WBS!? What’s a WBS? A new wrestling network? A new basketball league?
No, it stands for Work Breakdown Structure.
You may recall that I have stressed the importance of knowing the deliverable and its importance in grant applications and in managing projects. Well, the WBS technique is deliverables-on-steroids. Continue reading Learning to Love the WBS
We all use ad-hoc project teams to accomplish time-limited goals. Write a grant application. Update the accounting system. Develop a strategic plan. Move into the new facility. Remodel the offices. Put on the fundraising dinner. Many teams hit the ground running; gathering data, organizing, taking action; but forget one thing. The main thing. Continue reading The Forgotten Deliverable
Do your board or staff meetings run on forever, even after you follow the advice in my prior post? Now is the time to move to the nuclear option: the lightning round!
Some meetings are designed to make announcements and allow everyone to communicate to everyone else what is going on. But these meetings can quickly get out of hand. Staff meetings are the prime example.
Some people just like to talk. It may be their only chance. Some people just want all the attention. Some may want to impress. Some just use the meetings as for emotional support [male eye-rolling here.] But even small meetings can drag on forever. Hence, the lightning round!
You go around the room. Each person has a fixed, very brief amount of time to say what the rest of the group needs to know.
I mean brief. I have seen some at 90 seconds and some at 3 minutes. It depends on the individuals, the topic matter, and the time available. IMHO, shorter is better, although some groups will not be able to handle 90 seconds at the start. Remember, 12 people at 3 minutes each is 36 minutes.
This helps to bound the meeting and to focus the speakers on what is really important…and it can be fun.
1. Use a timer, controlled by the Chairman / manager / facilitator. I like to use a timer app on my smartphone, with a very loud alarm tone.
2. You can hit the pause button if someone interrupts the speaker with a question. You should suggest to the questioner that they hold the question until after the lightning round. Some will squirm.
3. Keep a list of follow-up items. These are things that need further discussion after the lightning round. This also gives you time to frame the discussion or to plan for removing the discussion to a smaller group after the meeting.
4. You may have to back off. While most of your attendees will love this, there are some that just cannot handle it, for the reasons listed above. There are two things you can do. First, ask if it’s okay to try it for a few meetings. This gives time for the practice to become part of the culture. You will find that the discussions become shorter as people learn to focus on the important points. Second, be more intentional in your one-on-ones. Your people will be confident that they will have your attention at some point and less likely to waste the group time to get it.
Try it! Yes, it is fun!
A flood, or any other natural disaster, can destroy your nonprofit. But there are some things you can do to mitigate the risk.
Step One sounds obvious: Do NOT locate your facility in a flood plain. If an area has flooded before, it will flood again. Continue reading Beware the Flood
Have you ever been interviewed for an article by a news reporter or a magazine? If you haven’t, you will be. And you need to understand this from the very first contact.
This is the instruction manual for reporters on How to Get the Story. Continue reading Loosening Lips
You know about filling your nonprofit board with a matrix of key skills: a CPA, a lawyer, an HR specialist, subject matter experts, fundraisers, etc. You know about including stakeholder representatives: donors, churches, government, journalists, clients (yes clients), etc.
These are good places to start looking. But here are four nonnegotiables for the final selection. Continue reading Seeking a Board Member – 4 Things You Will Want
Perfectionism.
I have it. If you are in leadership, there is a high probability that you have it, too. It has three faces.
Perfectionists are always striving for flawless performance. That is good. We are taught about continuous improvement, kaizen, Zero Defects, Six Sigma, zero variation, the OODA loop. Nearly every management improvement program preaches working toward perfection.
The second face of perfectionism is impossibly high standards. Perfectionists have the end in view, but, often forget the process of getting there. They have no tolerance for others.
Quite often, being flawless costs twice the effort of 95% perfection, without the added value.
And striving for perfection in a task can mean it is never completed.
I have several project reports on my desk, waiting to be published. The projects are completed. The problems have been solved. The new processes have been implemented and are working. But, the report is not yet flawless. This is characteristic of Meyer-Briggs INTPs like me. The project never gets done.
The lack of tolerance means your subordinates and coworkers will become defensive. They will begin to work-to-rule. They will be constantly revising. Nothing will get done.
Yes, it can get even worse.
Perfectionism, with its impossibly high standards, and lack of tolerance, causes the growth of policies, procedures, and standards. “There will be no deviation from perfection and here is what I mean by perfection…”
Creativity dies a cruel death. Initiative is gone in before anyone notices. No one may question “the right way.” No deviations allowed. Costs climb. Schedules grow. Talented people leave.
A group of us were standing in the briefing room of a major corporation, waiting for the big guy to appear for the annual Strategic Plan Presentation.
We were just passing the time with small talk. I noticed that one of the vice presidents had left his note portfolio open on the table. Inside the front cover was a page entitled Twenty Questions That Will Stop Any Briefing. Continue reading How to Stop Any Briefing
Annual performance evaluations are one of the worst tools ever invented. They distract from real-time performance, they are often backward focused, and the objectives for next year are usually overtaken by events before the toner dries. Even worse, they can be completely demoralizing if they include surprise criticism. Continue reading Jobs I Hate: Evaluating the Executive Director
Many years ago I attended a precinct meeting in Texas for one of the political parties. The primary (pun?) purpose of the meeting was to elect delegates to the state convention. About 80% of the attendees were supporters of a certain favorite presidential candidate.
The precinct chairman, who looked to be just out of college, pulled out his list of delegates and said, “Let’s elect this list by acclamation.” Most seemed were in agreement.
Just then a grizzled old fart gentleman with overalls and a 5-day beard yelled from the back, “Let’s just do it right!” Continue reading It’s Easier to Do It the Right Way