IFMSA-Iraq Capacity building manual

Capacity Building Manual Presented By CBD National Team 20192020 1

Welcoming Message

How to guide a successful CBD event

Follow up kit template 2

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Welcoming Message: Dear reader, Welcome to this Manual If you truly are a capacity building enthusiast and you wish to learn everything abou what we do and how we do it then this manual is for you.

We did our best in the CBD national team to provide the clearest and yet most effective manual concerning different aspects of capacity building for the training sessions or projects you have.

In this manual you'll start from the basis and instructional design of the CB which is the ADDIE model, and learn further about methods of evidence based needs assessment, data analysis, kirkpatricks levels of evaluation, then you will learn about how to manage a successful CB event, and the follow up template we use to give you a full idea about our work.

We hope this manual will be enriching and unforgettable, to guide you through the process of your project journey, as our goal is to enable you to effectively make an impact of your projects and trainings and further develop them.

With love, CBD national team

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Instructional Design Model 5

Instuctional design model In this toolkit we’re using ADDIE model to represent the training cycle where each letter of ADDIE stands for a phase as explained below: • Assessing and analyzing needs This is what we know as Needs assessment which is conducted before delivering training sessions to deal with a certain defect in certain skills.

• Developing learning objectives Now that we've identified the defect, we have to set up our goals, methodology and our indicators of success.

• Designing and developing the activity It's so important now to decide our approach to the target issue during the session, and that's through setting up relevant session outlines that cover up all the necessary aspects of the skills provided.

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• Implementing the design Now, we’re bringing our plans and theories into reality, so we’ll be facing obstacles and challenges we might have not anticipated. It's important here to identify each challenge so we can be more professional managing it in the future.

• Evaluation Process

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Needs Assessment 8

Before starting any type of training there must a purpose behind this training and a reason why this particular training is conducted. Each training session takes resources and time to execute in high quality and making haphazard training sessions can reduce the positive outcomes and raises the cost and wasted efforts. For example if you’re planning to travel away for summer you don’t just pack your bags and start driving but you plan this trip by collecting information about where are the good fun places or where do you find good hotels so your trip will be as fun and efficient as possible. And this is the needs assessment which is a process in which you will determine your target group’s knowledge gaps so you can fill them with an awesome training session making it as efficient as possible.

Why conducting a needs assessment?

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Why a needs assessment? The ultimate goal of a needs assessment is to determine the current and the desired performance. The difference or the gap between the two is the learning that must occur and the basis for a good training design. In IFMSA-Iraq we have LCs and national teams and each have a certain level of performance in which we want to always improve and overcome all sorts of performance problems.

Several more specific reasons for conducting a needs assessment include these: • Determine whether there is a training requirement.

• Determine root causes of a poor performance level.

• Determine desired performance (training results).

• Provide baseline data.

• Identify content and scope of training.

• Gain participant and organizational support. (Often, Members get on board when they have involvement from the start.)

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How do we conduct Needs Assessment in IFMSAIraq CBD in our LCs? The main process in this Needs Assessment focuses on two target groups which are LC Officials and LC members in a process that will take a total of 14 days and divided into 3 steps in which we will gather as much data as we can in various methods,

Step 1

:

In which we distribute forms to the LC teams containing questions asking them about the challenges and fears they are expecting to face or currently facing in their term which gives evidence about the level of their skills in terms of the things they are afraid-of or struggling-with that limit them from reaching their desired performance. In addition to their opinion about their local teams and what are the positives and negatives they find which gives us extra information and perspective to work with. This process will start on day 1 in which the form is opened and we give three days duration of

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time for them to fill these forms and preparing for the next phase.

Step 2: Next the capacity building team will acquire the input from all the LC teams in day 4 and start to read their responses in order to prepare for the next step which is the interviews phase. The interview phase is a 6 days process in which the CBD national team will conduct a number of interviews with the LC Presidents in order to get more information in addition to the ones that are mentioned in the distributed forms.

