NZAID Tools Strategic Management 

Policy Teams Guideline

Establishing a Policy Team

Triggers for establishing a Policy Team

A Policy Team might be established because:

  • Ministers ask us to review a policy or sector/thematic strategy,
  • meets our needs, and/or wants to review whether existing policy or strategy addresses our needs,
  • AIDMGT decides there is a gap in our suite of existing policies or high -level strategies, or
  • an existing policy or sector/thematic strategy has an in-built review period.

Establishing a mandate and work programme

The initial decision
AIDMGT decides when a Policy Team will be established and for what purpose. AIDMGT also decides when it expects a Policy Team to complete its work and who will lead the Policy Team (generally a SAEG team leader or advisor with responsibility for the subject area).

Terms of Reference (ToR)
A Policy Team develops ToR during its first meeting or meetings. ToR cover:

  • purpose and specific objectives
  • background and rationale
  • scope of the development or review process
  • specific tasks
  • team membership and agreed responsibilities
  • planned outputs, time frames and resources required
  • how the Policy Team will communicate with the rest of NZAID
  • consultation plans during developmental stages (ie before formal consultation on any new or revised policy or strategy).

See Annex 2: Recommended format for ToR for further guidance on the format and content of ToR.

ToR are submitted to AIDMGT and, once approved, guide a Policy Team towards achieving its purpose and specific objectives. ToR may be amended (with AIDMGT endorsement) if necessary along the way.

Good practice Tips for developing ToR

  • keep ToR succinct (ideally no more than four pages in length)
  • aim to submit ToR to ADMGT for approval within six weeks of a Policy Team’s first meeting
  • before drafting ToR, consider ToR and lessons from other Policy Teams where available (eg on the intranet)
  • set realistic timeframes for delivery of outputs, but aim to keep things moving

Policy and strategy implementation teams / NZAID communities of practice

Policy Teams disband when they have completed the overall objective of developing, reviewing or updating policy or strategy documents.

There may be good reason to establish a new Policy Team to oversee implementation of a policy or strategy, and/or to build knowledge or share and learn from experiences and lessons in a particular policy or sector/thematic area.

Policy Teams may flag interest in new cross agency groups to AIDMGT in their completion report. AIDMGT will decide whether to establish additional groups.