Report of Workshop: Learning in order to improve operational performance

We know that the way lessons are formulated, the ways that people and organisations learn, and the relationships between learning and changing behaviour, are all far from simple or uniform.
Each of the quality and accountability Initiatives assumes that organisations and individuals will use their thinking and outputs to learn how to do their work better. The content, format and utility of these products all have a bearing on the fulfilment of that aspiration.
Many organisations nowadays have recognised that training is not an exclusive route to learning and employ a variety of specific resources for learning and knowledge management. Managers, leaders and field staff need to agree on what their learning needs are and find ways to institutionalise lessons.
In considering how to support individual learning it is important to appreciate the context in which humanitarians are working today. Many of the recommendations and conclusions in recent evaluations of humanitarian action, such as the Tsunami Coalition Evaluation, the Clinton NGO Impact Initiative and the BOND report on their approach to quality in NGOs have highlighted the need for greater professionalisation of NGOs and individuals. And the BOND report inextricably links a recognition of the ‘primacy’ of beneficiaries and the need for greater accountability to the people affected by disaster with the quality of an NGO’s work1.