Internal strengthening for external impact

Strengthening organizational systems and team building to better facilitate positive impacts of social change.

Strengthening the Leadership Capacity and Team Communication Effectiveness

for a Significant Impact

As a conservation-based organization that works with communities in rural areas and with at-risk ecosystems, we continue to strive to increase our institutional capacity. This year, our team has been engaging in executive leadership coaching to support organizational growth, build and bolster systems for efficiency, and facilitate team building - even during the time of crisis.

Facilitated by Digdaya Selaras,  a consulting company in Jakarta, our 9 person Senior Management Team (SMT)  has been engaging in one-on-one coaching with certified executive coaches as well as monthly group sessions. This system is intended to give individuals a chance to bounce ideas off their coach, conduct personality and leadership assessments, and better understand their strengths and weaknesses as a leader. In addition, group calls are intended to set organization goals, identify areas that need more support, and identify impactful systems that can be scaled up. 

Erma - HR Manager during her monthly coaching

“As a grassroots organization, sometimes it is easy to work yourself into the ground and forget how important internal processes are to producing external results. The executive coaching our team has been participating in is intended to not only keep our team mentally fit during this time of crisis, but identify organizational strengths that can be leveraged for people and nature” says Adam Miller, Executive Director. Adam has also been participating in individual and group coaching sessions through his selection as one of 2020’s Edinburgh Ocean Leaders. 

Coaching sessions from Digdaya have helped us identify ways to ensure efficient and effective communication in a virtual world, create strategies to convince donors to pivot funds to respond to new needs at the local level, and build systems where managers who receive coaching can replicate this with each of their teams, to ensure all staff are supported in their roles. 

Yayasan Planet Indonesia Country Director, Novia Sagita said that this coaching session focused on continuing to develop a constructive, productive and efficient line of communication within the Planet Indonesia Team which includes critically assessing and improving the current leadership capacity of all staff.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Planet Indonesia to develop our organizational capacity, especially in the aspect of communication and collaboration. And in the future, this aspect will automatically improve both individual and team skills to work constructively and effectively" Novia explained.

Yayasan Planet Indonesia’s Conservation Program Manager, M. S . Wahyu Putra also believes that this tailored type of support provides crucial tools for supporting institutional goals. 

"Institutionally, this coaching program is useful for strengthening human resources (teams) in achieving the vision and mission of Planet Indonesia. Individually, this also helps us to be able to set clear goals and objectives for conservation-based programs or activities across project sites, including strengthening strategic action and implementation," said Wahyu.

In terms of organizational Human resources development, Yayasan Planet Indonesia’s HR manager, Erma Yuni Purwanti, considers this coaching program to be the right step to better understand how to motivate oneself and staff in advancing the organization’s mission. "Sessions help me feel inspired to carry out the best possible institutional programs for community empowerment and the conservation of nature. In addition, this program also provides broader knowledge of strategies for advancing the organization and working within teams," She added.

This all would not be possible with out the support from the Just Culture Fund through the Franciscan Sister’s of Mary. “FSM is innovative in all avenues of their funding models. They not only focus on leading-edge human-centered missions, they also are one of the few donors that is actively supportive of the well-being of their grantees. We are truly lucky to work with them and their support for the year long coaching program could not have come at a more critical time. Our ability to adapt, pivot, and continue onwards during the covid-19 crisis can be attributed to their support and the excellent coaching provided both from Digdaya and EOLP.” says Adam Miller.