Introduction >
III. Required skills
What skills are required for designing and implementing a behaviour-change intervention?
The skills required for designing and implementing a behaviour-change intervention depend to a great extent on the behaviour-change approach chosen and which stage of the behaviour-change process is involved.
For example:
The DBC approach can be managed by a non-specialist who has attended a dedicated training (about 1-week long), with access to technical support if required to help deal with questions that may arise during the process.
The various approaches used for social and behaviour-change communication can also be managed by generalist team leaders, with specialist services in creative design and communications supplied by external professionals.
Action Against Hunger’s ABC approach requires people with experience in social research, as it involves a more open process for formative research, requiring someone who is able to design the research process, rather than use a standardised process such as Barrier Analysis used in DBC.
Implementation of behaviour-change activities may require a varied set of skills, depending on what specific activities are chosen. But whatever the specific approach used, the following qualities are always required:
- Active listening skills
- Curiosity and respect for local practices and people
- Creativity and problem-solving skills
- Ability to facilitate and participate in group processes during analysis, design and implementation
- Technical knowledge on the area of intervention (infant and young-child feeding, hygiene, agriculture etc.)
