Five Steps for Managing in a Bad Economy
Last week our PONO team met with 50-60 current and former participants in our leadership development program in Hawaii for our annual reunion.
This year’s theme, no surprise, is “How are you coping in the current economy?” I made a few introductory remarks to start the ball rolling before we broke into small groups to have the participants tackle this very current question. Here is a recap of my remarks:
Five steps to managing in a difficult economy
1. As always, be true to your mission. Avoid the temptation of mission creep – “easy dollars” that are available in an area you have no business going into.
2. If you need to cut back do it strategically, not across the board. Invest your flexible dollars, if any, in the most impactful and sustainable places and cut back or eliminate marginal areas of work. The key is to position your organization for long term success – this too shall pass. If you prune selectively you could emerge even stronger in a couple of years.
3. Communicate regularly with your board, staff, volunteers, funders, constituents, etc. Let them know your thinking, what you see coming down the pike, how you plan to respond, and show them that you, personally, never lose heart, even when you want to. Remember the Stockdale Paradox – an unflinching look at the current terrible situation coupled with optimism that you will prevail. Communication is more important now than ever.
4. Don’t cut back in small bits. If you have to do layoffs, do them all at once and reassure the survivors that, for now at least, you are solid. Nothing kills morale better than a series of monthly layoffs.
5. Look for growth opportunities. That’s right, even in bad times a sizeable percentage of nonprofits manage to grow. They identify new needs, they fill gaps created by the failure or cut back of others, and they position themselves as part of the solution.
Tags: nonprofit
