The
Last Virtual Volunteering
Guidebook available for
purchase as a paperback & an ebook
Updated January 2, 2020
A free resource for nonprofit
organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other mission-based
agencies
by Jayne Cravens
More resources at coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same
web site)
Tips for staying in contact with remote
staff
in developing countries / conflict zones
So many, many factors stand in the way of trying to stay
in contact with field staff at
projects in rural or conflicted areas in developing countries:
- poor communications infrastructure
- poor transportation infrastructure
- unreliable electricity
- lack of communications skills - lack of literacy,
lack of public speaking skills, lack of reporting skills, etc.
- lack of value for reporting - no perceived benefits
by local staff or reporting on time, accurately and completely
- a culture that fears communicating failure
- lack of a common language
- changing political circumstances
- cultural resistance
- family obligations
- conflict
- corruption
- competing work priorities
and on and on and on.
Working in developing countries, places in conflict, post-mass disaster
sites, etc., you will have to re-imagine how you communicate with remote
staff every time you arrive in an office - and often, from year to year.
Circumstances will always be different from country to country:
what worked in Afghanistan
won't work in Ukraine,
what didn't work in Egypt turns out to be perfect for Ghana. And
circumstances will change; a friendly local official might be replaced
by a corrupt one who has an interest in your field staff not
communicating complete information.
The two things I determine first when I'm charged with communicating
with remote staff is: what information
do I need, absolutely, and how often do I need it? There's
information that's good to have, and there's information that is
absolutely VITAL to have, and I have to figure out the difference,
quickly. I try to boil my communications needs down to the absolutely
most critical, specific things. Then I determine how often I need that
most-critical information. Knowing the answers to these two things helps
me determine my course of action.
That said, keep this in mind: your information needs will change. Just
when you get in the groove, your own HQ back in London or New York or
wherever will decide there's a new piece of critical info they need. Or
everyone in your field office may be replaced. Be ready to be nimble and
adjust quickly!
Also, remember that the majority of field staff are not trained
communicators; they are water and sanitation experts, school
administrators, mid wife trainers, clinic supervisors, construction
chiefs, farming experts, etc. Written communications are very difficult
for even native English speakers.
Other things I have to determine once I
start in a job where I will work with field staff regarding
information-gathering- and it requires asking a LOT of staff a lot of
questions to get answers:
- How much do field staff understand regarding the communications
needs of the organization? They probably understand that you want
the information and that you will be annoyed if you don't get it,
but do they understand how sharing information regularly with you
benefits THEM? Do they know how their information is really
used, beyond just showing up in a report they believe no one reads?
- Do field staff like people in your office? Do they see you as
allies, as supportive, as friendly, or as standing in their way, as
throwing up roadblocks, as being arrogant? Bad blood between field
staff and HQ staff can be a huge block in getting needed
information.
- Do you communicate well with field staff regarding what's going on
at HQ? Do you live the example that you want them to emulate when it
comes to communications?
- How are the communications skills of field staff?
Are there challenges regarding literacy, public speaking skills,
reporting skills, etc.? Do you need to help staff improve these
skills?
- Where is the nearest Internet access for the field staff? Is it
feasible for them to go to such a point even once a month to do a
Skype or Zoom or Microsoft Team or Google Voice call with you?
- Is there phone service? Could you have a call with field staff
once a week, one-on-one? Every other week?
- Does staff come into HQ even once every three months? Or even
twice a year?
- Does staff from HQ go into the field? Could you go on some site
visits? Or could they gather information for you?
- Would field staff be willing to keep field diaries that they
would turn into you once a quarter or even biannually?
Getting answers to those questions takes more than just asking staff for
answers; observe what happens and have conversations with different
people as well. I find that, often, an administrative assistant will
give me more honest answers to these questions than a department head.
Your answers to those questions will determine your
plan of action - if you are going to have weekly, monthly or quarterly
telephone meetings one-on-one with staff, if you are going to create a
reporting template, if you need to train staff regularly visiting field
staff to gather information, etc. And be prepared to adjust your
approach; circumstances will change, communications will change, some
tactics won't work, and on and on.
Your guiding principle for whatever tactic you take:
you've got to make gathering info as rapid as possible, getting you the
most critical data that you need. Also, you have to make it crystal
clear EXACTLY what information field staff MUST track regularly - daily,
weekly, monthly, whatever. So many field staff aren't ever told, in
clear terms, what data they need to have immediately available, and WHY
it's crucial to have that info available.
Some ways to encourage information is properly communicated from field
staff:
- Clearly communicate exactly what information is needed, and when.
Don't just say it once; keep saying it until you know everyone
understands such. Say it formally, in memos and emails and policies,
and say it informally, in conversations.
- Celebrate those that meet the requirements; send a message to all
staff saying, "Kudos to the staff of such-and-such region for being
the first to get their information in for the annual report", for
instance. Have the head of your office send such a message - that's
even better.
