17. Coaching

Type of tool: Capacity development.

Purpose

To provide tailored support to those stakeholders that are key to the success of the policy reform while they undergo their own organizational reform.

Rationale

Coaching is a method to support a person or an organization in evolving in the direction that they are willing to take by building their awareness about their own potential and empowering them to make the sort of choices that otherwise they wouldn’t dare to make by themselves. It is distinct from training and other forms of support because it offers a more individualized approach that requires higher investment per target person/organization, both in terms of money and time, as well as in political capital (as being coached by an international organization can significantly accrue the reputation or prestige of the “coachee”).

Coaching schemes need to be made complementary to training courses and other forms of capacity building and are to be used strategically, as they can create imbalances and potential rivalries among the stakeholders engaged in the process. On the other hand, they can yield long-standing fruits beyond the organization that is being coached, as its transformation can have strong implications on the way in which the different policy actors operate and relate to each other. In most cases, the coach can be a member from another local institution or organization, although international coaching schemes can also be foreseen.

Outcomes

• Key organizations for the dialogue process are supported along their own process of transformation.

• Weak points in the chain of policy implementation are identified and reinforced.

• Organizations evolve towards the policy objectives collectively agreed and adapt to the specific constraints identified during the dialogue process.