Typical Errors in the Preparation and Execution of a PACA Exercise Jörg Meyer-Stamer

Typical errors: Build-up PACA is introduced in a top-down way without sufficient effort to mobilise a local Host and to have strong local participation in the PACA Team The PACA Host does not succeed in explaining the purpose and features of PACA to other local stakeholders The PACA Host underestimates the organisational effort involved in preparing a PACA Exercise Only the "usual suspects" are invited for kick-off workshop, mini-workshops and interviews Invitations for Kick-off Workshop and Mini-workshops are only sent out through one communication channel (and perhaps too late) The media are not informed about the PACA and are not invited for the Kick-off Workshop

Typical errors: Hypotheses Workshop The PACA Team does not conduct a Hypotheses Workshop The PACA Team is not quite sure what a "hypothesis" is in the first place The local PACA team members miss to indicate already ongoing LED efforts

Typical errors: Kick-off Workshop There are only few participants, and many of them are not decision-makers There are far more participants than you expected, and most of them are not decision-makers The PACA Team spends too much time with the explanations of concepts and background at the beginning The facilitator does not explain the Diamond concept before going into the mesocard-writing exercise The facilitator does not explain the mesocard-rules sufficiently

Typical errors: Fieldwork The PACA Champion arranges many Mini-workshops but only few interviews The PACA Champion arranges only interviews for the first phase of fieldwork and only Miniworkshops for the second phase, or vice versa

Typical errors: Fieldwork -- Mini-workshops Inexperienced PACA Consultants experiment with their own do-it-yourself Mini-workshop format, instead of applying a proven format PACA Consultants do not apply the appropriate PACA tools suitable for specific types of participants PACA Consultants don't react flexibly to very small or very large numbers of participants

Typical errors: Fieldwork -- Interviews Interviewers don’t get precise information whom to meet, and where to go Interviewers are not well prepared: They don’t know why they see this company or organisation, what it does, and what kind of specific information they should obtain Interviewers do not question indistinct or unclear answers from interviewees and miss to mine deeper Tensions in the interview team emerge

Typical errors: Results Workshop Interim assessments during fieldwork as preparation of the results workshop have not been conducted The results workshop is not facilitated by an experienced PACA consultant Time management gets out of control Three Criteria are not applied rigorously Proposals don't follow the "form follows function" principle

Typical errors: Presentation Event Invitation to Presentation Event is extended at too short notice Venue for Presentation Event is not appropriate (e.g. too small) Presentation is too long (more than 1 hour) Errors in the Powerpoint file for the presentation Proposals are too vague or abstract or nice ideas instead of practical proposals The expectations of the participants are not managed properly No mesocards distributed at beginning of Presentation Event During the presentation, oral discussion erupts Important local persons want to give lengthy statements

Typical errors: Way-forward Workshop Way-forward workshop(s) are not organised immediately after the Presentation Event Way-forward Workshops are inefficiently facilitated During the fieldwork suitable candidates for way- workshops are not continuously identified The participants at the way-forward workshops are not invited on time

Main sources of failure in PACA no local host no or weak local PACA team ex-ante definition of solutions ex-ante selection of sectors –inadequately defined sectors too long process / PACA Exercise too optimistic handling of 3 Criteria no / insufficient effort to mobilise project champions

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