For empowering technical field teams in humanitarian organisations
Field Team Impact Kit
Stronger Teams = Better Outcomes
The FieldTiK provides practical guidance and tools to improve leadership, management, knowledge and learning.
It is a step-by-step approach to achieving more accountable, locally driven, high-quality, sustainable outcomes and enhanced well-being
in technical field teams in humanitarian organisations.
Kathryn Harries designed the FieldTiK in her PhD research,
building on global good practice and practitioner experience.
Challenges facing field teams
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Tough environment
More devolved decision-making
(less ‘command-and-control’) than in other emergency services. Field teams operate semi-autonomously.Dual accountability
to people affected by disaster and donors, generally under the leadership of government. -
Insufficent support for team leaders
No practical tools
Team leaders learn from personal experience, not global knowledge sharing.
Training focuses on individual soft skills, rather than practical guidance and tools for effective team functioning.
-
Lack of resources
Finding practical relevant resources (on technical and/or cross-cutting issues, such as accountability and inclusion)
can be difficult.Inadequate training, connected only loosely to change in practice.
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Lack of useful systems at team level
Teams lack the systems needed to
adapt and continually improve,
within and between emergencies,
as part of a system-wide response. -
Poor retention of knowledge
within and between emergencies, due to
High turnover of team members
Poor team-based
knowledge management
-
Insufficient support for team well-being
Low energy and commitment.
Poor staff retention.
FieldTiK: A step-change in professional practice
Empower individuals to function more effectively as a group.
Phase 1 - Find your gaps | Use the team diagnostic to select the top 1–3 areas to work on
Phase 2 - Fill your gaps | Follow the examples and resources to develop new team-specific practices
Phase 3 - Review and improve | Use the reminders and templates to review every 1–3 months
What people are saying…
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FieldTiK "is the missing element. Ensuring we have a dynamic team of people really working together, that's when we can really make great changes"
-Global technical specialist
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"This is very, very useful"
-National technical specialist
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"Local NGOs are probably one of the biggest customers"
-Senior manager, from Global South
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"Very practical"
-Local technical specialist
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Interested in the guide or pilot program?
Expressions of interest welcome