Step 3: After the end of each interview is the beginning of the next step which is the Case scenario phase (4 days) in which each LC president will get a form that contains case scenarios in which the top active members will fill from each LC (minimum 10 and maximum 20 ) and this will provide an idea about the highest level of skills present in that LC. Each case scenario in that form will represent a situation that requires a certain type of skill to manage. Our case scenarios will test the following skills:

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•

Team building and leadership

•

Time management

•

Feedback

•

Strategic planning

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Project management

•

Member engagement

•

Public speaking skills (Presentation skills, communication

skills, and body language)

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DATA Analysis 14

What is data analysis?

Which is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusion and supporting decision-making.

So, in order to train efficiently we should base our training plan on the analysis of the data we got from our needs assessment.

Why data analysis?

Because all the data we got from our needs assessment is indirect and needs the opinion and the evaluation of the experts in personal skills in order to interpret this data accordingly and come up with information that will help us determine the training topics priorities in our LCs.

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How to conduct data analysis on the mentioned needs assessment?

Any way to conduct data analysis is different because it depends on the type of data we are getting to analyze and come up with useful information. and since our needs assessment is concerning local officers and members from our LCs so we are analyzing their data separately: A.

Local officers will be evaluated by the data we got from

step 1 and 2 from our needs assessment in the following topics in a scale from 1 to 10 with an attached space to comment explaining why a certain scale was given to this LC in a certain field of skills: • General Soft skills of communication and time management. project Management and strategic planning skills.

• team work and group dynamics.

• Public relations and marketing skills • External representation and Advocacy

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B.

Members will be evaluated according to the topics the

case scenarios in step 3 were built on. So, each member will be evaluated in the following topics in a scale from 1 to 10 with an attached space to comment explaining the reason behind a certain scale in a certain topic: •

Team building and leadership

•

Time management

•

Strategic planning

•

Feedback

•

Project management

•

Member engagement

•

Public speaking (body language, communication skills,

presentation skills)

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Possible Challenges faced during conducting needs assessment: •

LC Presidents might not be

knowledgeable enough concerning the status of his LC and what do they need to develop accurately.

Possible Solution: it is recommended that questions during LC Presidents interview are as specific as possible regarding possible issues in their LCs.

•

Members don’t have enough motivation to fill the skills

assessment forms with their full potential which leads for their LCs to be underrated threatening the capacity building process in their LCs. Possible Solution: planning a reward system making filling the form leads to a reward that motivates members to fill this form with their own full potential.

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•

In the case of some LCs you might find that the number of

members filling the skills assessment form is below minimum.

Possible Solution: in addition to planning a reward system make sure to repeatedly check with LC presidents about the numbers of people that they sent the form to and making them updated about the numbers of people that submitted the form successfully and informing them about the consequences this might impact the LCs Process of capacity building.

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Evaluation Methods 20

Introduction Evaluation method depends mainly on your way of using the data.

If you're not willing to use the data, don't evaluate!

In this toolkit you'll find a brief explanation of an evaluation model called Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation, with some changes to make it better suited to our use.

Evaluating performance We’re going to use two methods of evaluation in this toolkit:

1-Assignments Using assignments conducted with the related training session to assess the impact of the sessions and to to measure into what extinct did the participants understanding happen concerning the sessions topic.

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As for assignments themselves, they vary so much according to their related session, and they could take place before the session, after the session or both.

And here are some of the examples of what could be used as assignments of both physical and online trainings: -Making a presentation -filling up a questionnaire -Taking up quizzes or tests -Making a Project

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2-Evaluation forms And that’s by using Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation

Level 1: Reaction Which measures participant satisfaction with both the training and trainers And this provides guidance about what to change. It gives a general idea on how the session was.

We can use scales from 1 to 10 with variable questions to measure the reaction.

Another thing we can use for that is short answers about the -Positives (what went good?)

-Challenges ( what needs to be changed? What could be improved?)

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Level 2: Learning The measurement of knowledge, skills, or attitude (KSAs) change indicates what participants have absorbed and whether they know how to implement what they learned.

This could be done by measuring the pax explanations for the sessions and into what extent were they met, by Pre and Post activity forms.

Level 3: Behavior Which measures whether the skills and knowledge are being implemented. Are participants applying what they learned and transferring what they learned to the job or the intended event?

We can evaluate in this level by measuring how relevant the topics in the sessions were and if they can be implicated in reality or just in theory.

