A few days ago I tried on myself a quick and dirty test to evaluate how effectively we humanitarians use our time. It made a big difference. Here it is:
1. Measure the time you invest in talking to other humanitarians – e.g. coordination meetings, training, mainstreaming, etc. Humanitarians are here assumed to be people who know their jobs, i.e. you shouldn’t need to invest a lot of time in persuading them to do anything or to stop doing anything.
2. Measure the time you invest in talking with people you work for: refugees, IDPs, war or disaster affected, etc., or people you really need to persuade to do things or stop doing things: Government officials, insurgent leaders, army commanders.
3. Compare both times.
4. Ask yourself if you’re doing a good job.
Good luck!