Capacity and leadership │ Guidelines and Principles

What experience and amount of time can leadership and operational staff and students commit to the project or programme?

What are we looking for?

We are looking for assurance of the staffing requirement for your project in terms of capacity and leadership. We want to feel confident that the project can be carried out in addition to existing work without creating negative knock-on effects on usual activities.

  • Is there sufficient capacity in place to manage and deliver your project?
  • Do the staff involved in your project have the relevant expertise or experience to successfully deliver the project?
  • How will you ensure that the project will continue during times of increased pressure (e.g. busy exam periods, increased staff workloads, etc)?

This principle is assessed in the following questions:

  • 4c: Senior leadership support
  • 4d: Staffing capacity

How can this be demonstrated?

Staffing plan:

  • There should be a clear description of who will manage and deliver your project – whether it may be existing staff, volunteers or new staff. How will you manage any staff turnover?
  • If new staff are required, how and when will you recruit them? Is there a role description/person specification that you can include? Staffing cost should be included in the budget.
  • Does the project build internal capacity and have contingency plans which describe how the project will continue if key lead or delivery staff leave?

Training plan:

  • What training will staff receive to enable them to fully play their role in delivering this project?
  • Please explain the benefits of the training and ensure it is clearly shown in the budget.