Overview

This training course equips participants with practical leadership and management skills required to successfully lead community development projects and programmes. It focuses on the transition from project manager to project leader, emphasizing personal leadership development, team motivation, decision-making, and strategic thinking. Through an interactive and practice-oriented approach, participants will learn how effective leadership behaviours complement technical project management skills to deliver sustainable community outcomes. The course also highlights the role of project leaders as catalysts for change, capable of inspiring shared purpose, building high-performing teams, and managing projects from inception to completion using proven management approaches.

Target Audience

Managers, officers, administrators, and practitioners involved in planning, implementing, or managing community development projects and programmes.

Learning Outcomes / Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the shift from project manager to project leader in community development projects and programmes.
• Enhance personal leadership growth through psychometric and emotional intelligence assessments.
• Improve decision-making skills for timely and effective project responses.
• Build, motivate, and cultivate project teams for successful project delivery.

Duration

5 days

Modules / Course Content

Module 1: Foundations of Community Development and Leadership Introduction to Community Development

• Meaning and scope of community development
• Key concepts and assumptions
• Characteristics of healthy and unhealthy communities
• Principles and approaches to community development
• Roles of development actors and community collaboration
• Working across different organizational cultures

Community Empowerment Techniques

• Community ownership and social action
• External agents as catalysts for change
• Policy considerations in empowerment

Participatory Methods for Community Development

• Understanding community contexts
• Priority setting using participatory criteria
• Participatory approaches (PRA, PUA, RRA, ABCD)
• Participatory tools and participatory learning and action (PLA)

Module 2: Community Leadership and Social Change Community and Economic Development

• Factors influencing community development initiatives
• Importance of participation in development processes

Theories of Social Change and Community Development

• Meaning and causes of social change
• Strategies for promoting social change

Indicators of Community Development

• Community diversity and participation
• Assessing community readiness
• Community development catalysts

Community Leadership

• Concepts of leadership and power
• Leadership styles and types
• Identifying and supporting community leaders
• Role of community organizations

Module 3: Management Practices and Partnerships in Community Projects Principles and Practices of Management

• Effective communication in community projects
• Team building for project success
• Planning and conducting effective meetings

Communication and Leadership Skills

• Communication and facilitation skills
• Learning styles
• Leadership and negotiation skills

Successful Partnerships in Community Development

• Collaborative approaches to development
• Identifying and mobilizing development resources

Community Capacity Building

• Capacity and asset assessment
• Impact of capacity building on community development

Evaluating and Sustaining Community Projects

• Evaluation formats and methods
• Sustaining project momentum

Module 4: Diversity, Inclusion, and Programme Planning Diversity and Inclusion in Community Development

• Concepts, challenges, and organizational change
• Strategies for inclusive community development

Tools and Techniques for Inclusiveness

• Outcomes planning and inclusive events
• Managing opposition and resistance
• Community demographic assessment
• Focus group discussions
• Organizational self-assessment tools
• Stakeholder roles in evaluating success

Planning Community Development Programmes

• Situational analysis
• Setting goals, audiences, and outcomes
• Strategy and activity selection
• Resource allocation and development indicators

Module 5: Resource Mobilization and Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation Resource Mobilization

• Concepts and types of resources
• Internal and external resource sources
• Mobilization strategies and tools

Proposal Writing

• Managing proposal development processes
• Developing, packaging, and submitting funding proposals
• Proposal follow-up

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

• Importance of participatory M&E
• Indicators for community development projects
• Conducting participatory M&E
• Participatory monitoring and evaluation tools

Training Methodology

The course will employ a hands-on, practical approach to ensure participants develop both conceptual understanding and technical proficiency. Each module will integrate interactive lectures, guided software demonstrations, and individual or group exercises based on real-world illustrations. Participants will receive continuous feedback and personalized coaching to reinforce learning. By the end of the training, they will have completed a mini project that demonstrates their ability to apply the acquired skills in a practical context.

More Details

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be issued a certificate.