Institutional Development Services

Growing aspirations, increased penetration of technology, mainstreaming of community led approaches by state programs inform the development context today. At the same time, marginalisation seems more systemic and voices of dissent are harder to air.

We support organisations in strengthening their intent of purpose driven work. We offer process consulting for development of strategy,  learning reviews and reflective evaluations. Our work is grounded in Group Relations frameworks.  

We bring a strong client/community and purpose orientation in all our work as a value and ethic. We define very clearly and remain accountable to our primary task of associating with the organization.We emphasise creation of dialogue spaces with community members as a way of shared learning and growth including testing some of the assumptions that lie at the core of the impact orientation.

We have experience as practitioners, donors, trainers and institution builders in different roles as staff, donors, trainers, entrepreneurs and as consultants.This gives us the confidence at being able to hold an evolving approach – not prescriptive or over-designed. We know that building purpose orientation needs a combination of interventions. It needs to be inspired in people and supported through systems including adequate and timely funds, good program design and evidence-based refinements. We focus on self-directed and self-authorized learning and participation.

We believe that this orientation can have many starting points and some of our services address these talking points. Our effort is to design a process that aligns with internal reality of the organization in terms of factors including staff capabilities, ability to commit resources and time, ability to carry through commitment to the process among others. It is also to get them to state clearly assumptions made. We use a system psychodynamic approach to understand the institution in terms of its purpose and how culture, structure, systems, people and relationships, governance support in achievement of this task. 

One such starting point is Communication.  If you believe that people are fundamentally enterprising and willing to take charge, then communication can support translation from intent to action. Community to community sharing of experiences is a long tried and tested tool for effective extension and motivation. With film and communication products, another dimension is added.  We don’t just put a story out, we put forward a possibility. Communication that captures the human story – not just the technicality of the intervention – can deeply inspire and trigger action. At Vriddhi, we work on helping develop such strategic communication for increased impact and effectiveness.

Using our understanding of the development process to distill key messages, simplify them to develop a language that speaks to the many stakeholders of this process!

Even as a tagline for one’s initiative, communication gives an opportunity to sharpen the focus on the goal of the program in a creative process. In a larger environment of tokenism, what brings the ‘aha’ is the process by which you come to this clarion call. It means thinking together with attention to our shared vocabulary and the emotions behind the words. It means taking stock of where we are, where we want to go and challenges that we see in the process.  

There are no fixed offerings. We have in the past designed reflective learning sessions, strategy development workshops, processes leading to articulating shared purpose. We have worked with agencies to help distill their collective insights into developing frameworks for their own programs. We also undertake learning based reviews and project evaluations. We have developed communication packages including videos, podcasts and posters among others which help the institution take stock and connect with its stakeholders for its purpose.

Some of our Our Initiatives