When Adam and Eve ate that apple, they partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Today we are still suffering from the consequences of ingesting that nasty fruit! How many churches today are still feeding their lambs from that same tree? Teaching people how to make better lives for themselves by their actions will never work. We need to eat from the Tree of Life! We need to “eat” Jesus as the Bread of Life, drink Him as the Living Water, and partake of Him as our Life-giving Sustenance! How? By declaring these things out of our mouth. Throughout the Word, God says and Jesus says and the Holy Spirit says; and we’re instructed to do the same thing (Mark 11:23). So how else can something that “is not” be declared as though “it is” unless we declare it with our mouth? When you say something, we all know you can’t take it back! It has been set into motion and like God’s word, it will not return void (Is 55:11). No matter what we do, no matter how nicely we act, only the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from the unholy fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We have to stop being Adam’s progeny and get reborn and become children of the Living God; and the only way we can do that is to declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives…out loud!
What does that have to do with operating a church, directing a nonprofit or running a business? Everything! The entire world will tell you that in today's economic environment you simply can't succeed. But God says that if you (1) meditate on His word and (2)speak His word out loud, that you'll succeed, prosper and reap what you say! God has prepared us for difficult times...but you have to cooperate with the Word and do what you know to do!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Keeping Volunteers Happy
Over 85% of all nonprofit organizations have volunteers and in some instances, these organizations could not have attained the success they are enjoying without these valuable staff members. Volunteering in America states that in 2005, over 65 million Americans were volunteers contributing 8.2 billion hours of service, totaling nearly $150 billion in donated volunteer labor!
Churches and non-profits could not be nearly as effective without their volunteers. Volunteers are the backbone of many organizations yet they are often the “forgotten stepchildren” when it comes to many mainstream business and organizational procedures. Let’s look at orientation programs, for example. Why? Because most volunteers are asked to help out without actually ever learning how or why. A job description for a paid employee is typical but try to find one for a volunteer!
But you know, volunteers need to receive the same type of information as paid staff. They need the same facts, they need to know what’s expected of them, and what they can expect from you, and they need to know that the organization is supportive of them and appreciates their contributions.
A volunteer orientation program is critical if you really want your organization to communicate effectively with your volunteers and see them work in cooperation with your paid staff.
Click on the “subscribe” button below, and Power In The Workplace will send you a FREE volunteer orientation program with everything you’ll need to create productive and rewarding relationships with your volunteers.
America is a nation of people who like to give back. Keep your volunteers happy and they’ll be glad to keep giving their time and efforts to your organization.
Churches and non-profits could not be nearly as effective without their volunteers. Volunteers are the backbone of many organizations yet they are often the “forgotten stepchildren” when it comes to many mainstream business and organizational procedures. Let’s look at orientation programs, for example. Why? Because most volunteers are asked to help out without actually ever learning how or why. A job description for a paid employee is typical but try to find one for a volunteer!
But you know, volunteers need to receive the same type of information as paid staff. They need the same facts, they need to know what’s expected of them, and what they can expect from you, and they need to know that the organization is supportive of them and appreciates their contributions.
A volunteer orientation program is critical if you really want your organization to communicate effectively with your volunteers and see them work in cooperation with your paid staff.
Click on the “subscribe” button below, and Power In The Workplace will send you a FREE volunteer orientation program with everything you’ll need to create productive and rewarding relationships with your volunteers.
America is a nation of people who like to give back. Keep your volunteers happy and they’ll be glad to keep giving their time and efforts to your organization.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Can You Really Manage Conflict?
Yes. You can manage conflict. But first you have to know what it is, what it isn’t, and what it can be. Sound confusing? Let’s look at some ways to make managing conflict relatively easy.
Conflict is:
What you don’t want to do is avoid or ignore an issue. There are lots of reasons you may want to sidestep a conflict: it may seem trivial to you, you may not think it’s timely to address it, maybe the folks involved need to cool down. Or you may even think there’s actually no solution or that addressing it will disrupt your already busy workplace.
Watch out for the tendency to “accommodate” the issue by getting involved in self-sacrifice. You may think it’s okay to lose the “battle” as long as you win the “war” and that in doing so you’ll minimize your losses, but that’s just not true. You’ll never maintain harmony or stability in a workplace where there is unresolved conflict.
Tomorrow’s blog will look at why you shouldn’t force a resolution much less compromise when it’s just wrong to do so. We’ll also look at the need for collaboration to reach an equitable solution.
Conflict is:
- Always dysfunctional
- Unhealthy
- A by-product of organization life
- Unavoidable but manageable
- Something to be avoided or suppressed
- A deviation from the status quo
- A means to develop organizational systems
What you don’t want to do is avoid or ignore an issue. There are lots of reasons you may want to sidestep a conflict: it may seem trivial to you, you may not think it’s timely to address it, maybe the folks involved need to cool down. Or you may even think there’s actually no solution or that addressing it will disrupt your already busy workplace.