- Share examples of reporting done right; often, having a model of how
to report can be quite helpful to other staff.
- Celebrate the sharing of failure. In staff meetings, cite people who
shared something unpleasant in a report, particularly about what might
be perceived as failure, and thank them - talk about why it was GREAT
that this information was shared.
- Let field staff know how their data has been used: in fundraising
proposals, in donor reports, in video scripts, in newspaper articles,
etc. If a minister or senior staff member or donor makes a comment on
the data, let them know. In other words, let them see the impact of
their information-sharing.
- Let staff know when something has happened as a result of their
reporting: they are getting an additional staff member, they are
getting a new vehicle to use in the field, they are getting a new
computer, someone has been fired, the organization has gotten more
money, there's been a large donation of new bedding for a refugee
camp, etc. Reporting, overall, should result in something meaningful;
it's your job to communicate what that something is.
- Provide workshops for field staff on reporting, on public speaking,
and on any other aspect of communication. Let them know that having
these skills will better ensure their career advancement, better
ensure they will get support from HQ and funders, etc.
Keep the method of information-sharing as simple as possible. Most
people do NOT like navigating an intranet just to upload a report or
fill out an online form; they would prefer just attaching it to an
email. If Internet access is reasonable and field staff have an
excellent level of Internet literacy, you could use online
collaboration/project management tools like GoogleDrive,
groups.io, Basecamp,
Huddle or Slack
to help with information-sharing, but note that these tools require a
very Internet-savvy workforce, and a lot of support, to be successful.
- Track what reminders are effective, and which aren't. One or two
text message reminders via cell phones might work, but no more - the
more text messages, the more they will be ignored. Maybe you need to
call the person to remind them. Maybe you need to call his or her
supervisor to remind the person - but only when other reminders
haven't worked.
- Ask each person that has not responded to information requests
exactly what is keeping them from doing so, in a live conversation by
phone, if possible. You cannot help address obstacles to reporting if
you don't know what they are.
- And, as a last resort: name and shame. I hate to say this, but
having a wall of shame on the glass wall of my office in Afghanistan,
showing which regions were delinquent in reporting, was a huge
motivator in getting regional directors to pressure field staff to
report in.
It's more difficult to overcome things like:
- lack of literacy. You may
have to train a native speaker to gather data for you, through
interviews and conversations, in the field or on the phone.
- cultural resistance. A lot
of cultures would see accurate reporting that makes a particular staff
member "shine" because of his or her skills as bragging, and they may
frown very much on bragging. They may not like a woman "shining" in
particular.
- family obligations.
- changing political circumstances,
like a war lord or his henchmen pressuring local staff not to report
certain things
- corruption, like a lead
local staff person or powerful local community member pressuring local
staff not to report certain things
If you are going to name any of these circumstances as blocking you from
gathering the data you need, be prepared to prove it. These are the kinds
of circumstances you cannot solve alone; you will need all HQ staff to
work together to overcome these challenges.
Also see:
- Comprehensive
list of questions to answer in preparation for reporting to
donors, the media & general public. I developed this
with a colleague in Afghanistan,
to help the local staff at the government ministry where we worked
know what information donors and UN agencies regularly asked for, and
what we anticipated they might start asking for; what subjects the
media regularly asked about or reported on, and what we anticipated
they might start asking about or reporting on; and what information
could be used for evaluation purposes later. It was part of our many
efforts to
build public sector staff communications capacities in countries
where I've served.
- How
to take photos in a culturally-sensitive manner, particularly with
regard to respect for local customs regarding women, and to meet
various needs, e.g. to show female participation. This
resource was developed in 2007, for Afghan staff working out of an Afghanistan
government agency, and is adaptable for various cultural settings.
- A presentation
for Afghan women on public speaking. This resource was
developed in 2007, for Afghan female staff working out of an Afghanistan
government agency, and is adaptable for various cultural settings.
- Telecommuting/Cloud
Commuter Advocacy and Resources. This resource is for people
that want to telecommute, but it has a lot of advice on working with
remote teams.
- Building
Staff Capacities to Communicate and to Present: An
index of various activities to help field staff improve their
communications skills, including a slide show presentation on
helping women in strict religious cultures to cultivate their
presentation and public speaking skills, a workshop and tip sheet to
help staff write better reports, and a slide presentation to help
staff take photos in the field that will serve a variety of
communications and reporting purposes. x
I'm not sure I can recommend the Peace
Corps Volunteer Report Forms, for PC members to use to report on
their projects. They are, in my opinion, way too complicated for most
local field staff - in fact, for most international field staff. But I
link to them, just in case someone might find them helpful.
What am I basing this advice on? I'm a
consultant for organizations working in development, aid and relief
overseas.
If you have information for this page, please contact
me.
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