Reporting to the Team

Below is a list of the basic internal reports, who should send them, who should get them, and how often they should be sent.

But do not rely only on sending paper or electronic reports.  You must actively follow up your reports to make sure people are reading those reports, understand them, and that the information is helpful to them.  Here are some ideas about how to do that:

1. Ask for time at regular staff meetings.  At the meetings announce to staff that you will be sending a report (or that you have sent it).  Ask if there are any follow up questions or concerns about the information.  Also, use the opportunity to call people’s attention to important points (e.g. stock that is about to expire, stock that has been donated that no one knows is there)
2. After sending reports, call or visit stock owners to make sure they got the report and understand it.
3. Circulate information about ‘orphaned’ stock (and follow up on with announcements at meetings and phone calls to program managers).  Orphaned stock is stock that is in the warehouse but doesn’t have an owner.  Frequently in large emergencies we receive donated items that no one requested for a specific project.  If the warehouse staff don’t advertise that it’s there, it may sit there forever and go to waste.

You can make decisions on frequency based on how much activity there is in the warehouse.  If you are only accepting deliveries and sending items once each week, you may not need to send daily reports.