Watch out for the tendency to “accommodate” the issue by getting involved in self-sacrifice. You may think it’s okay to lose the “battle” as long as you win the “war” and that in doing so you’ll minimize your losses, but that’s just not true. You’ll never maintain harmony or stability in a workplace where there is unresolved conflict.
Tomorrow’s blog will look at why you shouldn’t force a resolution much less compromise when it’s just wrong to do so. We’ll also look at the need for collaboration to reach an equitable solution.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Listen to Your Staff
The wife of a friend of mine once said, “Don’t listen to what I say; listen to what I mean!” You’ve got to admit, that’s some pretty good advice! But too often we don’t listen for meaning, we only listen to formulate our own response.
Employers have an especially hard time listening to employees. The boss always seems to be rigid when it comes to communicating with employees. On the one hand, you have to be because it’s your company and you typically know what needs to be done to run it successfully. But on the other hand, you have to remain flexible because…surprise!…you really don’t know everything that your organization needs and it’s your employees who are out there on the “shop” floor who know how things are really operating.
I think one of the best shows to come along in a quite a while is “Undercover Boss”. Now granted, it’s a reality TV show and we all know it’s orchestrated, but the basic premise is this: the boss can learn from the employees.
So I’d like to encourage you to take the time and effort to listen to your employees. Like any other person, an employee needs to be understood, needs to be affirmed, needs to be validated, and needs to be appreciated.
You’d be surprised what a difference you as the boss can make in the life of an employee, both on and off the job.
Employers have an especially hard time listening to employees. The boss always seems to be rigid when it comes to communicating with employees. On the one hand, you have to be because it’s your company and you typically know what needs to be done to run it successfully. But on the other hand, you have to remain flexible because…surprise!…you really don’t know everything that your organization needs and it’s your employees who are out there on the “shop” floor who know how things are really operating.
I think one of the best shows to come along in a quite a while is “Undercover Boss”. Now granted, it’s a reality TV show and we all know it’s orchestrated, but the basic premise is this: the boss can learn from the employees.
So I’d like to encourage you to take the time and effort to listen to your employees. Like any other person, an employee needs to be understood, needs to be affirmed, needs to be validated, and needs to be appreciated.
You’d be surprised what a difference you as the boss can make in the life of an employee, both on and off the job.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Christian in Church, Christian at Work
I’d like to say a little bit about respect during the times of praise and worship. How does that have anything to do with the workplace? Read on and you’ll see.
When we come together as the Body of Christ in the congregation, we’re here for one reason…to praise and worship the Father together. The singing is joyful and lively and sometimes we lose sight of the fact that praise is a very holy activity and one to be treated with respect. Although most of us easily enter into praise, because of its “loudness” some folks think it’s a time to carry on conversations with each other and socialize. But it’s as holy here in church as it is during your private time at home.
And when the praise transcends to worship and the music becomes softer, it’s easy to lose interest, sit down and check our text messages, flip through the papers in your Bible, read the bulletin, whisper stuff to your neighbor. But we are a corporate body. We need each other. We need to hear each other singing, we need to see each other with our hands raised in adoration of the Father. If you are not physically able to stand up to worship God, then please by all means sit down, but I implore you for your sake and for the sake of your brothers, to remain in an attitude of worship.
Show respect for our Father, for our Saviour, and for the Spirit Who dwells within you; and show respect for the Body of Christ, which is around you.
As you begin to show respect for the corporate body of Christ, you’ll see an immediate tendency to show respect to the people you work with. If you’ll maintain that attitude of worshipping the Lord, it will make your workplace more peaceful and more productive. You can’t be a Christian in church and not in the workplace.
When we come together as the Body of Christ in the congregation, we’re here for one reason…to praise and worship the Father together. The singing is joyful and lively and sometimes we lose sight of the fact that praise is a very holy activity and one to be treated with respect. Although most of us easily enter into praise, because of its “loudness” some folks think it’s a time to carry on conversations with each other and socialize. But it’s as holy here in church as it is during your private time at home.
And when the praise transcends to worship and the music becomes softer, it’s easy to lose interest, sit down and check our text messages, flip through the papers in your Bible, read the bulletin, whisper stuff to your neighbor. But we are a corporate body. We need each other. We need to hear each other singing, we need to see each other with our hands raised in adoration of the Father. If you are not physically able to stand up to worship God, then please by all means sit down, but I implore you for your sake and for the sake of your brothers, to remain in an attitude of worship.
