Anything can be measured

Some things are difficult to measure. Happiness, satisfaction, disappointment, frustration, love.

But if you think about it just a little, there's a way.

When we say those things are hard to measure, we usually mean it's hard to find an objective rating scale. I can tell you I love my kids, but I can't really tell you how much.

Nonetheless there are ways to compare these things, even without an objective scale of measurement.

I love my kids, and I also love the taste of a properly cooked rare steak. I can't put numbers on either of those. But I know I love my kids more than a rare steak. I can compare, even without a commonly accepted objective rating scale.

And what's more, there's usually some easily measured proxy for such things.

One is time. I can measure the amount of time I'm willing to invest in my kids, and I can measure how long I'm willing to travel and wait in line at a restaurant that serves a properly cooked rare steak.

Your staff might be frustrated, or your members might be excited, but it's really hard to say how much.

Nonetheless there are proxies that you can measure for those things. Time is just one of them.

What else can you measure, to know whether you're making a difference in the lives of the people you serve?

All the best,
A.

Identifying value

Measuring value is difficult, but not impossible.

First you have to identify what's valuable.

Hint: It's not always money. Sometimes it's just the ability to get a good sleep at night.

All the best,
A.

I don't think you're ready for this project

I know you think you need it. I hear you say that you want this for reasons x y and z. It appears that you even have a budget set aside that would cover the implementation.

But are you going to use it? Are you going to train your staff to follow procedures? Do you have the time yourself or your department directors to master the system and understand how it works?

No? Better not bother with it.

...

Or...

... maybe ...

... there's another way.

Maybe you feel like you just have to have it. Maybe some part of you just knows that this is really the right thing to do for your organization.

Maybe you're under some real pressure to make this happen. Maybe it's a regulatory requirement. Maybe you've got an ultimatum from your board.

Somewhere, somewhere in there, there's a need.

If you can identify that need, really name it and boil it down to its essence, well then, now you've got something you can sink your teeth into.

Now you're not just thinking about a form or a button or a feature.

Now you're thinking about the end goal and what you really need to accomplish for your organization.

That, my friend, is your starting point. What can you do to make that happen?

Does it really require a new feature in your CRM?

Could you wrangle a couple of interns or volunteers to do some extra data entry one week a month?

Could you export that data to Excel and do some manipulation there, with some slick formulas?

There's nothing at all wrong with rolling out new features. But everything comes with a cost, and it's not just in the implementation.

If you know what your real goal is, and you have some sense of what that's worth to you, then you're in a good spot.

Because now you know whether investing in this improvement is actually going to be a win for your organization.

If it is, dive in. If you're still not sure, then you've got a little more creative thinking to do.

Whatever happens, it's up to you to weigh the cost and benefits, make a plan - however simple or complex it needs to be - and move forward without reservation.

All the best,
A.

Careful novice versus master chef

A careful novice baker can turn out a pretty good pecan pie with a good recipe and a little practice.

A master chef can turn out a fantastic dessert with just about anything that's in the kitchen.

What's the difference?

One of them knows how to follow a recipe. The other one fully understands the underlying concepts in what they're doing.

When you're trying to get something done in your CRM, it can help to have a simple set of steps to follow for that one thing.

But if you want to maximize the value of your CRM system, you're going to get a lot farther by trying to understand the underlying strategy, tactics, and components of that system, and how and why it all works together.

What steps are you taking to become more than a recipe follower in your work?

All the best,

Allen

Mastering your tools

One way you can get more value out of your tools is to get intimately familiar what they can do and how they work.

An average violin in the hands of a master can create more value than a Stradivarius in the hands of an average player.

To master your instrument, you can do a few things:

Spend more of your own time in practice and performance.

Study tutorials and manuals from people who have mastered it.

Get an instructor who can skip over the parts you've already mastered, show you things you never knew, and even correct bad habits and misconceptions.

Hang out with other people who are trying to learn the same thing.

These are all good ways to turn the systems you already have into tools that are actually more valuable for you.

Yes, sometimes you just need to hire a musician to play the music.

But to build long-term value in your tool set, someone on your team needs to master the tools.

All the best,
A.

Sharp tools

Besides keeping yourself sharp, it helps to keep your tools sharp.

My buddy Eric does tree work. If you're in north Texas, he'll come over and take a dangerous tree completely out of the picture for you, or keep your beloved heirloom oak in great condition. He knows his stuff.

But early in his career this guy fell out of a tree, and just about ended his career, if not himself.

Now he checks his ropes. And his harness. Frequently.

And he keeps his chainsaw teeth sharp. And the motors clean and oiled. Frequently.

It doesn't take a lot. But it has to be done. Frequently.

How are you keeping your CRM tools sharp? Security updates. Site backups. Disaster recovery plans. Data reconciliation. Duplicate management. Password policy review. User permissions review.

Frequently – right?

There's really no other way.

All the best,
A.

Staying sharp

As a developer and a strategist I have to stay on top of things in the industry both from a technical viewpoint and from a strategic viewpoint.

Devoting time to strategy and professional development isn't hard, but it takes a commitment and a focus on priorities.

