Making Healthy Non-Profits Healthier

By Barry Allen, CEO with Linda Feinholz, Senior Consultant
International FieldWorks, Inc.

By redesigning the processes used in the non-profit organization, many economies can be located that allow for greater financial resources to go toward the purpose and mission of the organization. This article is based on an actual consulting assignment and is shared with our readers to assist their organizations in getting the best value from 'change'.

Business Practice Disciplines

Background
International FieldWorks, Inc. has found that over twenty percent of an organization's work is often attributable to operational inefficiencies due to a lack of planning, communication and accountability. A 'FieldWorks' consultant was asked to develop a white paper to stimulate senior management discussion of these topics. This is that white paper being shared in order to benefit other non-profit organizations by stimulating their imagination and creativity.

Instituting Business Practice Disciplines
During review of the client's activities, meetings were held with individuals in the target departments and with stakeholders throughout the organization. Part of that review identified that costly non-value-added work processes and labor were predominant within many client departments due to the absence of state-of-the-art business practices employed in the for-profit sector. While most management teams state that they value the concepts of planning, communication and accountability, it is generally in the arena of operational details that the disciplines 'die on the vine'. The following discussion is designed to create a framework for consideration of the operational components required for an organization to succeed at implementing the culture changes that result from implementing new business practices.

Ownership
Business practices are, by nature, a reflection of the organization's culture. It is of prime importance in any organization that leadership must own them in order for the rest of the organization to live by them. Organizational leadership creates and sustains culture and achievement through inspiring others to join in achieving the mission, modeling the way to achieve it, enabling the work, challenging the assumptions and habits of management, and encouraging the heart of everyone in the organization.

Changing business practices directly changes the organization's culture and these changes require belief in its purpose in order to embrace it and give it a fighting chance. Cultural changes require several months to move people from old habits, through new and uncomfortable actions, to new habits.

Key Success Factors required of Ownership include:

•  Valuing the practice - sufficient discussion must be held among organization leadership to get agreement on the bottom-line value of the practice and its contribution to achieving the mission. The value discussion often must be carried down to the department performance level in order for members of management to own the potential for improvement, and the recognition of individual professional responsibility for creating that improvement.

•  Designing the practice - participation by a representative team in designing the operational details by which the practice will be implemented, performed, evaluated, trained and measured.

•  Modeling the practice - Participation from the highest level of the organization on down, the practice must be observed to be of such value that everyone in the organization is required to live it.

•  Being evaluated on the practice - beginning from the highest level of the organization, regular calendared feedback must be given to reinforce the reality of individual professional responsibility for living the new practice.

Key components required of Planning include:

•  Identify stakeholders - and require mandatory participation of key sources of information and of decision makers

•  Calendar cycle of planning - organizational, divisional, departmental

•  Document the shared assumptions, decisions, action items and open items - for performance follow-through tracking

•  Publish the plans - for reference by all parties whose activities contribute to achieving the plan

•  Calendar status meetings and agenda items - for performance follow-through tracking

Key components required of Communication include:

•  Identify stakeholders - understanding and valuing the stakeholders in other departments and divisions who have a 'need to know' in order to perform effective work.

•  Designate the disseminator - for each piece or type of information, a named individual needs to be the recognized 'station master' controlling that information and responsible for disseminating it.

•  Structure communications - an agreed upon time frame, method and the oral and written channels by which information is disseminated to those with a 'need to know'. Responsibility falls equally on the provider of information to deliver it, as well as on the recipient to recognize and notify potential providers of information of the specific information they require to accomplish their work. Moreover, responsibility falls on all parties to respond to the requests made for their input.

•  Performance management - to elicit peer and cross-divisional feedback as to the timeliness and effectiveness of communication efforts, indicating what operational adjustments might be required in exchanging information and where training, coaching and mentoring may be required to advance an individual's communication skills. Further, performance review implications need to be built-in to the individual reviews to emphasize the culture's valuing of this practice regardless of an individual's personal style and preference.

The most effective performance management systems consist of three stages.

•  Establish the expectations for performance. This includes a period of reflection on the language used, goals proposed, resources required for success, and so on by both the individual setting the expectation and the individual expected to achieve it.

•  Committed status updates. This allows for weekly follow-up discussions regarding the match or gap between the expectations set through discussion and the actual outcomes being achieved through practice. The structure of regular, scheduled updates ensures that the person being held responsible knows their accountability is being tracked, while also permitting their coming back at any interim point to identify whether the practice is achieving the outcomes or requires redesign or readjustment.

•  Performance review. Formal written restatement as to the level of satisfaction in the individual's performance of the agreed upon practice, and the professionalism of their follow-through in communicating their concerns, observations and ideas during the status updates.

Key components required of Performance Management include:

•  Agreement - documentation of the specified process, goal or standard for the performance of the activity

•  Training / coaching mechanism - for skills development where needed

•  Performance measurement and tracking mechanism - observation, manual or automated tracking of the performance of the practice

•  Feedback mechanism - the oral and written channels by which performance status is to be relayed to the individual

•  Adjustment mechanism - organized reflection and adjustment of the practice at pre-planned and calendared intervals.

•  Celebration mechanism - a commitment to announce successes and publicly celebrate their contribution to the organization's mission is critical for sustaining participation during the period of cultural change, and beyond.

When taking on cultural change, an organization requires inspiration, modeling and participation from the highest levels of the organization and recognition of the time frame realistically required to move an organization from old habits to new ones. While senior management needs to model the practice and conduct performance reviews on subordinates, it is unrealistic to place implementation management on everyone's shoulders. Often a project sponsor or 'change manager' is designated to manage the administrative activities that ensures the effort, once begun, is sustained through the implementation and beyond.

Following the model, International FieldWorks, Inc. embarked on two out of three of the projects that were determined to be the most viable. The implementation provided a return of $5 for every $1 invested. With the savings, the client can well afford to move into other areas to generate the goal of providing more funds to the core mission.

International FieldWorks, Inc. is a full service management consultancy, located in the Los Angeles area, providing quality services to business, non-profit organizations and government.

About the Author

Barry Allen is the CEO and Visionary of International FieldWorks Inc., specializing in business management, law, and technology. His background includes the startup, turnaround, and management of businesses in Michigan and California . For many years he was the deputy director of Civil Defense in Southfield , Mich. , while owning, operating, and building a multimillion-dollar physical and electronic security corporation. He can be reached at ba@fieldworks.net

Linda Feinholz is a Senior Consultant with International FieldWorks with practice emphasis on process redesign. She can be contacted at LF@fieldworks.net