samedi 10 août 2013

How Best To Do Community Needs Assessment

By Andrea Davidson





While seeking to alleviate the plights of the people, you are better placed to understand the concerns of the people by talking to the local influential personalities, local government officials and local group leaders. These are people whose input in community needs assessment is very vital. You can also seal loopholes in your study by consulting independent agencies or groups with better understanding of the local challenges.



Sometimes it might occur to you that you are fully aware of the plight of the people. Well, you may even be very right. However, you still need to seek the opinion of the targeted population so that they may at least feel that they own the project.



In the absence of genuine dialogue or consultation between your organization and the local people, you might face several hurdles like resistance and sabotage. This could be because what you thought to be the main problem does not rank high in the priorities of the people. As such, you might be seen more like a self-seeker than a development partner.



If your real intent is to advance the interest of the people by addressing their glaring plights, then you can never wish to get started on a wrong footage which could spell doom to future projects. Basically, moving in straight away to address the plight of a people without first involving them in the preliminary stages might be interpreted as contempt of their intelligence. In the end, the very people may rise against the project or sabotage it.



Even though you should have room for any differences, you should use your skills to persuade the people because in most cases, the people may be oblivious of their most pressing wants. But again, you too should be prepared to change your course if fresh ideas come up. In fact, you may decide to invest in educating the people so that you can all reach a better compromise in goals setting.



In the event that there are no prior research to help you corroborate the perspective of the local leadership and stakeholders, doing your own survey is not a bad idea. In fact, carrying out survey to establish the approval or feeling of the people regarding a particular position is less involving. You just have to be very clear on your mind about what information you want and then design the survey questionnaires in that line.



After conducting a survey for your intended project, you can now get back to the people through focus groups. Now armed with options for your action plan, you can once again discuss with the stakeholders and potential partners in the local area so that more light can be shed on the priorities and operations. This is best done with a facilitator in the room so that people can stick to the topic.



The most viable approach in conducting community needs assessment is bringing the stakeholders, leaders and the clients on a negotiation table. In such forum, you can explore different concerns of the people in a productive manner. You can also work with focus groups to establish the pressing requirements of the people. Open-ended investigations and questionnaires are also important to help in better understanding of the pressing requirements of the people.









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