Developing teamwork in emergencies Session 1.3.2

Developing teamwork in emergencies Describe importance of teamwork in humanitarian response teams Identify the challenges and benefits of effective teamwork Describe the skills of building trust Reflect on own skills

Exercise Instructions You will be given the building materials on your first visit. Your team may visit the model up to 10 times. Only one person at a time to visit the model. No team member may visit the model more than twice. You may only look at the model for a maximum time of one minute per visit. There must be at least one minute between visits. You may not take anything with you on any visits. You may not communicate with your team whilst you are at the model. You have a maximum of 25 minutes in which to achieve the task. TASK: To perfectly reproduce a model that the facilitators have made in advance

Exercise Review clear goals – Was the task clear? procedures understood – Were the instructions clear and how you were going to work together? appropriate leadership – Did someone become leader? Were decisions made appropriately? openness, listen, question – Did everyone listen openly? support and trust – Was there a sense of trust? co-operation and conflict – How did you handle conflict? inter-teams relationships – How did you react to the other teams? regular team review – What would you do differently?

Skills for building trust Listening Give and take Sharing Communication Language Hard work and competence Active involvement

Benefits of teamwork in emergencies mix of skills beyond scope of any one individual solve complex problems generate new ideas coordinate individual activities towards common bigger goal provide support and help to team members sense of belonging enhance communication help people to learn from each other and develop generate commitment

Research has identified that a culture of trust amongst staff is one of the most important factors in an agency’s ability to launch and implement a timely and effective emergency response McKinsey and Company 2006