challenges. It is a thought piece designed to engage practitioners (particularly those from developing and transitional countries) in a fruitful debate." (Executive summary)
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"This book tells how four busy executives, each coming from a different background, each with a very different perspective, were surprised to find themselves converge on the idea of narrative as an extraordinarily valuable lens for understanding and managing organizations in the 21st century. It ref
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lects a conversation that took place under the auspices of The Smithsonian Associates in April 2001 and the effects that this conversation has stimulated since then." (Preface)
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"This essential guide offers a detailed framework for assessing communication processes within an organization and using the results to develop improved organizational strategies. Presented in clear, accessible prose are the "tools of the trade" for planning and initiating audits, gathering data usi
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ng a wide variety of methodologies, analyzing the findings, and preparing effective reports. Throughout, practical examples drawn from the authors' influential work in the field help readers understand the real-world applications of the concepts discussed and gain skills for creative problem solving." (Back cover)
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"The perspective that informs this important book is that every evaluation of a capacity development effort should itself contribute to the capacity development effort and ultimately to the organization’s performance. This is a revolutionary idea in evaluation. With the idea have come the question
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s: Can it be done? And, if it is done, what will be the consequences? This book elucidates and deepens the idea, shows it can be done, and examines the consequences, both intended and unintended, of engaging in capacity development evaluation." (Foreword)
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