“Synergy is better than your way or my way. It’s our way.” – Steven Covey***
Getting the work done is one thing but accomplishing great things with a team of motivated go getters is quite another.
Working in a large multifaceted entity requires more than skill and ability. It also necessitates quality staff, good coordination, clear ongoing communication and integrity in the completion of work and adherence to policy and procedures.
When you have an entry point for customers or clients, an area where work is immediately processed and other more specialized areas to further analyze, develop, and close out work assignments, it is essential that work flows seamlessly from one area to another.
In smaller companies, nonprofits and religious organizations, I see this flow hindered more often than not. There can be a variety of explanations for these hindrances but from my experience the biggest of these is staffing – not enough, skill – not developed, and adherence to policies and procedures – almost nonexistent.
Not Enough Staffing to Get the Work Done
If you ask employees of most companies, regardless of size, most will say they need more staff to get the work done. If you ask managers in most companies, you might get an array of responses, however many who are closest to the top of the management chain will say that work needs to be done smarter and not necessarily harder. Entry and mid-level leaders are more likely to agree with staff in the need to add people to the mix.
In most nonprofits one will most likely find no argument to the need for more people.
I have watched people in both the employment and the leadership arenas grapple with this issue for more years than I care to say. I don’t believe it is going away, no matter what politicians say, especially given today’s economic climate. So the ultimate answer truly lies in working smarter and getting the most bang for your buck.
Ideally you will one day get more staff. If that doesn’t happen, however, look at what options you do have.
1. Exactly what is the work that MUST be done and what is the work that CAN be done in addition to that?
2. How many full time equivalents are you able to hire?
3. Are you fully staffed?
4. Can you supplement your maximum staffing plan with volunteers, student interns or per diem (on call) staff who can help pick up the slack?
Looking at each of the above in totality, you would analyze your work situation to determine what works best. Be creative but realistic.
For example, if you have two part time clerical workers and one full time professional, is that really what is needed? Maybe one of the clerical positions could actually be used to supplement the mounds of work that the one professional employee is trying to accomplish every day. That 2nd person may be able to do the same work or an assistive type role. If the other clerical role is not quite enough, maybe you’d consider increasing the hours so it is still part time but more than half time, i.e. 25-30 hours per week instead of 20.
Another example of evaluating the above might be to determine whether or not a student intern or a rotation of student interns who are nearing graduation, might be a great opportunity to support some of the work flow. Things to consider are training and who will do it. That person would need to train well and be available to monitor and do supplemental training as needed because these individuals are there to learn but the benefit is that they can help get the work done. Note, the key words in this scenario are that the students are nearing graduation. If they are not close to the end of their educational training, it is unlikely that they would be of benefit to you. If you take them on any earlier, you are strictly a learning site and stand to get less benefit other than what you are offering to the students and the community. The students might be needed on the clerical side or the professional side. You decide this in your analysis and investigation of schools, but whatever you do, stay within your budget or you will end up letting people go soon after they have started. That’s doesn’t say much to others about your business and planning skills.
In nonprofits, staffing is usually bare bones, especially in religious organizations (churches). This is often tied to an assumption that the work in religious settings is less meaningful and less of a necessity than it is in the public or for profit sectors. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If a small business has 50 clients they would more than likely staff at least two professionals (including the owner if he or she carries the same credentials) an administrative worker and someone to handle accounts or accounting. Why then wouldn’t a church with 100 members (clients) or more have the same number of people on staff to get a much more multilayered level of service and associated work done? It astounds me to hear people on talk radio, social media or in live conversations talk about what isn’t being done in the local church and how churches are always in need of money, yet people don’t want to support the church to enable the appropriate staffing to start and maintain meaningful programming and ministry. To sustain this level of professionalism and service, one would not depend solely on a few volunteers, who may or may not be consistent but would need regular staffing to maintain service, reliability and quality.
Not Enough Skill to Get the Work Done
Regardless of the work that needs to be done, put people in place who have proven skills and experience to do the job. Don’t jump at warm bodies just because they are in front of you. The right person might be standing right behind them. Don’t miss them.
If someone comes close but isn’t quite there, consider investing in some training to provide further development. But like any other job opportunity, find out what the person’s career goals are and determine if this job fits with their plan. It’s OK to invest in others in order to benefit the community but most would prefer to build others up to mutually benefit the organization and the individual.
With all that being said, make sure the job description, job expectations and job training is well prepared, documented and conveyed when you bring them on board. Remain committed to it and if changes are made be clear on how much change and what the changes are, then make sure the job description is amended and that the job title still fits.
