In any study over a few days the team members will need access to laundry services – a trivial enough issue in normal circumstances but which can rapidly become a time consuming chore in foreign climes.

If hotel laundry services are not an option e.g. you’re staying in a smaller guesthouse; have rented a home or indeed, the extortionate cost of in-house laundry service goes against your ethics – there are two favoured approaches: the first is hire someone to come in once a day to make laundry pick-ups and drop-offs; the second is to have a daily volunteer do the laundry for the rest of the team. There’s nothing like standing around a clothesline hanging your colleagues freshly washed underwear to break down any remaining social barriers the team may have.

More on field study ‘dress code’ here.