Effective Communication in Humanitarian Operations

Effective Communication in Humanitarian Operations

By Yomif Worku (BA,BED,MA) / Humanitarian Aid Specialist

Ethiopia /[email protected] /Ethiopia

1.??????What is Effective Communication?

Effective Communication is the exchanging of information and ideas purposefully; considering the readiness of both sides (organization to organization or person to person). Accordingly, Humanitarian actors touch several clients like donors, implementing partners, Policy designers, Government counterparts, communities, etc utilizing interviews, emails, and other means frequently and purposefully for joint impacts objectively which is part of strategic collaboration and information exchange on specific activities.

Effective Communication fosters and boosts trust with others. It increases the ability to engage with each other and optimal the joint decisions on their operational or common progress. It is the way of delivering progress objectively and meeting the client's or stakeholders' needs. It increases constructive ways of learning when something isn’t working well, providing helpful feedback for holistic achievements, and eliminating conflicts and confusion. Effective Communication also improves relationships, within the organizations and with external stakeholders or clients like donors and contractors.

Within effective Communication, conflicts are resolved quickly and increased productivity. These benefits contribute to greater productivity for the implementer's team internally and externally for stakeholder satisfaction. It added value to relying on each other, and encourage positive feelings and relationships between the team members and the stakeholders in general. This, in turn, nurtures mutual respect for more confidence in working together and understanding what the most needed to do.

2.??????Effective Communication for Stakeholders Approaching

Besides pre-organized information (proposals, Inception, Concept notes, MoU, TOR, etc.) stakeholders like donors, implementing partners, etc. are demanding effective Communication which can help their collaboration. Using effective Communication stakeholders can get sufficient information on what is going on and therefore Humanitarian implementers should prioritize effective Communication and harmonization based on the beneficiaries’ interests to ensure stakeholders' satisfaction and promote a high level of engagement for information sharing and change adaptation. When all stakeholders understand their roles, the roles of others, and all expectations, they can focus more on their specific activities and less on workplace issues.

3.??????Effective Communication for Collaboration

Effective Communication advances success in the work plans and workspace mainly in Humanitarian and related activities as it is managed by multiple activities and actors. The program's leads (Administrators) who effectively liaise with their key clients will see better productivity and improve every gap in every aspect. Therefore, effective Communication in coordination and collaboration is an integral part of efficient and successful operations. It ensures everyone understands their role and responsibilities to build joint ventures and relationships for efficient deliverables and impacts.

4.??????Effective Communication in Information seeking

We (humanitarians) are searching for information; grasping, sorting, prioritizing, analyzing, and picking recommendations to revert issues. This becomes actual through learning from partners through applying the principles of effective Communication during meetings, conferences, seminars, and other events to advance our mission objectives and learn more about the key bottlenecks for further support boosting.

5.??????Conclusion

When we work together, we learn faster; Once a team of people from different backgrounds, and experiences is assembled, there’s a great chance to learn broadly and apply working methodologies which will be true through applying effective Communication in the working environment. Besides learning and or shared knowledge, effective Communication increases the continuous opportunity for people or organizations to learn from each other professionally and personally.

References

1.?????????????????https://climb.pcc.edu/blog/the-7-benefits-of-effective-communication-in-personal-and-professional-settings

2.?????????????????https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/humanitarian-diplomacy

3.?????????????????https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa/foreign-policy/human-rights/humanitarian-diplomacy.