Teamwork

Yesterday I ran into an old friend who runs a local brew pub, and he told me how busy he's been since they opened about a year ago.

Like, running-himself-ragged busy. And making-dangerous-mistakes busy.

It was the dangerous mistakes that woke him up. He told me that, as the brewer, the wrong mistake could be fatal.

That's when he started to make sure that he delegates tasks that can be delegated, and that he schedules actual time off.

The great thing, he told me, is that “this place runs a lot better when I act like a CEO instead of washing glasses behind the bar.”

Here's the thing:

If your organization is any larger than a one-person operation, I hope you're finding ways to delegate.

After all, the success of your organization does not depend on the ED's willingness to stay late and empty trash cans.

If you're looking for things that you can delegate, your CRM may be one place to start.

Staff and volunteers can take on many of the tasks of data entry, reporting, and configuration.

I hope you're trying — or will try — some of the following:

• Define rules and permissions that will allow someone other than the system admin to get things done.

• Conduct regular trainings so that staff can learn new workflows, policies, and procedures.

• Consider a few smart configurations such as customized forms for data entry, so staff can perform these tasks without needing full administrative rights to the CiviCRM back-end.

Remember, the great thing about working in a team is that it's a team.

It's not only okay to let other people get hands-on with your data, it's a valuable step in maximizing your organization’s mission potential.

All the best,
A.