We’ve found value in fostering an environment that supports further growth and development with all of our team members and we know that our performance management processes have contributed many benefits to our organization. We’re sharing some examples of those processes.
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Uh, what? Now, try reading the title of this article backwards, starting from the far right and reading to the left. It likely took you a few seconds to do that, going letter-by-letter to make the title out: "Riding a Backwards Bicycle".
You know, you've spent your whole life paving pathways in your brain to read from left-to-right. It's a well-ingrained habit that is difficult to change.
What about another ingrained habit, like riding a bike. What if a bike was set up "backwards" in some way? Could you ride it?
Take a few minutes to watch this entertaining video to learn more. You'll find the time well-spent and may even want to share it with your friends.
So what does this all of this have to do with strategic planning, leadership, management, and running a nonprofit? A ton. Essentially, building your organization's capacity is often about overwriting old habits with new ones. Just like learning to ride a different type of bike.
What are some of those old habits that you might like to change? Try these:
Writing strategic plans but not implementing them.
Waiting to the last minute to complete grants.
Doing more work in the evenings and weekends than you'd like.
Viewing funders as people that support you (versus people that you support too).
Providing the executive director with sporadic performance reviews.
Doing everything yourself and not delegating very effectively.
You may not view these as habits, but they are. They're individual and organizational habits. And, like the guy in the video, with some insights and a committed practice, you can change them.
Which brings me to an excellent resource for you if you'd like to learn more about changing habits: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and In Business by Charles Duhigg. I read this book last year and have meaning to write about it ever since. It's fascinating. Duhigg provides a fantastic overview of how habits form and how you can change them. So, if you're serious about making changes in your life or organization, the concepts in this book are gold. The ideas will even help you ride a backwards bicycle if you'd like...
Charles Duhig - The Power of Habit
Why I'm Happy to be a Freak
LG Cosmos flip phone
(Note: I wrote this back in early 2016 (despite the 2019 date above). Well, in 2017 I ended up migrating to an iPhone. It just became super obvious that the dumbphone was holding me back from providing my team and customers with the support they deserved. The shift was one of necessity to serve better.)
In the high-tech San Francisco area where I live, I'm a freak. You see, I'm one of the few that choose to use a dumbphone instead of a smartphone. A picture of my humble little LG Cosmos flip phone is above. It's decidedly not very cool. It just makes phone calls, texts, and takes horrible 1.3-megapixel photos. And I couldn't be happier.
I've made that choice not because I'm fearful of technology. I've designed and built electric cars. I've produced websites, built awesome spreadsheets, and co-founded a strategic planning company that has built a strategic planning software platform. I'm comfortable with technology.
And, I don’t have anything against smartphones. A while back I tried out both the iPhone and a Droid for a few weeks. They were incredible in the millions of things they could do. But that's just it. I don't need my phone to do a million things. I just need it to make phone calls and send texts. (I use my laptop to send emails and conduct all of my other internet-based business.) So after a few weeks, I returned the amazing smartphones and went back to my dumb phone. I realized that, when compared to the iPhone/Droid, my flip phone helped me to:
Disconnect and keep my life a little simpler.
Maintain better control of my time.
Focus on those around me rather than get distracted by the cool apps on the phone.
Basically, the smartphones weren't the best fit for me. It turns out that I'm not alone in my perspective. Check out these articles that convey similar sentiments:
So, that's my phone story. I share it with you with the intention to help you think a little bit about your phone choices. Whatever type of phone you use, I hope it is meeting your needs. If you're like me, sometimes I get sucked into the cool gadgets before I realize what's going on. Perhaps this article will help you pause for a moment and consider your options. You know, I'll probably have to get a smartphone at some point. Or at least a smarter phone than the one I have now. But in the meantime, I'm happy being a freak.
Would You Like Zero Emails in Your Inbox?
Screen shot 2014-06-20 at 8.23.38 AM
Below is a screenshot of something that I love to create several times each week: my empty inbox. An empty inbox is an indicator that we’re responding to our customers in a timely fashion. And it simply helps me feel more relaxed and organized. You know, I try not to be obsessive or unrealistic about keeping an empty inbox. But I do have a simple goal and some good habits to help me get there. Here's what I do...
My Simple Goal
I have a simple goal that helps me keep my email under control: to end each day with less than ten emails in my inbox. Ideally, I'd end each day with an empty inbox but that's not realistic. Most days I'm successful at hitting this goal. But I've found that the 80/20 rule applies here. I hit my goal about 80% of the time. And that still feels great. Further, I don't worry too much about my email on days off. I don't apply my goal to those days. I realize that my situation is different than yours. I only receive about 350 emails each week. Some of you receive much more than that. And, since I run my own business I may have more control of my time than you. Despite these differences, I maintain that you'll still benefit from setting a specific email goal that works for you.Create Simple Habits to Support Your Goal
With a goal in place, you'll need some simple habits to help you reach your goal. Here are four of mine:I create accountability by sharing my goal with others.
Peer pressure works wonders. Heck, in this blog post I'm sharing my goal with the world. Talk about accountability!I process my email throughout the day.
Frankly, I'm not sure if this is a good strategy or not. I've heard several email experts say that you should check your email once or twice a day. But that doesn't seem to work for me. If I check my email infrequently then my inbox builds up and it slows me down from responding to my clients in a timely fashion.I use the phone
Email is great for quick correspondence. But for more in-depth issues, email can be less efficient than a conversation. So, it's not uncommon for me to receive an email and, instead of responding, I simply pick up the phone and call the person. That's often faster and more effective.I keep my email subscriptions to a minimum
If I don't get value from an email subscription then I cancel it. So, those are four of my habits. I hope they give you some ideas about what can work best for you.
By the way, I'm definitely not an expert at this email thing. I'm right there with you, learning along the way. I've just been fortunate to arrive at a system that works well for me. If you'd like to learn from the experts then consider these books:
Inbox Freedom: The Zen Master's Guide to Tackling Your Email and Work by Mike Ghaffary and Charles Hudson.
Declutter Your Inbox: Inbox Detox in 6 Easy Steps - Increase Productivity and Finally Get to Inbox Zero by Dewan Bayney.
Good luck!
How Much Money Do You Make?
Guidestar Compensation Report
As a nonprofit leader you may face an ongoing question: what is fair compensation for the staff?You'd like to pay them at least what they'd get at a similar organization. But finding salary rates for other nonprofits can be difficult.That's where the Guidestar Nonprofit Compensation Report comes in.Established fourteen years ago, the report is a comprehensive overview of nonprofit salaries. Based on IRS data, the report provides salary information broken down by:
Top organizational positions (executive director, development director, programs director, HR director, IT director, etc.)
Organization size by revenue ($250k or less, $250K - $500K, etc.)
Organization type (education, environmental, civic, etc.)
Geographical area (state and metropolitan area)
Gender
You can view a sample report here. Here's the kicker. For most small nonprofits, the $374 starting price is steep. That said, if you could use some accurate salary guidance then the investment may be worth it.