Limited Adherence to Policies & Procedures
It’s easy to dismiss rules and guidelines in smaller organizations because the feel may be a more friendly, informal atmosphere. You can have friendly and informal but still follow policies and procedures.
It is said that laws are written for those who are prone to break them, but rules, policies and procedures serve a greater purpose. They provide a guide for individuals to gauge what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in environments they are not accustomed to. Policies and procedures take the guesswork out of learning and the stress out of doing, thus enabling groups of people to function with order and common purpose. It is impossible to get a group of people to accomplish the same goals in an expected way without making it clear how that should look.
Perception is reality, so how I perceive getting something done may not be how you see it. Without a policy or procedure to tell us what the parameters are for getting that something done, you might do it and spend $500 in the process while I complete the task but because I know to access internal resources, I only spend $25. Now you are in the hot seat with management and I’m skipping up the corporate ladder because I knew and utilized something you didn’t know. Well, if it is documented and shared with both of us, we both have information, access and opportunity to do things as expected, if not better.
Whether we like them or not, policies and procedures are a gift as well as a guide.
Synergy Can Build a Motivated Team
Have you ever experienced a work team or group that flowed together so beautifully that they were energized and motivated by one another continually? The amount of ideas, creativity, productivity and uniqueness that such a team can accomplish is awe-inspiring.
I had been in one particular job for about two years. Everyone was stressed and it was probably not the healthiest work group. We had experienced a great deal of turnover (people leaving) in our department and thus had quite a few job openings. Approximately five new staff members were hired. My manager gave much thought to the myriad of challenges our department had faced up until that point and she made a deliberate effort to hire people who were almost opposite of most of the people who had left with regard to career goals, education, past experience and professionalism. This job was not their last stop and it was not their first rodeo. So how they conducted themselves daily was as if they owned the place… hmmm there’s that word again, Ownership (see What Happens When We Take Ownership blog post). They were serious about getting the work done but how they got it done was just as serious. They came to work every day dressed like they owned the place, even the administrative support staff wore suits. No one told them to. That was not a requirement. It was just what they – professionals – did. They were bursting with new ideas on how to do any and everything. Sitting in a meeting was no longer mundane and bearable. Ideas were ping ponging across the room, questions (good and crazy) being flung at that manager without fear of retaliation. Observations and commentaries shared, brazenly but with diplomacy to move the needle of conversation and brainstorming, were becoming the new norm. In an atmosphere that formerly reeked of stress they were a breath of fresh air!
Talk about synergy! Though I speak as if I were an outsider, I imagine that I was a contributor of sorts but for me, having been part of the before and after team. I felt like an observer for a while. We all grew to work well together. We were productive. We even helped the manager loosen up a bit (yes with all that professionalism, this group believed in having fun while they worked). Our lives, our work, our projects and our challenges were no longer compartmentalized we were synchronized like a well-designed computer app. We were no longer a guarded group of individuals. We were a team. We had each others’ backs and we stepped in to help when help was needed; but more than that, every person could carry their own weight and admit their own mistakes. When one was weak, we not only could admit it, we would reach out and learn from one another so we wouldn’t have to repeat the problem. We got so much done and made our manager and VP look good. It was an impressive group and we loved working together. I’ll never forget the day when one of the strongest personalities who was also the most hilarious of sorts (because she sometimes appeared to be rather jumbled but was actually very sharp), said to us, “You know we’ll never be able to find a team that works so well together like this again, right?” We all agreed. We talked about how we wished we could package the group and keep it intact and carry it around wherever we each might go. We knew then, just as I know now, it’s probably a once in a lifetime thing but it can be done!
Concluding Thoughts
If you can build and maintain a team of that caliber, even if it doesn’t remain intact, the culture and legacy it creates should last a good while. I shared the story, not to discourage you or to tell a woe is me story, but to say, it can be done!
It actually starts with Staffing to Get the Work Done, the Skills to Do the Work and the Adherence to Policies & Procedures. Without the three you have a disjointed pattern of discombobulation. That’s a mouthful that boggles the mind, I know, but when you have a group, a team, a department or a company that is void of any of those three things you end up living and working with something else that will boggle your mind. I have observed both and the latter is not so pretty and certainly not productive.
If you find yourself swimming in the rougher waters of team development, consider making changes to secure Staffing to Get the Work Done, Skills to Do the Work and Adherence to Policies and Procedures.