Knowledge Stewardship International serves NGOs, humanitarian organisations, and small business around the world. We provide training, coaching, and support to field practitioners, overseers, leadership, and support staff work. For a complete list, see Experiential workshops for teams and Planning workshop for leaders, below. 

Our goal is to help you become more productive in your work. We show teams how to learn continually from they are doing and improve how they do their work. We coach you in more effective ways to communicate your stories and share with clients and donors. We help you become more efficient in your operations and services. We want to help you be more effective in the core vision of your organization. 

KSI training and workshops emphasize practical skills reinforced by hands-on coaching from industry experts that is specific to your needs. 

Using Us

Training can be delivered in at least two ways: through a week of on-site field-based workshops or through a series of distance learning/webinars. In addition to workshops for teams, we offer train-the-trainer sessions so that you can spread these skills within your own organisation. 

We understand the world you work in, that funds are tight. We try to make this as affordable as possible. Teams are responsible for covering the expenses of the trainers / coaches while they are in-country: food, lodging, local transportation. KSI will strive to pay expenses to/from the field location.

If you are interested in bringing this to your NGO or organisation, please contact us at info@knowledgestewardship.com. 

On-site Workshops

Knowledge Stewardship International workshops are most effective when delivered on-site at a field location. It offers the organisation a chance to focus on these new disciplines and consider together the impact on their work. It offers the KSI trainers / coaches the chance to see the reality of what the team is facing “on-the-ground” and adapt what is offered. This is true whether we are training in-country field offices of an NGO or support and management staff in the headquarters offices of your organisation: It is best when our trainers / coaches come to “where the action is,” where the work is being done.

An interesting option: One of our better workshops involved bringing together teams from three NGOs in a field location. In addition to learning from the KSI trainers / coaches, they also had the chance to cross fertilize their ideas and established relationships that continue to help each of them, despite the fact that they are each engaged in providing different types of services. Lessons learned are still lessons learned!

The on-site KSI workshops are scheduled to give teams the chance to focus on these new tools and practices while giving time to stay current in their “real” work. The figure below shows a typical eight-day schedule. It offers the optimal combination of reflective practice and high-value coaching. This schedule can be tweaked according to your own needs and constraints.

Experiential Workshops for Teams

Creating Photographic Essays

NGOs need good quality photography to tell their stories, publicize their work, communicate with clients and donors. Unfortunately, they often lack the budgets to acquire professional images, relying on local field staff. The results are mixed. Beyond a collection of static images, a photographic essay combines sounds, images, and text to create a rich communication experience. See www.thedigitaltrekker.com/categories/multimedia. 

This four day experiential workshop equips participants with the skills and tools they need to begin creating effective photographic essays on their own. They learn the thinking skills of the effective photographer, how to plan, shoot, and create a photographic essay, and receive hands-on coaching from a professional humanitarian photographer in shooting images and recording audio. By the end of the workshop, each student will have produced one essay. 

Project Management and Business Coaching

Many NGOs are involved in business to some degree. Most of them have projects they must run. All of them have work processes – formal or informal. Every organization, no matter what types of service they offer, can benefit from improved operations, processes, and time management. This four day coaching session offers coaching tailored to the activities and needs of the NGO. Leadership and staff receive intensive coaching from an expert in business and project management. The format is conversational and practical rather than lecture-oriented; topics emerge as needs are discovered. Participants also receive helpful resources. 

After Action Review for Teams

This three hour workshop offers a practical introduction to the After Action Review, a proven technique that helps teams learn continuously. After this workshop, the team will understand the rationale and process for an AAR and will be equipped to use AARs effectively. 

Facilitating AARs and Problem-Solving Meetings

This four hour workshop equips participants with the techniques and approach they need to facilitate AARs or problem-solving meetings for the NGO. In this workshop, participants gain experience and coaching feedback with these techniques, receive additional resources to help them develop as facilitators, and are invited to join a community of like-minded facilitators. 

Using Good Practices for Teams

Based on interviews of hundereds of NGOs, we have synthesized good practices that make teams more effective. Learn to use some simple tools and case studies that help teams reflect together on these practices and discuss how to become more effective themselves. 

Planning Workshop for Leadership

This one-day workshop helps senior leadership develop strategies for introducing reflection and knowledge sharing within their organisation, both at the team-level and in the support office. As a leadership team, they will evaluate examples of reflective practice and knowledge sharing in other organisations and prioritize a strategy for their own group. The outcome is a commitment to a high level plan.