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Level 4: Results Which determines whether the benefits from the training were worth the cost of the training.

It's also called cost- benefit analysis.

We can evaluate on this level by Before and After activity examination (analysis) while determining which figures are meaningful.

By implementing the four levels above in our evaluation for the session we'll find that all the aspects of the session are covered up, and all the defects could be found and improved.

The best method of evaluation that could be conducted in our capacity building projects is to make 3 evaluation forms for the session with the implementation of Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation.

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And those forms are: 1- Pre session form (for pax) 2- Post session form (for pax) 3- Session team's form

And here are 3 template forms, one for each type above you can use and add your own questions to them,

Starting with the Pre session form: This form is conducted right after the participants are accepted to the event and gathered up in a group chat.

It should contain general information questions about the session, pax's expectations and it should be easy and fast to fill up https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2Q5CFOwHFygDFgJ_3tj2pn_a4pLZL10KceVOcLZ6TpPrKw/viewfor m?usp=sf_link

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The other form is Post session form:

This form is conducted in less than a week after the session is over, and it's the most important one It's length should be in the middle (not very long nor very short) containing detailed questions and scales and the pax's experience within the session following the 4 levels of evaluation above. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjFQmWWcZjnLy8JI2NzI2k9LGFzbVtNUY3JJ7oH3Ui3tXLw/viewform?us p=sf_link

The last form is the Session team's form: This form is conducted preferably in less than a week after the session is over It should be focusing on internal matters, like challenges and obstacles faced by the team. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOAuohBTG8rb6F V2VQ0ziO98i9TqAfXmyszvZ9pTTw5UlFbQ/viewform?usp=sf_ link

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How to Conduct a Successful CB Activity 28

Introduction: Administrating capacity building in your NMO can be challenging to build the foundations for. During this guide we will explore the basic things that you need to have in order to properly organize your capacity building Activities efficiently and smoothly. During this guide we will feature the key components you will use during organizing the capacity building Activity.

Initiation: The initiation process is the most important part in which you will build your Activity on solid ground. Generally, there are three forms of initiation that you will be looking for when starting the activity: 1-

Activities that the capacity building division of your

NMO organize.

2-

Small activities that are limited to one training session

requested by Local Committees or Standing committees.

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3-

Activities that are organized by Standing committees

or Local committees and want capacity building division to be a part of it.

We will go through each scenario and how do we properly initiate the activity.

1-

Activities that the capacity building division of your

NMO organize: Any activity requires a proposal even if you are organizing the event yourself. The initiation of the activity starts by writing a proposal that contains the following things: - Is the activity national or directed toward a certain Local committee?

- Objectives of the activity and what we want to be accomplished including any data that might be gathered by needs assessment relating to the activity.

- The name of the activity coordinator.

- Duration of time.

- Target Group.

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- Indicators of success and evaluation method.

- Timeline of Work which can be divided to planned timeline and actual timeline.

This proposal will be uploaded to the working file you are going to create in order for the people you are going to work to have access to the needed information for working properly.

2-

Small activities that are limited to one training session

requested by Local Committees or Standing committees: The proposal for a small activity here requires the creation of a form (preferably google form) with a link that is distributed to all the people you think should have the right to propose a training they might need for their work on a specific target group. The things that you should consider including in your form are: - Proposer name/position and contact information.

- Local committee - Training topic - Physical or online - Objectives or what do they want to be achieved.

- Target Group

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- Proposed date Take in consideration to activate an e-mail alert whenever someone fills this form so your response to them will be as fast as possible.

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Activities that are organized by Standing committees

or Local committees and want capacity building division to be a part of it: In this case it is recommended that you create proposal template that can be filled by any person that you distributed the template to and has the right to propose. the things that are recommended to be included in your template are: - The proposer name and position.

- Objectives (what is wanted to be achieved).

- Related Standing committee or support division.

- Target Group.

- Is it a national activity or a local committee activity?

- Duration of time.

- Timeline of Work which can be divided to planned timeline and actual timeline.

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now you have got yourself a template. All the proposer’s now can send you an e-mail with the template attached containing all the information you need to decide if you want to accept or reject the collaboration.

