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Assessments and Measures of Effectiveness in Stability Operations Handbook

Handbook 10-41
May 2010

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Chapter 5 - Best Practices and Insights

Collector Best Practices

Activities or projects are only products that foster a process to change behavior or perceptions. Measure of effect indicators identify whether change has occurred or is occurring.

The local population is the best source for ideas to measure impact because they know "what change looks like" and it's their perception that counts!

Good indicators show how close you are to convincing people their life will be better under the government rather than anti-government forces.

Good deeds are not the same as effectively targeted stabilization programming. Take away the anti-government forces talking points.

Each brigade combat team should have a civil affairs (CA) company supporting them, consisting of five CA teams and a headquarters element. CA teams are trained in civil reconnaissance and cross-cultural communications. Consider using them to conduct tactical conflict assessment and planning framework (TCAPF) data collection/collation and to train designated infantry platoons to conduct TCAPF data collection.

Positive collection techniques include the following:

• Respond to priority issues of the local population.
• Focus on cross-cutting issues as they are usually the bottleneck (corruption can affect political, economic, and security lines of operation).
• Identify and support key actors early to set the stage for later collaboration.

Collection practices to avoid include the following:

• Think "if you do good things, good things will happen."
• Think "something is better than nothing."
• "Americanize" the activity.
• Focus on quantity over quality of activities.
• Over survey-this can create expectations that you and the host nation government cannot meet, and reinforce instability and conflict.

TCAPF lessons/best practices include the following:

• The TCAPF can identify the causes of instability in a measurable and immediately accessible way.
• The TCAPF is a significance improvement on current targeting practice.
• The TCAPF is more than a development targeting tool. It has wide utility as it can direct the prosecution of a counterinsurgency campaign whilst remaining flexible enough to foster stabilization at the local level.
• The TCAPF links directly into the provincial reconstruction team's logical frameworks and can therefore feed/shape development of integrated stabilization plans.
• The TCAPF makes maximum use of patrols to provide intelligence and does not demand a significant staff effort to work well.
• For maximum effectiveness, collectors must be trained.

Assessment Working Group Meeting Best Practices

Before the meeting:

• Identify the membership.
• Prepare an agenda and send it well in advance to the committee members.
• Identify for each agenda item inputs required and outputs.
• Identify lead for each item.
• Identify whether it is for information, for discussion, or for decision.
• Identify and promulgate dates, times, and locations of meetings.
• Obtain information about the status of the tasks that have been assigned from members who cannot attend.
• Arrive early, set up the meeting room, and arrange handout materials.

At the beginning of the meeting:

• Start on time; conduct a roll call.
• Review agenda.
• Set clear time limits.
• Assign a note taker.
• Review taskings from the last assessment working group (part of agenda).

During the meeting:

• Take minutes and identify attendees (should be accomplished by the note taker).
• Identify taskings-include names (points of contact), dates, and expected products.
• Close the meeting on time (schedule micro-meetings if necessary).
• Don't politic or pontificate, use data.

After the meeting:

• Prepare the products/tools for the next commander's assessment/decision venue.
• Follow up on action items (coordinate with other staff members as required).

Working With Interpreters, Best Practices

The use of interpreters is an integral and critical part of the information collection effort. Use of an interpreter is time consuming and potentially confusing. Proper use and control of an interpreter is a skill that must be learned and practiced to maximize the potential of collection.

Perhaps the most important guideline to remember is an interpreter is essentially your mouthpiece; he or she says what you say, but in a different language. This sounds simple, but for those who have never worked with interpreters, problems can quickly develop.

Upon meeting an interpreter, it is important to assess their proficiency in English. An interpreter with a firm grasp of English and the terminology that may be encountered is necessary.

The following are several useful tips for working with an interpreter:

• Placement:
• When standing, the interpreter should stand just behind you and to the side.
• When sitting, the interpreter should sit right beside you but not between you and the individual.
• Body language and tone:
• Have the interpreter translate your message in the tone you are speaking.
• Ensure the interpreter avoids making gestures.
• Delivery:
• Talk directly to the person with whom you are speaking, not the interpreter.
• Speak as you would in a normal conversation, not the third person. Do not say, "Tell him . . . ." Rather say, "I understand that you . . ." and instruct the interpreter to translate as such.
• Speak clearly; avoid acronyms or slang and break sentences uniformly to facilitate translation.
• Some interpreters will begin to translate while you are still speaking. This is frustrating for some people. If so, discuss the preference of translation with the interpreter.
• The most important principle to obey while using an interpreter is to remember that you control the conversation, not the interpreter.
• Security:
• Beware of foreign intelligence services speaking to your interpreter.
• Always assume the worst.
• Avoid careless talk.
• Avoid giving away personal details.
• Avoid becoming emotionally involved.
• Use the interpreter checklist for patrolling:
• Tell the interpreter exactly what you want translated. The interpreter should translate all conversation between you and the individual.
• Do not discuss information requirements to include commander's critical information requirements, friendly force information requirements, and priority intelligence requirements with the interpreter.
• Brief the interpreter on actions to take in the event of actions at the halt or contact.
• Tell the interpreter what you expect of him, and how you want him to do it.

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