Why do multi-site operations drift apart?
Each site has its own roads, partners, weather and habits. Within a few months, each one runs a little differently. One site reports on Friday and another on Monday. One counts a training as done when it is scheduled, another when it is finished. The country office then sees a blurred picture and cannot compare sites or move resources between them.
Coordination is not control from the centre. It is a small set of shared rules that make sites comparable, so that problems are visible early and good ideas can travel.
What is the minimum you need to coordinate?
Start with four things. If you have these, most other tools are optional.
- A named lead for each site. One person who answers for the site, with a named deputy.
- A shared weekly rhythm. The same cut-off day, the same report format, the same call time.
- A record of who does what where. A simple list of activities, partners and locations, kept current. Our article on the 3W matrix explains how.
- Escalation rules. A short list of events that must go up the same day.
A short example shows why this works. A country office has three field sites. Without shared rules, each site lead sends news by message whenever they like, and the coordinator spends Monday piecing together a picture. With the four basics, the coordinator opens three reports in the same format, sees that one site has a vehicle problem and another is waiting for a purchase approval, and uses the weekly call to settle both in minutes.
Start small. You can add dashboards, shared drives and tools later. The four basics cost almost nothing, and without them no tool will help.
How do you set a weekly rhythm?
Use a fixed sequence so nobody guesses what comes next.
- Day 1 to 4: Sites carry out activities and note progress and problems as they happen.
- Day 5: Each site lead sends the weekly report by a set hour.
- Day 6: The coordinator reads all reports and flags gaps, delays and risks.
- Day 7 or the next working day: A short call of 30 to 45 minutes. Each lead gets a few minutes. Decisions are written down.
Keep the call for decisions. Information that can be read in the report should not be read aloud.
Set the rhythm with the site leads, not for them. Ask what day suits their work, what time the field team is back from the field, and when connections are best. A rhythm that ignores the market day or the weekly transport run will be broken in the first month.
Write the rhythm on one page and review it after three months. If a step never produces a decision, remove it.
What should a site report contain?
Use the same headings at every site. A short report that is always complete beats a long one that varies.
| Section | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Activities done | What happened this week, and where? |
| Planned next | What will happen next week? |
| People reached | Counts by activity, with a note on how you count |
| Issues | What is blocked, and who can unblock it? |
| Safety and access | Did anything change in security or road access? |
| Needs | Supplies, vehicles, cash or staff needed from the centre |
Ask each site to separate facts (“the road was closed for three days”) from judgement (“we think it will reopen”).
Which decisions stay at the site?
A site lead who must ask for every small decision slows the whole operation. A site lead with no limits can create risk. Write a short table of decisions and owners.
- Site decides alone: local scheduling, small purchases within their approval limit, which community meeting to attend first.
- Site decides and informs: a change of venue, a short delay, a local partner swap for one activity.
- Centre decides: a change to targets, budget moves between lines, anything that touches security rules or donor terms.
Our article on change requests in grant-funded projects covers the third group in more detail.
Review this table once a year and after any serious incident. When the table changes, tell every lead on the same day, so nobody works from an old version. Where limits are set by money, tie them to your procurement approval levels; our article on approval limits for procurement shows how.
When should an issue go up the same day?
Agree the triggers in advance. Typical ones are a safety incident, a loss of access to a site, a safeguarding concern, a stock-out of a critical item, or a complaint that names a staff member. For these, the lead calls or messages the coordinator at once and writes the report after. For everything else, the weekly report is enough.
Write the triggers on one page and give a copy to every site lead and deputy.
Where EMPOBase fits
In EMPOBase, Field reporting holds SitReps and incident reports, plus a beneficiary registry and collection links, so every site uses the same forms and the coordinator reads them in one place. The 3W Coverage view in MEAL shows who does what where. Field reporting works online only; offline capture is not promised, so sites with weak connections need a fallback for the day. Totals are counts of records, not unique people reached. See the field-to-results workflow for the full chain.