How ACDI/VOCA Began Implementing a Learning Agenda at the Organizational Level (Part I)
Just as important as conducting a good evaluation, development practitioners should strive to ensure their organizations are learning from the findings and adapting their strategies accordingly. While many organizations have taken different approaches to support learning, the concept can be vague. In Part I of an interview with ACDI/VOCA, Ruth Campbell, Managing Director of Technical Learning & Standards, shares how her organization began taking steps to infuse learning throughout its work. ACDI/VOCA’s experience may provide inspiration for others interested in bolstering organizational learning.
1. What does it mean to ACDI/VOCA to be a “learning organization”?
As with other development organizations, the work ACDI/VOCA does is complex. We are trying to change the way people engage in agriculture, manage their money, operate businesses, think about the environment, view each other as men and women, and so on. These kinds of changes do not happen quickly and easily in a linear fashion. Much of what we do, together with our local partners, consists of drawing on past experience to test which approaches work most effectively in a given context, and then scaling them up. This means that learning is essential at multiple levels—learning within a project, across projects as an organization, and as part of the broader development community.
Learning has always been an important aspect of ACDI/VOCA’s work, but in recent years, we have brought more structure and resources to this learning process. This year, we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. As we look back on both effective and less successful initiatives over the years, we recognize the need to continue to learn in practical ways to drive improved performance in the field. Also, in response to recent growth in the number of very large, multi-sectoral projects ACDI/VOCA has been awarded, we are increasingly aware of the need to proactively encourage and support learning across disciplines and networks, and to ensure a broader and more systematic dissemination of best practices.
2. What specific changes or initiatives have you implemented in Washington to improve organizational learning?
At the beginning of 2013, ACDI/VOCA established a 15-member Technical Learning and Standards (TLS) department with a mandate to drive technical learning, develop signature tools and approaches, and support the dissemination of best practices across the company. TLS is divided into four units:
- Emerging Learning works with ACDI/VOCA’s five practice areas to identify and respond to strategic learning needs and opportunities.
- Research and Development develops and disseminates customizable technical tools.
- Cross-cutting ensures that learning is drawn from and integrated into gender, nutrition, and environmental programming.
- Volunteers provides expert volunteer consultants to advance ACDI/VOCA’s learning agenda and apply best practices in the field.
TLS is a highly collaborative initiative, working with staff from across the organization to ensure we draw on in-house expertise and talent for innovation—before bringing in external resources.
TLS builds on strategic thinking, going back several years, concerning how to strengthen corporate learning. Other complementary initiatives have included establishing a Project Learning and Information unit to provide field project support in the real-time integration of learning with monitoring and evaluation. The unit also ensures that project learning is captured and disseminated through appropriate information systems and communication channels.
In addition, ACDI/VOCA established the ASPIREglobal portal, an online learning management system that enables staff to collaborate, improve performance, and enhance career development. The user-friendly portal, with an interface similar to Facebook, allows staff all around the globe to share what they are learning, post resources, collaborate on learning products, and ask questions of designated experts. Staff can access in-house tutorials or external training courses, including those from Ivy League schools, made available through LINGOs.
A monthly Learning Newsletter shares learning-related news and events throughout the organization.
3. What was the most critical factor for success in implementing these changes?
Without question, the most critical factor for success has been the repeatedly expressed commitment to learning of ACDI/VOCA’s executive leadership. From the President down, managers have reiterated time and again that we cannot simply replicate the last project we worked on: we need to continually improve. We need to better assess our performance, both through high-quality monitoring and evaluation, and through continuous learning loops that track actual against expected results, and feed the findings back into project management systems. Additionally, we need to apply learning originating from our public, private, and civil society partners; other development organizations; and academia.
This commitment has been widely communicated to staff, including through the President’s Office blog on ASPIREglobal. Bill Polidoro, ACDI/VOCA’s Chief Operations Officer, recently wrote: “To achieve our mission, we must understand the approaches and tools that empower our beneficiaries to succeed, and what makes them effective. Further, we must use ‘failure’ to stimulate new learning.”
Of course, this commitment goes beyond words. ACDI/VOCA has dedicated substantial financial and human resources to promoting and supporting learning. In the face of budget pressures, executive leadership has unambiguously stated that learning is an essential investment, and not discretional spending that can be cut. Junior and mid-level staff members have a designated proportion of their work week set aside to engage in learning-related activities. And contributing to learning is increasingly a factor in staff performance appraisals.
4. What are the biggest challenges?
There are many incentives for learning—ranging from contractual pressure to document learning, to finding learning enjoyable. At ACDI/VOCA, we aim to identify and strengthen these various incentives. Nevertheless, learning takes time and effort. Field projects often have ambitious targets to meet within a short timeframe, and resources are stretched. At headquarters and in the field, project deliverables and proposal deadlines invariably take precedence over longer-term initiatives, however important they may be. Despite senior management support, learning can sometimes still be seen as an “optional extra” that should be done in one’s spare time after the real work is completed. One way to counter this mentality is to identify and disseminate examples of where learning directly led to improved performance and greater client satisfaction.
Another challenge is prioritizing specific learning areas. There is so much we want to learn in so many diverse topics, knowing where to start can be a challenge. In response to this, we have developed a tool to help staff think through whether or not a learning need or opportunity is strategic enough to the organization to justify the investment of resources. The tool asks a series of questions to identify whether the learning need or opportunity is critical, impactful, and opportune.
Engaging geographically dispersed field staff in the learning platforms we have established is also a challenge. It requires clear, consistent communication, repeated training, and support for new users. Maintaining field staff engagement necessitates active and creative facilitation. Currently, use of the tools we have established is strongest in Washington, but the greatest benefits will be achieved when all staff around the world are actively participating and sharing.
Read Part II of this interview which focuses on field learning.
CLA in Action articles are intended to paint a more detailed picture of what collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) looks like in practice. Unlike other disciplines, CLA is not a technical "fix;" it looks different in different contexts. This series will showcase examples of intentional collaboration, systematic learning, and resourced adaptation, some of which you may find applicable to your own work. The case studies, blogs, and resources represented in this series document the real-world experiences of development practitioners experimenting with these approaches for the benefit of sharing what's possible.