Teamwork

Roles, coordination, and resolving friction before it grows. Most field failures are not a lack of good intent — they are a lack of organisation.

⏱ 70 min📚 3 modules🎓 Pass mark: 70%

What you will learn

Understand roles in a volunteer team and why every activity needs a lead

Hand over and take on tasks clearly, without ambiguity

Communicate within the team so that nothing is duplicated or dropped

Address disagreement early and without escalation

Own your mistake and correct it without excuses

Support a struggling teammate instead of working around them

Module 1

Roles and responsibilities

A team without clear roles is not a team — it is a group of people in the same place.

In any volunteer activity three questions must have answers before you start: who leads? who does what? and who do we go to when something goes wrong? A missing answer to any of these causes most field chaos.

Activity lead

Assigns tasks, decides when there is disagreement, and carries the outcome. Their role is not to be the most important — it is to be the point of decision.

Delivering volunteer

Delivers their task precisely and reports at once if they cannot complete it. Late reporting is worse than the setback itself.

Documentation focal point

Records attendance, numbers and observations. Without them the whole activity leaves no trace within a week.

Safety focal point

Watches for hazards and knows the emergency plan. Their role only shows when things go wrong — and then it is decisive.

💡 Handing over a task: three essentials

Any task handed over must carry: exactly what is required, when it is due, and what “done” looks like. “Take care of it” is not a handover — it is a transfer of anxiety.

Field scenario

What is the right action?

You were assigned to set up the activity hall. You arrive to find another volunteer arranging it differently, saying the lead assigned them too.

Module 2

Coordination and closing gaps

A gap is more dangerous than a duplication: duplication wastes effort, but a gap leaves someone unserved.

A short briefing before the activity: who does what, where, and when
An even shorter debrief after: what worked, what struggled, what changes
One team channel — not scattered private messages where decisions get lost
If you finish your task, do not wait: ask “what is left?” rather than standing aside
If you see something outside your task that is wrong, report it — silence is not politeness

⚠️ “I thought someone else was doing it”

This sentence precedes most field failures. The cure is simple: when you are not certain someone is handling something — ask. One question prevents an entire gap.

Check your understanding

You finished early and notice a teammate is behind and looks overwhelmed. What is most appropriate?

Module 3

Disagreement and mistakes

Disagreement is normal in any team. What is not normal is bottling it up until it bursts.

Speak to the person directly first, not to the rest of the team about them
Describe the behaviour, not the person: “the late handover disrupted us”, not “you are irresponsible”
Hear their full account before judging — there may be something you do not know
Look for a fix going forward, not proof of who was wrong
If it is not resolved between you, take it to the lead together, not separately
Never discuss a disagreement in front of the people you serve

✔ Owning your mistake

Reporting it as soon as you notice
Stating its real effect without downplaying
Proposing how to fix it
Asking what prevents it recurring

✘ What breaks trust

Hiding it and hoping it passes
Shifting responsibility onto someone else
Excessive apology instead of correction
Promising “it won’t happen again” while changing nothing

Field scenario

What is the right action?

You discover you recorded the beneficiary numbers incorrectly in yesterday’s activity report, and the report has already gone to management.

Standards this content is built on

• IFRC Volunteering Policy (August 2022) — volunteer roles and responsibilities
• Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (2024 edition)
• Do No Harm principle in humanitarian action