Guidelines for Planning a Project Design and Management Workshop

Who Should Attend

a PDM Workshop?

The PDM workshop is useful to any Volunteers and Counterparts

who have opportunities to help their communities develop and carry

out projects whether the community is a class of students, the faculty,

a women's club, an agricultural or small business cooperative, a

geographically located group, or however defined.

Counterparts are defined in different ways in various projects and

countries. A Counterpart who attends the PDM workshop should be

that individual with whom the Volunteer works on a daily basis, if

possible, rather than a distant supervisor. This recommendation is

based on the hope the Volunteer and Counterpart will leave the

workshop with common knowledge and skills they will carry back

to their communities. And, that they will work together with the

community members to transfer the skills in designing and managing

projects.

Once Volunteers have

In cases where the Counterpart is unable to attend the workshop, the

Volunteer may want to invite a community member to participate in

had two or three months

the sessions and serve as a planning partner. In cases where a Volun 

to settle in, further

teer may have two or more Counterparts (for example, an education

develop their language

sector Volunteer may work closely with several cooperating teachers),

 staff may want to provide some criteria that would help

skills, and learn about

the Volunteer decide who would be the most appropriate person to

their communities, they

attend.

are ready for project

In addition to Volunteers and their Counterparts, nongovernmental

design skills provided

organization (NGO) workers and other local leaders in the process of

building partnerships with the  would benefit from and

through the workshop.

contribute to a PDM workshop.

When to Conduct

a PDM Workshop

If the Volunteers' primary job is to assist their communities in defining

and carrying out community activities, they will find the PDM

workshop useful early in their service. Once these Volunteers have

had two or three months to settle in, further develop their language

skills, and learn about their communities, they are ready for project

design skills provided through the workshop. And, if they have not

been introduced to participatory analysis approaches, such as

Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) or Participatory

Rural Appraisal (PRA), they would benefit from learning these

methodologies and skills as well. The obstacle they may face this early

in their service is language ability.

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