Community Balanced Scorecard Training for Trainers from Siberian NGOs
In November 2008, Alina Simone, then of the Results That Matter Team, presented a two-day train-the-trainers course in Novosibirsk, Russia on Community Balanced Scorecards (CBSC) for staff of the Siberian Civic Initiatives Support Center (SCISC) as well as representatives from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk-based NGOs and the Novosibirsk municipal administration. The training was designed to complement and help sustain the Effective Community Governance (ECG) pilot program launched in six Siberian communities in 2006. The course included the essentials of visioning, strategy mapping, developing objectives, and customizing CBSC perspectives for Siberian communities. Ms. Simone’s fieldwork, conducted with SCISC in 2007, found that local governments often lacked capacity in the area of strategic planning and management skills. Community Balanced Scorecards were determined to be the best “next step” for Siberian communities that were ready to align program activities to focus on concrete, priority community goals.
In addition to providing an overview of CBSC, Ms. Simone introduced an array of tools to enhance strategy mapping and scorecard development. These included options for using “SOAR” (“Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results”) analysis or “SWOT” (“Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats”) analysis, as adapted for balanced scorecards. And stakeholder analysis tools, such as the power-vs.-influence grid, and a variety of visioning and asset-mapping methodologies. The training also incorporated discussions and interactive exercises to encourage participants to re-imagine the tools being presented to best suit the development environment in Russia, particularly within smaller, less well-off communities. The Siberian Center plans to develop a customized version of CBSC and offer future training in the new methodology for Russian communities.
A Book and Conferences to Introduce Effective Community Governance to More Communities
On December 16, 2008, SCISC conducted an Effective Community Governance conference for government leaders from rural municipalities throughout Tomsk Oblast. Siberian Center experts presented an overview of Effective Community Governance, and introduced ECG tools such as analysis of citizen roles. Success stories and lessons learned were also presented from promising communities (such as Krivosheino in Tomsk) who participated in phase one of the ECG pilot. SCISC also provided an overview of the CBSC methodology. Before the conference, SCISC published and began distributing a handbook for government officials based on the Effective Community Governance pilot program that explains how even rural localities with limited resources can use new and existing community engagement and problem solving tools to improve quality of life. SCISC will hold another conference, in the Altai Republic in March 2009, to introduce ECG to more communities.