We work within ever-changing, complex market systems, where the sustainability and scale of impact depends on our ability to collaborate, learn, and adapt (CLA) – both as internal program teams and with local stakeholders. ACDI/VOCA’s custom CLA Playbook (available in English, Spanish, and French) offers practical tips, examples, and tools to support program staff to meaningfully and effectively integrate CLA into day-to-day management processes, learning, and strategic planning. In easy-to-digest, short segments organized along the six domains of USAID’s CLA Framework, the Playbook curates experiences and expertise from a diverse array of ACDI/VOCA global project staff with existing resources from USAID and other implementing partners, tailored directly for our systems and the daily realities of our project contexts. ACDI/VOCA places a particular focus on the enabling environment for CLA, so the Playbook includes a special focus on how to foster culture, processes, and administrative resources that work in synergy with the technical and M&E teams.
Resources include: tools for mapping and prioritizing strategic collaborators; workshop facilitation ideas to enhance the outcomes from stakeholder meetings; examples of action research questions for learning agendas; guidance on developing a theory of change; tips for adaptive work planning; staff interview questions to assess soft skills (e.g. critical thinking/teamwork/comfort with change); simple ways that managers can incentivize staff to think more critically; bullets for job descriptions and performance evaluations; examples of flexible contract and partnership fund administration, etc.
Launched in 2017, the Playbook is now used across ACDI/VOCA’s global portfolio of programs, and has enabled great strides in consistent application of principles in our daily practice, ultimately supporting impact.
Access the CLA Playbook here. (Stay tuned for an updated version in 2023).
Access the CLA Playbook in Spanish here.
Access the CLA Playbook in French here.
Learn more about the CLA Playbook here.
