Rotating Management

Several development initiatives become more self-sustainable by implementing a rotating management dynamic. 

Rotating management is a way of organizing projects in which partners or beneficiaries take charge of one aspect of the initiative for a period of time, and then move on to a different area. A given member of the community or the initiative may be in charge of the educational portion of the intervention for one year, for instance, and manage promotion and fundraising the following year instead. 

For many initiatives, this strategy can carry great benefits to self-sustainability because it helps their members –both local and in-house– become more intimately familiar with the different aspects of the project, come up with ways in which different areas can be integrated to support each other, and become more aware of what human, knowledge and material support or resources can be tapped or brought in. These contributions can help meet many of the project’s needs, reducing the pressure to obtain external resources. In addition, a rotational management of projects helps gather a greater diversity of viewpoints which allows decisions to be constantly evaluated and adapted for the benefit of all, making negotiations more equitable and interventions more relevant to more people. In addition, having more oversight from different people in the initiative’s processes or areas helps promote transparency and good resource management and allocation, which in turn conveys trustworthiness to donors and communities who may fear corrupt practices or inefficient management of money. 

Although projects run the risk of not having as much continuity as they would with a fixed management, rotating management allows programs to be reviewed and course-corrected, as this system feeds from new input, and different interests and approaches have a chance to be represented.