In this issue of our periodic newsletter we will share some opportunities for you to give feedback on a new tool, and for you to recognize your colleagues for their great attitudes. We will also highlight changes to the ICS website and a new resource for you to print and display.

ICS Refresh 

The vision for the Institute for Capacity Strengthening website is that it is a one-stop-shop for all your capacity strengthening needs. In addition to being committed to updating the site content with new resources, we are consistently looking for ways to improve the functionality and user experience. To that end we’ve launched new landing pages and implemented other tweaks to make it easier for you to find the most relevant content.

The new Program Areas landing page makes it easier for you to find resources specific to each of CRS’ eight program areas. The new Data landing page reflects the joint effort between PCS and MEAL to make partnership and capacity strengthening data readily available for use in driving programming decisions. From the data landing page, you can access interactive Power BI dashboards that detail CRS’ general partnership data as well as self-signified data from participants of capacity strengthening.

The ICS currently houses over 550 resources. Not sure where to start? The new PCS Catalog is a great reference.

Now Available in French

The level 2 course Assessment to Action Planning is now available in French. 

Have an attitude?

Our work in partnership and among our colleagues requires that our interactions reflect the following attitudes:

·         Humility & Mutuality

·         Patience & Flexibility

·         Trust-building

·         Culturally Appropriate

·         Empowering & Optimistic

Perhaps you work with someone who demonstrates one or more of these attitudes regularly. Help us to recognize this person by sending us their information using the form found here by February 28th. We will use the information you provide to recognize these colleagues and their country programs on the All Company Yammer.

Last Call for Feedback

Do your partners use ICT tools in their programs? While some partners may be exited to implement cutting-edge initiatives and are leaders in the field of using information communication tools to strengthen their programs, others may be more resistant. The ICT4D team has developed a light tool to help you and your partners determine their capacity to implement ICT interventions. The team is looking for people interested in testing this tool with their partners and submitting feedback by March 13th.

For more information view the webinar and visit the ICT4D Capacity Strengthening Initiative to download the tool. Feedback can be provided using this form.

Voices from the Community

Thank you to the following colleague who submitted an article for this edition:

Supriya Mukherjee, CRS India Using a Partnership Compact to Support Partners throughout India

Attitudes in Action Poster

Partnership is at the heart of the work that we do at CRS and relationships are the foundation upon which partnerships are built. For our partnerships to thrive it’s important that we approach them with the right attitudes. We have found that the most successful partnership practitioners approach partner relationships with humility and mutuality; patience and flexibility, work to build trust, and behave in a manner that is both culturally appropriate and empowering and optimistic.

This new job aid provides a quick visual reference for the five key attitudes that support effective partnership. It is designed for print so that it can be displayed in the office or kept handy in a reference file.

Looking for previous editions of the PCS Newsletter? You can find our newsletter archive on the ICS website.