Capacity can be defined as the ability of humans, institutions, and societies to perform successfully, to identify and reach their goals, and to change when necessary for sustainability, development, and advancement purposes (Ubels et al., 2010).
Capacity development on the other hand is the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes, and resources that organisations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. Capacity building comprises of a set of activities and decisions that strengthen an organisation’s operations and enables it to better achieve its Mission.
An important element in capacity-building is the transformation that is generated and sustained over time from within; transformation of this kind goes beyond performing tasks to changing mindsets and attitudes.
Capacity building is of importance in organisations for the following reasons:
- Development of competencies and skills that make an organisation effective and sustainable
- Improves the organisation’s performance and enhances its ability to function and continue to stay relevant within a rapidly changing environment.
- Strengthens – Management and governance and staff capacity
In this article, we are going to explore how capacity building can effectively leverage on the appreciative inquiry model.
Appreciative inquiry (AI) can be used to guide the capacity building process as it engages a group of people in self-determined change, by focusing on what is working rather than what is not working leading to people co-creating their desired future.
It encourages the exploration of already-existing strengths and successes of the organisations or of individuals, to instigate positive change.
This method of inquiry is ideal for capacity development as can be used in a wide range of contexts i.e., on a one- on-one basis, group settings, in person or virtually.
Key concepts of Appreciative Inquiry that can drive Capacity Building
The fundamental idea behind AI is that over time, it has become increasingly common for organisations to approach change and growth from a problem-solving perspective.
Ai proponents however argue that there has come to be an unhealthy over-emphasis on “fixing what’s wrong”, which is regarded as a deficit-based approach.
AI came up as a challenge to these ingrained assumptions and proposed that organisations can benefit instead from what is called a strengths-based or affirmative approach (Hammond, 2013).
This approach, assumes that each human system has a positive core of strengths. ( Positivepsychology.com).
In building capacity in an organisation, adoption of these key concepts ensures focus of what gives life to the organisation and leads to sustainable transformation and growth.
In conclusion, With AI, the organisational teams moves through a process of conversations amongst themselves about the questions such as the following:
λ What is it that I value most about my organisation?
λ At what point in our organisation’s history have we had such an experience of get to such a high point?
λ What do I look forward to my organisation passing on to those that come after us?
λ What kind of image pertaining to our organization do we wish to promote?
λ What traditions do we value most as a team?
λ What is it that has worked well for me and for my organisation, and why?
If members are able to identify their past and are able to articulate the reasons why, while being able to imagine a future that is bright they are most likely to attain a greater success.
It is clear then that Appreciative Inquiry is generative by nature, attaining the new vision that can be created out of the best of current practices.
So for effective capacity building in any organisation, appreciative inquiry model comes in handy in ensuring the success of teams.
Paul Nyausaru is an OD Practitioner and leadership coach. For all your OD interventions and leadership development training you can get in touch with him on WhatsApp/call +263774062756 or Email pnyausaru@gmail.com
Chiedza Kadare is an OD Practitioner. You can get in touch with her on
whatsapp/call +263 77 283 0986 or Email chiedza.kadare@gmail.com
