Consultation on organizational and community development

Goal:
To train consultants for nonprofit organizations and public administration to be able to provide various types of consultation services necessary in these sectors. The course trains consultants primarily in terms of process (skills in designing and conducting consultation process, communication skills, handling nonstandard situations, resolving conflict, specific types of consultation services such as evaluation, facilitation etc.) In terms of content, the course offers more in-depth knowledge on topics basic to consultation (organizational developmentk, community development and civic participation, financial management, fundraising, marketing, etc.)

Graduate profile:
Graduates of the course will understand the process in consultation work as well as principles of effective communication in consulting. Their ability to effectively consult clients in various contexts will increase. They will be able to conduct a diagnostics of consultation problems, provide effective facilitation and provide third-party intervention in roder to give targeted assistance in handling problems of the client (whether an individual, group or a community). Graduates will understand the principles of strategic planning and will be able to plan and implement such process for a specific organization. Graduates will understand the principles of designing, managing, implementing and evaluating projects – whether short-term projects and programs or long-term projects of several years in a community.

Supervision methods – group supervision (balint groups, action learning groups), occasionally individual supervision
Presentations and lectures
Methods of providing feedback to participants – peer mentoring, working with audio- and video-recording, direct oral feedback, using of questionnaires and tests with following reflection and discussion of results.

Total scope:
Total of 136 hours.: 120 hours (5 x 3 days) of training with three three-day mandatory sessions and with fourth and fifth three-day courses to be chosen from two or three options. In addition to training, the participant is going to undergo 16 hours of supervision in both group and individual settings.

The course includes five compact sessions connecting to each other and together giving the participant an overview of consulting on organizational and community development as well as an opportunity to specialize in three areas of consulting. Successful completion of the accredited course for consultants requires participation in all three mandatory sessions 1 to 3 as well as participation in at least one of the other two optional topics in session 4 (A or B) and in at at least one of three optional topics in session 5 (A or B or C).

In total, the particants gets minimum of 120 hours of training (participation in 5 sessions of 24 hours each):
Session 1: Consultation process and effective communication (24 hours)
Session 2: Facilitation skills of a consultant, group decision-making in context of organizational and community development (24 hours)
Session 3: Conflict prevention and resolution in relation to consulting (24 hours)
Session 4: choice of one of two options (24 hours):
A. Community development and civic participation (24 hours)
B. Organizational development of nonprofit organizations and institutions of state administration (24 hours)
Session 5: choice of one of three options (24 hours)
A. Strategic planning (24 hours)
B. Program and organization evaluation (24 hours)
C. Financial management, fundrasing, marketing and PR of nonprofit organizations (24 hours)

Included in the educational modeule in independent practice of participant between meetings and follow-up work with prepared case studies in training sessions. Each participant attends also supervision meetings – both in a balint group (two one-half-day meetings) and individually with mentor (four 2-hour meetings with one of the lecturers)

SESSION 1: CONSULTATION PROCESS AND EFFEFCTIVE COMMUNICATION IN CONSULTATION PROCESS (24 HOURS)

1. Consultation process and the role of consultant

Contractual phase, developing rapport, building trust
Diagnostic phase in the consultation process
Analytical and faciliation phase in managing change
Handling chaos, instability of changes and non-structured situations
Change implementation
Closing phase of consultation process and evaluation
Role of consultant (in relation to various types of clients)

2. Forms of advisory intervention
3. Professional development of a consultant

Ethical dilemmas in the work of a consultant
Definítion of various roles in supporting a consultant: mentor, supervísor, couch
Various forms of supervision techniques

4. Communication aspects in the consultation process
5. Training of communication skills in consultation process

SESSION 2: FACILITATION SKILLS OF A CONSULTANT, GROUP DECISION-MAKING IN THE CONTEXT OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (24 HOURS)

1. Definition of facilitation
2. Underlying sources for approaches to facilitation
3. Specifics and differences in applying facilitation in various contexts
4. Skills of a facilitator
5. Facilitation of group decision-making

types of group decision-making in view participant involvement and process management
effective methods of decision-making

6. Social development approach and its consequences for process facilitation

Paradigm of modernization and social development in social change
Development cycle as a framework for facilitating practitioner
Phases of social development (contracting, mapping, crisis, change implementation, conclusion)

SESSION 3: CONSULTING IN SITUATIONS OF CONFLICT

1. Defining conflict and related terms

Theory
Practice (exercises, interactive methods):

2. Analysis of conflict formation

Theoretical background for conflict analysis:
Skills in analysing conflicts:

3. Mediation and its phases (according to C. Moore)

Theory combined with practical exercises of conducting individual phases

4. Consulting in the context of cross-culture conflicts

Terminology background
Types of conflict of cultures
Prevention and resolution of ethnic conflict

SESSION 4: CHOICE OF ONE OF TWO OPTIONS (24 HOURS)

A. CONSULTING ON ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTIONS

1. Organizational development – specifics of organizational development of public institutions and nonprofit organizations
2. Phases of organizational development and corresponding style of management
3. Balance of decision-making, information and relationship power in an organization
4. Organizational change, readiness for change, barriers to change
5. Team development and team management
6. Parameters of team work and types of leadership in a team
7. Models for leadership and management of people in organizations

B. CONSULTING ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION

1. Background for community development and civic participation
2. Forms of civic participation
3. Background of community planning
4. Training of skills for civic participation
5. Training of skills needed for community planning

SESSION 5: CHOICE OF ONE OF THREE OPTIONS (24 HOURS)

A. STRATEGIC PLANNING

1. Definitions
2. Steps of strategic planning (according to B.W. Barry), Preparing of the process of strategic planning
3. Strategic planning in the context of cross-sector partnerships

B. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS

1. Concept of social change and the role of an evaluator
2. Trends in types of evaluation
3. Methods of evaluation
4. Principles of developing evaluation documents
5. Training of evaluation skills

C. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS