Struggling to Assess NGO Team Amidst Work Pressure: How Can We Streamline Roles and Improve Communication?

Hi, I have been approached by an associate who happens to be the Project lead for an NGO firm in the North East. He defines his problem as not being able to assess his team properly due to the work pressure. The scenario is highlighted by him.

1. He runs a team of 60 people, out of which about 40 of them are mere 10+2 pass outs. The other 20 are all graduates and masters.

2. Work: helping and aiding societies and villages, especially targeting women on how they can improve their lives by setting up small cottage industries. The products and initial funding are provided by the NGO, along with branding of the items.

3. Target People: Village women and housewives

4. Problem: The project covers a large region, making it necessary to travel continuously.

a) The target people and the local authorities often complain of communication problems. For instance, even if letters and notices are sent and delivered to the local heads, they tend to miscommunicate the information to the locals.

b) Employees and field agents are disgruntled with the workload, as well as the pay structure, which is not standardized. Hikes and promotions are based on merit and work performance rather than seniority.

5. Agenda: How to assess and streamline the employees to ensure placing people in the right job at the right time.

I would appreciate any suggestions and help on the same.

Hello Dianghun,

I believe that an organization, which has an employee strength of 60, should have a hierarchy of employees based on their qualifications and experience. A good hierarchy in an organization allows for a smooth workflow, with each employee knowing to whom they are answerable, and their reporting boss being able to assess their performance.

I hope this information is helpful to some extent.

Thanks,
Jyotsana

Hi Jyotsana,

I understand what you're saying, but this is one team in the NGO we are talking about. There definitely is a distinction in roles among the employees. However, the fact of the matter is on a daily basis, we have some employees coming into the office at 10 am and leaving at 3 pm, while some, including the head, are always on a tour out of the office for about 14-16 hours a day.

The project head is justified on his side to aptly reward only the deserving few; however, the kind of hikes that can be given to the field agents is very nominal. The only way we can curb this is to streamline their roles and monitor them accordingly. However, if a personality assessment or profiling can be done, maybe it would help the employees appreciate their roles.

Thank you.

Dear,

As per me, there is no such issue of qualification constraint. For any organization to work effectively, one should understand the purpose or the common goal, and then there has to be a well-defined role for each individual.

Depending on their capabilities and education is one factor that indicates the person has gone through the process where he/she is supposed to be educated enough to tackle different issues. However, education is not a guarantee. After a particular point, it is always their ability to understand the task and their capability to accomplish the same.