People are the key to any effective humanitarian response. Managing people can be challenging at the best of times, but during the chaos and stress of a complex humanitarian emergency, the ability to lead a team is crucial for the success of any programme. Funded by the JTI Foundation, RedR UK’s Management and Leadership training gives participants the opportunity to explore theories and practices of good management, giving them vital communication, negotiation, team building, and conflict management skills to help manage staff in an emergency situation. Zaydon describes his experience of RedR UK training:
“I am a doctor, I graduated from medical college, so when I went on the RedR UK course, I didn’t have high expectations, because I’ve been to a lot of training courses, but it was so much better than I expected. I’ve learned new skills, and it’s just been fantastic – it’s given me skills in handling problems, managing teams, managing time and dealing with the project managers.
I think one of the most important things that I learned was that the manager should listen to his team. Whatever experience you have, you can always learn from other people. If you are working at a desk, but you are managing a group of people on the ground you should listen to them, they can give you a better idea of the situation and the challenges that they are facing.”
Delivered by experienced humanitarians, RedR UK’s training is tailored to the context in which it’s delivered and gives participants practical skills and knowledge that can immediately be applied to their roles. Zaydon explains the impact of the training on his work managing teams in Mosul:
“For me as a manager and for HI as an organisation, it’s vital that we know how many assisted devices we will need, that understand how the money is being spent and that we check all of the reports and attendance sheets – so the RedR UK training has helped me a lot and helped the organisation a lot in arranging the papers and filing reports.
After the training, I started to listen to the people that I manage more. I put a half hour in the morning and the afternoon to sit with them and to hear from them if they have any challenges, if they have any new experiences they have faced, if there are any special patients, important cases, particular stories and any thoughts they have on how we can improve our work. Now I listen to my team, I learn from their experiences, it’s made me a better manager.”