Experiences of Establishing a Demographic Developmental

Experiences of establishing a Demographic Developmental & Environmental
Surveillance Site: Insights from the pages of Station manager
‘Field Worker is the King’
‘Supervisors need to be closely supervised’
‘Payment for work – approach to be perfected for maximum output’
‘Changing attitude & behaviour of an employee indicates the person’s intentions in near
future’
‘Community engagement requires constant innovation and re-invention – key strategy to
succeed and settle in a new area’
Community engagement  Community meetings should be
done in open: transparency, above suspect behaviour Handling village leadership: needs persistence; they are busy people and deserve the
respect as any publically elected person will expect. Closely follow community’s reaction: what
saying front of you they express after you are gone. Try and find both aspects at all times. No surprises: keep
everybody informed prevent any whispering within village/community Building trust confidence community: always realistic can delivered; never heighten the expectation – unrealistic deliverables cannot be
delivered but the research team will have to leave the place; community has suspicion
and takes time to convert this in to trust and confidence for the research team Initial community expectations very high: members mentioning it for first few months but these need to be watered down to realism in a
tactful but consistent manner; and avoid later challenges
‘QQ’
‘I have experienced that villagers have very high expectation from us. How much we can
meet their expectations – only time will tell us’
‘Please do something for the development of our area’ – Villagers of the area
‘You have come because elections are round the corner – Modi has sent you to tell what he
has done’
‘We know about our village – what extra you shall do and bring to us’  Ensure repetition of correct message and
information with the field teams –
communicate in a manner that minimizes wrong interpretation and generate
unrealistic expectation in the community Prior appointment before going to meet Pradhan
– basic courtesies to be extended
to every member of the community If response from community leader is not welcoming; doggedness perseverance should remain the principle – then it is a matter of time
Recruitment staff – a totally transparent process and accept no
recommendations; community respects the process once they are convinced Every query raised by be taken very seriously – consistent answer
which is convinces more than articulated well worded answersonly – what will be
done with the data collected is frequently asked and answer needs a well-articulated
and consistent answer from everybody concerned Inform in simple, clear consistent manner – what is there for
SOMAARTH in the whole work and what is there for the community in it. Be vigilant understand local political contexts dynamics within village
– particularly related to Pradhan
‘QQ’ ‘These days things are OK; people conspiring against me’ Process of transact walk Most important first step’ for entry community: you represent
SOMAARTH; you are being observed; this is your first impression among the
community. Observe set up, surrounding their entirety: built
environment, cattle; vehicles; agriculture; dress; interaction among people,
organization of houses, market; kind of provisions available in the village; their
quality of life in your own perspective; social structures and living arrangements;
poverty and prosperity.  Set up an appointment with the village Pradhan and
leaders. Village leadership makes
the ‘maahol’ – the environment for the team to undertake its activities in the village.
Engagement with local administration Proactive follow up with local administration: CMO, other medical personnel; DC,
SDM, BDO; ever readiness for taking up responsibilities that help the department in
their critical responsibilities; providing technical and epidemiological support; assess
the local situations and offer the technical support even when not asked for Closeness administration enhances credibility reputation of organization
which has larger societal good; Panchayat provides support willingly Participate in government departmental activities like training programs,
development committee meetings; whenever possible contribute in a positive manner
Communication skills and training of the field staff Training manual for Census, GIS handling tablets must be available pre-
tested before launch of the program Interviewing techniques needs to emphasized during training Initial a place format that is comfortable allows one
interaction between field staff and the facilitator Repeat orientation has to be done at least once again after 6-8 weeks Communication prepared; how present oneself community make the environment comfortable and welcoming
Micro-planning for the field Micro-plan for the week and reviewed for daily modification if required: critical for
performance and output; otherwise risk of deliberate confusion and chaos creation by
some persons
 May be
good idea to review before the close of everyday and plan for next day.
Troubleshooting be done on an ongoing basis Issues like transport, availability stationery, maps, fixing up appointments,
inclement weather become frequent reasons for disruption of work; need for proactive
and ready solutions for these
Unique challenges of the field scenarios and work Local family, land parcel, housing, built environment scenarios are unique; prepared to observe these during the transact walk and all opportunities; these need to
be discussed with the whole team to share and unearth additional unique features Solutions have
found within available constraints, resources, intense
discussion within the team; every individual and suggestion is valuable
HR &Convenience Look after food, stay, basic committed comfort, cleanliness, and timely payment of
the employees New employees should feel proud that they there because their talent not
because of any recommendations; make all employees feel welcome to the team Ensure terms employment communicated without ambiguity to every
employee. Work timings jointly decided No relaxation on discipline: both supervisors field workers preferable a bike for field activities Supervisors tend break discipline maximum – require close watch; repeatedly
late reporting and not completing the task; resist payment for work approach and
policy; need to discuss with apex leadership how best to use the presence and
leadership role of supervisors in the field ‘Field worker is king’ – supervisors tend to pass on the blame to FW but
themselves are undisciplined and can occasionally be disruptive Need maintain a delicate balance between –
grievances, complaints, performance, requires judgement to determine the factual
scenarios and take action  Everyday should also be considered an opportunity to identify hard working, sincere
employees who want to do well for the organization Dead woods and disrupters need pointed out before they cause more
damage: attitudinal changes, irresponsible statements, trivial issues are raised as major
differences and passed on as misinformation to team members, withholding
information from team members and field staff, deterioration of performance,
callousness, raising objections to established practices are some of the symptoms in
employees who are unwilling or preparing to leave the job.
Standby activities in times of inclement weather conditions and absence of defined tasks Societal mobilization; empowering the community, specific segments of families
and village for predefined messages and challenges Need for a community manual mobilization sections such times
Technical support Essential leadership must in touch with field staff almost on daily basis; face
to face meetings are equally important – frequently in the initial phase. Frequency
twice monthly in first two months and thereafter at least once a month or as the need
arises. IT support is critical real time manner GIS, Census – leadership team must summarize the troubleshooting issues on a
monthly basis: Common errors and challenges in the field and how these have been
resolved. This is an invaluable document and to become manual for minimizing
troubles in all future endeavours. Escalate problem highest level if solutions are not forthcoming early/promptly.
Logistic & Office Equipment support, House keeping Basic principle – not to run to the market after the supplies are exhausted; proper
indenting mechanisms and stocks to be maintained to eliminate stock outs. Equipment support: person give prepare how maintain
the equipment in good health and benchmarks when maintenance and replacements
are required.
Facilitation the resolution of micro- and personal problems of the community  In general, we as a team should not get in to discussion local problems and their
resolutions Most of the
questions help requested by community related WaSH homes and neighbourhood. Some particularly wanted with release pension money for construction of toilets This facilitation be done if possible but without creating noise and the
disturbing the existing equilibrium in the village and the community
Station Manager – the leader Must ready work harder than everybody else; do tasks own
hands Leadership from front: knows all steps, processes and colleagues closely maintain daily diary – valuable data for self-appraisal and lead the complex
task of establishing DDESS Maintaining coordination, discipline achieve committed milestones are dependent
on the leadership of the station manager.