I'm a part of a few online technical communities as well as the ASAE, and I get several emails a week, typically with valuable content, from each of these groups. I make a point of reaching out and participating in conversations with other people in my industry.

Every week it probably adds up to about 4 hours, and I'm glad to make the time because I know it helps me stay sharp.

What are you doing to keep yourself sharp in your professional work?

Are you a part of the ASAE or another organization?

Do you have a mailing list that you actually love to read?

Where do you go online or in real life to connect with others in your space, share new ideas, and improve your ability to reach your organization's goals?

Maybe those are rhetorical questions to make a point, but I'd also like to hear the answers from you. I'd be grateful if you hit reply and take a second to tell me.

Have a great day. Stay safe, and stay sharp.

Where to make improvements

If you’re like me, you could probably list about a dozen things that you'd like to have a better version of.

House, car, health, free time, you name it.

It's the same with your business systems: Faster computers, more efficient staff, prettier website, cheaper office space, shorter meetings, whatever.

Most people can look at their CRM on any given day and find plenty of things they wish were easier, whether for their staff, their members, or their donors.

But resources are limited. Time and money are finite.

How can you pick which thing to improve?

Simple. Pick one that’s most likely to give you a measurable benefit, that you can point to afterwards and say, we improved this aspect of our operations by X percent over last year.

Here's the thing:

If you can't name the expected value of your proposed improvement, why even bother spending your limited resources to examine solutions for it?

You don’t have to build it from scratch

One thing I've noticed about organizations that are happy with their open source tools: they stay abreast of the plugins and extensions that are available from the community, and they make effective use of them.

• Drupal has over 40,000 available modules

• WordPress, over 55,000 plugins

• CiviCRM, over 500 extensions

Whatever your unique need, there’s a very good chance that you can get it done with creative use of some of these freely available tools.

Using tools from the community has distinct advantages over building your own:

1. It challenges you to think about your problem in a way that makes sense to lots of people not just you.

2. Most of these tools are going to continue to be improved by the community for a long time. That includes security updates.

3. When you need help making it do something new, there are lots of people who can help you.

Yes, sometimes your need is truly unique, and in that case building it from scratch with custom development is certainly an option — if you have measuable business goals that will justify the expense of creating and maintaining what you build.

But if there's a tool right there waiting to be used, why oh why would you reinvent the wheel?

Are you letting the perfect be the enemy of the good?

You probably know you can’t be perfect. You probably know your staff can’t be perfect either.

What about your software systems?

The question is not whether your systems can be perfect. They never will be.

The question is: Are your systems helping you meet your goals? You do have goals, right? Clear, measurable, attainable goals?

If you have specific goals, think about how your systems can help you meet them. That’s the only question that matters.

(If you don’t have them, that’s a separate conversation.)

Everything is a trade-off

How safe do you want to be? Do you want six locks on your house with six separate keys? Or would you rather have no locks so you can just come and go without having to fish around in your pocket?

Security and convenience are trade-offs.

How comfortable do you want to be? Do you want to fly first class on your vacation and stay at a five-star hotel? Or would you rather fly coach and stay at a hostel, so you can spend your money on more memorable adventures?

Comfort and expense are trade-offs.

In a world where time and resources are limited, which happens to be the world we live in, everything is a trade-off.

Here's the thing:

When selecting and designing your systems, you have to decide your priorities, and you may have to give up one thing to get another. There's no right answer. But you do have to make a choice.

Are you feeling lucky?

Overheard today: "I've hired more people than I can count to fix this problem, and they all did what they said they would do, and none of them have fixed the problem."

I'm wondering: Did any of these people know what the problem actually was? Did any of them say they would actually solve the problem? Was anyone measuring the results and the leading indicators?

Here's the thing:

If you don't identify the problem out loud, and measure leading indicators along the way, there's a good chance you're relying on luck, at best. Getting lucky is lots of fun, but it's no plan for success.

Are you sure your software is the problem?

Wouldn’t you like to go farther, faster?

The SSC Tuatara is currently the fastest car you can buy, with a top speed of over 315 mph. Prefer a name you've actually heard of? How about the Porsche 918 Spyder — top speed: 218 mph.

That kind of a car will get you places, and fast.

Now ask yourself: How long would it take you to get to work in one of those?

You're right. It would take you about as long as it takes you in your current car.

Because the problem with your morning commute is not the speed of your car. You still have to deal with traffic, and stop lights, and the law, and finding a parking place, and idiots on the road, and waiting for your kids to get ready for school, and stopping for coffee, and construction, and that time you forgot your phone and had to turn around and go home again.

Spending a lot of time and money on better tools is alluring. But is a better set of tools going to solve the problem that you're trying to solve?

Even the best CRM system won't solve everything. You still have to deal with complicated policies; and communication issues between your board, your executives, and your staff; and volunteer recruitment; and staff turnover; and compliance; and crazy people; and lazy people; and that one board member who always wants to change something at the last minute.

There are lots of things that software can do. But there are a lot of things that it can't do.

Remember what your real goals are. What's really going to help you get there?