For several years we’ve told our clients that there are two types of goals: process goals and results goals. For example, a process goal may be "to write one grant per month." The correlating results goal might be "to acquire $100K in new funding this year."
So, for these goals, the question is: "Which goal will help us get the result we want -- the $100K?" The correct answer is "it depends.”
I've borrowed the title for this blog entry from one of my favorite business books, Death by Meeting by Pat Lencioni. The basic idea of the book is not that you'll die by meetings. Rather, you might die from awful meetings.
As you know, awful meetings happen all the time. They take too long. They wander aimlessly. They don’t start or end on time. You’d pretty much rather be anywhere else.
A few days ago I had a conversation with a customer who needed some help figuring out how to best lead her team through the pandemic. Like so many of those that I’ve been talking with, she has a team that is worried about several things: their funding, the needs of those that they serve, and if they’ll make it to the other side of the crisis.
If you’re like the leaders of many small organizations, COVID-19 is forcing you and your team to answer some significant questions:
How will COVID-19 impact the priorities of our funders?
Do we need to pivot our programs and services?
Will we have to lay off some staff to make it through?
How can we best support our virtual staff?
How will our strategic plan change?
What do we need to do right now?
These are tough questions. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a simple and practical way to get some clarity on them?
If you’re like me, humor has lifted my spirits recently. I’ve laughed at some COVID-related jokes and memes people have shared with me. I’ve really enjoyed the videos of our pets wishing that we’d go back to work so they can have the house to themselves again. Thank you to those that have lifted my spirits.
A couple of years ago I came across an online critique of strategic planning titled “The Perils of Strategic Planning.”
One section, in particular, caught my attention. The author, James Hollan, wrote…
One of the very best plans I’ve ever seen in the nonprofit sector was just two pages. At the top of page one was a brief statement that basically said, “We are doing a very good job and we believe that these three things will make this organization even better. We believe they are three things we can accomplish next year.”