Preparation process: Preparation process happens when the activity is approved which should be at a minimum of 15 days which changes depending on the complexity of work in your NMO or the size of the activity you are planning. the first thing to do during the execution process is to create working file ( which is a file on an online drive in which different people organizing the project can access and change anytime and preferably it should be on google drive ) the working file of each activity contain several components to make the job easier for both execution and evaluation:

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1- Activity Monitoring Checklist: For Big activities the number of tasks can get complicated with a lot of sessions happening in the same day with their evaluation and follow up and it can be super overwhelming and here where the Activity Monitoring Checklist comes in handy which is simply a spreadsheet contains each task and each action with follow up cells that describe the status of that action, for example:

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2- Session team working file: Since most capacity building activities contain sessions we highly recommend to make special working file for each session which will contain materials that will be used and an outline template which is a spreadsheet file that contains several components describing how the session will executed including the following: - Name of session presenters - Duration of the session - Number of participants - Goals of the session - Following a table contains session parts and topics a- Timing of the part b-Methodology used c- Description of the part d-On which goal this part works e- And the person responsible for this part - Evaluation methods that will be used - And a space for comments about challenges and possible solutions

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Outline templates can be having only the components that serves the purpose so you are free to use any form. An example of how the outlines templates can look like:

3- Evaluation file: evaluation files in online drives contain two mains elements which are evaluation forms and assignments which are used by big activities to follow up properly with participants, we will not go into much detail about evaluation since we are already covering this topic in another section of our toolkit, but as a quick summary we will have three types of forms that will evaluate our session delivering activity which are based on Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation: a- Pre-session evaluation form for members. b- Post-session evaluation form for members. c- Session team evaluation form.

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4- Pre-Activity OC meetings documentation files : It is of outmost importance that all members of the organizing committee and the session teams of the activity have had more than 2 meetings in the preparation process which is useful in eliminating vagueness on how the activity will be executed so all the people working in the activity will be properly oriented about their tasks. Each meeting documentation template should contain at least the following: o Meeting date o Meeting agenda o Meeting attendees o Meeting duration o Meeting outcomes (meeting outcomes contains all the tasks agreed upon in the meeting, who is responsible for them and the deadline for each task)

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Execution process: since we prepared well in our preparation process during the time of implementation will be as smooth as possible which is the Execution process which is the duration in which the activity is taking time. During this period make sure that: 1- Your checklist is used every day and each task and action has a specific time and deadline.

2- All the materials and sessions outlines are successfully uploaded by the session team before the execution process starts.

Post-event process and finalization: Post event there are number of simple things you should remember: • Host a post activity meeting: o from big to small activities post-activity meetings are important for feedback and knowing what can be improved and what can do again for future meetings.

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• Following up: follow up can be a complicated process but we can summaries the most important aspects into two things: 1. Sending the necessary materials used in sessions giving members the tools to gain more knowledge or benefit them as potential future trainers.

2. Working with the trainers and session team follow up with participants’ assignments that can massively useful for enhancing their implementation of the learned skills and knowledge.

• Certificates: certificates are super important for the acknowledgement of your NMO to the participants achievements and it is also considered as a reward system for the participants to fill out evaluation forms, participate in assignments and complete your capacity building activity in its entirety.

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Follow Up kit Template 40

Follow Up Kit Template: For the crucial value of the follow up materials and the extended benefits that it offers to our trainees, we did our best to come up with a unified template to gather up all the information and materials that the trainee would need in a simple yet professional template. All you need to do is make a pdf or google docs document and include the main three topics mentioned below: “

Session: (name) 1. Brief description: For example (communication skills

session aims for

increasing the general knowledge about communication and how it’s a cornerstone for the other skills to stand on like presentation skills and body language etc…

As it’s about knowing which type of communicators we are, how to be an active listener and how to deal with complaints).

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2. Outcomes, input, Action points: (For example ● Participants gaining knowledge about the definition of communication and its types. ● Knowing how to use body language to our advantage as a key aspect of communication. ● Learning about how to be an active listener and how to analyze the communication styles of other people. ● Knowing what types of communicators are there and how to deal with each of them).

3. Resources & links: (Link) “ Ps: The examples are just to give you clear insights about how to fill up this template. Erase the sentences in BLUE when you start filling it up.

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“

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