OD – lessons learnt

Organisational development (OD) is, and has always been, very important for Caritas Europa. Stronger organisations mean a stronger network.

OD is one of the four components in the new Caritas Europa Strategic Framework and we have pioneered a number of important initiatives in this field:

• The Common Management Standards (CMS), which were adopted by Caritas Europa in 2009 and which evolved into the Caritas Internationalis Management Standards (CIMS) we know today;
• Learning paths, which offer Caritas-specific capacity strengthening trajectories in a number of important learning areas, including OD;
• The Organisational Development Solidarity System (ODSS), which is a unique approach that allows for financial and technical support to implement OD.

These key  elements are interlinked and contribute to the comprehensive OD strategy that Caritas Europa has today.

The ODSS task force that has managed and overseen the ODSS as well as its precursor, the Caritas Development Fund (CDF), has drawn lessons from the OD approach and elaborated them into the ’7 success factors for OD – lessons learnt’ document as capitalisation for the network.

The seven factors are within reach of any staff member in charge of OD in his/her organisation.