*How do we cut costs?
*How can we raise more money?
*Who should we hire (or let go)?
These are likely candidates to keep you awake at
night. But if you are a senior leader
for a nonprofit then I am going to add another one to your list. I know.
You are welcome.
I’m not encouraging more sleepless nights, but I
am encouraging you to work on something unless you are sure you have it
handled. I am suggesting that, based on
research*, there is a high likelihood that your Board members use different
criteria to judge your nonprofit’s performance.
Try this test.
Circulate the following question to your senior staff:
“What criteria should we use to determine the
extent to which we are accomplishing our mission? What results, outcomes, and specific evidence
should we look at to make this determination?”
See what you come up with. Based on research I did years ago*, which has
been replicated since and confirmed through my consulting work, you will
probably get responses all over the board. This is not good. Without
agreed upon performance metrics, all you have to rely on are the varied
opinions of those on your team. You are
not unlike a football team on which everyone has their opinion on where the
goal line is. This makes it very
difficult to coordinate action, set priorities, and make strategic decisions.
And it gets worse.
If you do the same exercise with your Board then I predict even more
variance in their responses. Why is this
a problem? If you think you have had a
successful year and they are looking at different criteria than you are, then it
could be an unwelcome surprise.
My advice?
Don’t lose sleep over this! Get
proactive and start the conversation with your staff and Board about this
soon. This is way better than you being
surprised at a future Board meeting. And
that would end up costing you a lot of sleepless nights in the future.
*If you want to check out the research on this,
see the Resources section of my web site at this link.
For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs
in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at
www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com You
will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy
Workbook that you can download at no cost.
You can also check out my book, Mission Impact: Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and
buy it if you are interested. And you
can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.
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