Taking the Pulse: Managing Short Term Humanitarian Project Teams (Part 1)
A consultant friend is often quoted as telling organization leaders that their primary role is to work on their organizations not in their organizations. As leaders, they have to make sure the entire organization is functioning properly. It is up to them to set direction and evaluate progress. This means that they have to give up some of the “direct” involvment that the organization is known for so that they have time to lead effectively.
The same can be said of those who lead international short term projects teams. Whatever the tasks or functions that your team has traveled to do, those should be the primary focus of the team members, not the leader. While the leader certainly will be engaged in working the project, his or her primary role is to make sure that the over-all assignment is a success. The team leader does this by checking the pulse and progress of the team while making necessary mid-course corrections.
The team leader should keep as flexible a schedule as possible during the outreach. If the team is scattered across different venues, the leader should try to spend the bulk of his or her time floating between the sites. This allows the leader to see the big picture and spot opportunities or problems in their early stages.
If the different sites have sub-leaders, then the leader should visit with each of them at the site. Take them aside and get their honest opinion of how things are going. What ideas do they have to make things better? What opportunities have they discovered that should be explored? What problems are they finding difficult to handle?
In addition, the humanitarian project team leader also has to evaluate logistics. Is the food safe and adequate? Are team members getting enough water? Do you have the right number of quality translators? Are there issues with the lodging that need to be addressed such as problems with the toilets, showers or excessive noise at night? Are there any unsanitary conditions that need to be avoided? Are there any dangerous or potentially dangerous situations? Is the transportation reliable?
We’ll continue this discussion in our next blog as we look at observing and evaluating individual team members. In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts, ideas or suggestions on this subject. At Humanitarian Travel, we look forward to hearing from you. We also look forward to helping you with discounted airline tickets for NGO or other humanitarian travel. To request a no-obligation quote visit us at www.humanitariantravel.net.