WEST AFRICA CIVIL SOCIETY INSTITUTE

POST EVALUATION REPORT NGO MANAGEMENT TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN GUINEA, AUGUST 2-5, 2011

INTRODUCTION WACSI in partnership with OSIWA organised a four-day training workshop from 2-5, August, 2011 on NGO Management in Conakry, Guinea. Amongst the 21 participants who attended there were 7 females and 14 males from NGOs from across Guinea. At the end of the four-day training workshop, participants assessed the overall delivery of the workshop by answering the questions in a questionnaire given to them. The questionnaire was in three sessions- Overall Course Delivery, Course Content and Course Duration. Below is a compiled response from the participants.

SESSION A
Overall Course Delivery
In this session, participants were asked to rate their satisfaction in relation to the overall delivery of the workshop and give reasons to support their ratings. The ratings ranged from 3, 2 and 1 indicating, Very Satisfied, Satisfied and Not Satisfied respectively. Below is a tabular presentation of the ratings. Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants Areas of Assessment 1. 2. Overall Impression Where your objectives met? Very Satisfied 81% 71% 61% 76% Satisfied 24% 29% 39% 24% Not satisfied 0% 0% 0% 0%

3. Rate your satisfaction with training materials 4. Did the workshop help build on knowledge and skills? 5. How effective The discussions was the methodology? The exercises

76%

24%

0%

52%

48%

0%

Participants Response to Ratings Overall Impression Participants provided the following responses to explain their ratings: The workshop went well because all issues in the agenda were discussed; The workshop was delivered in a participatory manner; The workshop was very educative; Very satisfied with the topics of the training; The workshop provided us the tools for a more effective management of our NGOs and for behavior change; The workshop environment was conducive; The workshop was well organized in terms of learning methods which created space for better understanding; The workshop was well organised in terms of training materials and quality of the preparation; The workshop provided an excellent sharing and learning environment; The organisation of the workshop was perfect and the facilitators performed excellently; The workshop was very useful because it enhanced skills and understanding of NGO management; The workshop was impressive; The workshop helped to highlight certain aspects of strategy management, budgeting and control; The training modules were delivered but due to time constraints the practical exercises were not sufficient; The workshop enhanced capacities and WACSIs intervention in this area has been a great help for Guinean NGOs. Were your objectives met? Participants responded as follows: Yes, our objectives were met because the workshop had fulfilled our expectations; The workshop strengthened and equipped us in the area of management and coordination; The workshop introduced new points of learning about NGO management; The workshop has provided an exhaustive knowledge in budgeting; Yes, provided skills on how NGOs should manage their internal governance structures; The workshop exceeded expectations; Provided knowledge on internal controls and people management; Yes, truly because I have learnt new things and The workshop met expectations. Course Training Materials According to participants, the course training materials were: Very useful and exposed new ideas; Was well prepared; The material was adapted; Projection and audio resources helped to better understand the sessions; 3

Was very rewarding; Comprehensive; More detailed and capturing all the objectives outlined; Very good and practical; Excellent training materials; Very good; The materials were all professional; Was very good and will be very useful for NGOs; Well developed with many information covering the issue of management; Was adequate and Very impressed by the quality of the organisation of the workshop

Knowledge and skills Acquisition Participants acknowledged the usefulness of the workshop referring to their previous level of knowledge on the topic. Responses were: The workshops helped to learn about the consolidation of skills; Learnt a lot of key concepts in NGO management; Learnt a lot of new concepts; Learnt new things about project management within NGOs; Improved knowledge in conducting advocacy; Shared experiences; Built an effective management skills; Learnt a lot of new things, which can be shared with others; Learnt the management process by using the problem and objective trees; Learnt a lot on people and community management and Satisfied curiosity on certain issues relevant to NGO management. Training Methodology Discussion The answers provided by participants were: Very rewarding; Offered more understanding; Helped to benefit from others' experiences; Participatory; Very practical and stimulating; In most cases, time was not enough to exhaust discussions; Effective participation; Interaction between participants; Very good active participation of the participants; Allowed all participants to speak and Allowed dynamic groups

Exercises Participants provided the following responses about exercises: Enhance participation and facilitate assimilation; Helped more to understand the concept; Enabled to be more effective; Not enough exercises but very rewarding; Allowed to benefit from others' experiences; There was not enough time for the exercises; Hope next time hands on exercises could be improved; Was a learning process; More comprehensive for personal work; Was rewarding especially on problem and objective trees; Very good and useful experiences were related; Very practical; A good tool for understanding.

SESSION B
Course Content How effective was the components (listed in the box below) in building your NGO Management knowledge and skills. Use the following code and write the number which represents your opinion in the box Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants NGOs Management Very useful, Satisfied with Not am very this topic, satisfied, satisfied may be useful may not be useful types of 57% 38% 5%

Managing different organisations Programme Management and

Project

90%

10%

0%

Image and Advocacy

62%

38%

0%

Research and Evaluation

71%

29%

0%

Financial Management for NGOs

48%

48%

4%

Strategic Management

52%

48%

0%

People Management

81%

19%

0%

8 Organisation Management

33%

62%

5%

Community Management

57%

43%

0%

Write one or two sentences to describe what you learned from the workshop I learnt that planning means to elaborate an activity plan for the future Learnt the managerial principles: planning, programing, execution, control and monitoring Managerial cycle Learnt new management strategies: profile of manager, human resources, logical framework and the partnership with communities; Learnt about the different steps of evolution of an NGO and its consequences and advantages; Learnt how to run a successful organization; Learnt the function of management and cycle of organizational structures; Learnt more about community approach, research, evaluation and strategic management; Learnt how to manage an organization better and manage the community intervention; Learnt that there is no good management without people and Learnt a lot on the issue of M&E.

Advice for West African trainers in delivering this workshop Trainers should give more time during the group work; Provide more of such training across the region; Need extra time for such training, maximum of one week; Trainers should include more hands-on exercises; Should prepare more examples from country perspectives; Training on project proposal formulation and leadership; 6

More case study from West Africa; More practical exercises; Advocate for such training in other areas for West Africa civil society organisations; Multiply this type of training in other countries also in the sub region Create a network of trainers for better exchange and harmonization of competences in the area; The trainers have been good in their delivery, keep it up.

Assessment of Trainers Trainers were professional in their engagement of participants and also very friendly; Trainers are experts and made the learning process exciting; Good trainers; Very good methodology; Evidence of competence; The trainers were very aware, knowledgeable and professional Very Good communication skills Trainers are good and have a clear understanding of the topics Trainers have a very good attitude Excellent facilitating skills, keeps the training session lively Trainers are professionals, explanatory, with energising strategies to support teaching Excellent in delivery, warm in engagement

Effective in transfer of knowledge

SESSION C
Course Duration Percentage Rating Outcome of Participants Course duration Too Short 24% About Right 71% Too long 5%