Adventurous choices
As I head into the closing week of July, I am quietly focussed (read: very preoccupied) on one thing …. an adventurous yomp of an event around the Lake District which will take me most of the last weekend of the month. I’ve completed this event three times before but there’s been a lot of change for me personally in the seven years since I last did so. Success is not guaranteed. I have all my kit sorted, I know the route, I can handle most weather, and I’ll see some friends when I’m there. All I have to do is turn up and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Post match report to follow ….
What do you have looming? In your charity world I mean. There are often multi-tasking challenges afoot, and one of the most difficult to manage is when there’s a major undertaking which needs so much of your attention, effort, time and resource, but of course there’s still the necessity to keep the main show on the road. A demanding project, merger with another charity, sensitive internal disagreement, tricky complaint handling, Charity Commission or other regulator’s intervention, fundraising pressure – the list goes on and in many ways this is the life of a charity. Constant priority juggling. Ever present pressures.
So, perhaps you need not so much of a focus on some short term distraction but a knack of managing both the everyday and the unusual. Here are some successful lessons which have recurred in many charities I have been fortunate to interact with over the years:
1.You can’t do it all. You must choose what to do and how. Not all risks need close daily attention. Fundraising often only requires occasional rather than constant attention. A major project like merger will mean you simply can’t give the same time to many of the usual things until it completes. These are realities to accept.
2.Be a team. Very competent and energetic people often do too much, because they can cope. But there is always a breaking point and the sooner you create a team culture the better. The CEO, FD, and chair (to name but a few) may all need support in the form of a deputy or an occasional help. Be creative: the support may not be needed continually but for just one matter, weekly, only for meetings, or as you deal with an annual compliance task.
3.Use externals. Recruit committee members for specific tasks. Engage professionals effectively for the specialist help you need. Foster a volunteer network and use people for a wide variety of tasks, including front line, back-office and one-off needs.
4.Prioritise. Daily and weekly. Shift things up and down the list in response to need.
5.Use resources. Know where to find them for a start, then adapt and use them to suit your situation. There are some on my website; there are many others on-line (both free and paid for). Share needs with counterparts in your network.
6.Develop a method. There’s an optimal way of doing most things. If something looks like it’ll be hard work or will need to be done periodically, spend a bit of time thinking how best to approach it. Don’t reinvent any wheels.
Well those are some lessons I’ve seen help many charities. As you read these, does anything spring to mind that would work / not work for you? Do you find yourself saying “yes, that’s all well and good, but ….” I hope these points can help you as they’ve helped others. And as ever contact me if you want to talk.