Show respect for our Father, for our Saviour, and for the Spirit Who dwells within you; and show respect for the Body of Christ, which is around you.
As you begin to show respect for the corporate body of Christ, you’ll see an immediate tendency to show respect to the people you work with. If you’ll maintain that attitude of worshipping the Lord, it will make your workplace more peaceful and more productive. You can’t be a Christian in church and not in the workplace.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Enhancing Employee Performance
Your job as the manager of a church, nonprofit organization, or small business is to consistently check employee performance. (Pv 27:23) Every organization encounters difficulties with employees from time to time…both paid employees and volunteers. In either case, refuse to let staff be unproductive or perform poorly. If you want to fulfill the vision God has given your ministry, your staff must understand how they are part of the Big Picture. Being in agreement will help their performance. They are entitled to know that their contributions to your ministry are helping further the gospel. So let them to know exactly what you want them to do and how you want them to do it. How? You must provide structured training. (Ps 32:8)
Whether you want to admit it or not, nonperformance can almost always be attributed to poor management techniques and/or lack of training, so:
Your job as the manager is to help people become the best they can be and you do that by learning how to manage. Check back for more help!
Whether you want to admit it or not, nonperformance can almost always be attributed to poor management techniques and/or lack of training, so:
- Be specific in task assignments and explanations;
- Encourage, provide feedback, reward when appropriate, and discipline when necessary; (Pv 25:11)
- Treat staff with respect, smile, and greet them properly. Avoid the tendency to be so “spiritual” you forget how to be courteous; and
- Let staff know they are important to you. This will remind them that the Father rejoices over them with gladness. (Zep 3:17)
Your job as the manager is to help people become the best they can be and you do that by learning how to manage. Check back for more help!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
To Market To Market - Part 4
Start Your Marketing Plan Today!
To begin your marketing plan, you have to start with an understanding of your industry as well as your local market. If your local market is not performing to the trends you’re seeing throughout your industry, you have to ask why, and you have to make a determination as to whether or not your local market will follow that trend at some point.
So let’s take a look at some of the ways you can analyze your market:
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at what else it takes to develop your marketing strategy.
To begin your marketing plan, you have to start with an understanding of your industry as well as your local market. If your local market is not performing to the trends you’re seeing throughout your industry, you have to ask why, and you have to make a determination as to whether or not your local market will follow that trend at some point.
So let’s take a look at some of the ways you can analyze your market:
- Define your target market and its segments by size, needs, trends, demographics, geographics, psychographics, and purchasing cycles. Sound like a lot of work? It is; but it’s the kind of work that results in sustained success.
- Clearly develop a tactical plan for your marketing penetration strategy. It’s not enough to say that you’re going to “contact all major providers” of whatever your product line is. You have to clearly define who they are (including contact names and phone numbers) and a plan for actually making contact with them. Are you going to call them? Send letters? Set appointments for face-to-face meetings? What? How? What will you say to them when you talk? What will you send to them? What will you hand them?
- Once you know the “who, when and how” of your marketing strategy, you’ll need to define your growth strategy. Lots of folks truly think they’ll double their efforts every quarter; but that typically doesn’t happen. Growth strategy has to take into account additional personnel, additional collateral material costs and the ability to support additional sales.
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at what else it takes to develop your marketing strategy.
Monday, April 12, 2010
To Market To Market - Part 3
Employee or Entrepreneur?
The primary difference between an employee and an entrepreneur is beyond just who owns the business. Employees perform a function and get a paycheck. Entrepreneurs find a customer and then perform a function. So as an entrepreneur, what you earn tomorrow is based on what you do today to find a customer. In other words, you must FIND the work before you can DO the work!
As we mentioned in Part 2, you can market to your end user or you can market to a group of people who already do business with your end user…or both. Your primary responsibility as a marketer is to find a niche market for your product or services.
A niche enables you to wake up in the morning and know what you must do to find business. A niche keeps you focused because as wonderful as we think we are, we cannot be all things to all people. The niche comes first…the money follows. Pick one niche (target market) and stick with it. Get good at it and avoid the tendency to bounce around and try different markets or niche groups. You should get really successful in one area before you expand to another.
“Successful” in this case means:
Marketing is 100% of what you have to do as an entrepreneur and you should consider it your only approach to success.
The primary difference between an employee and an entrepreneur is beyond just who owns the business. Employees perform a function and get a paycheck. Entrepreneurs find a customer and then perform a function. So as an entrepreneur, what you earn tomorrow is based on what you do today to find a customer. In other words, you must FIND the work before you can DO the work!
As we mentioned in Part 2, you can market to your end user or you can market to a group of people who already do business with your end user…or both. Your primary responsibility as a marketer is to find a niche market for your product or services.
A niche enables you to wake up in the morning and know what you must do to find business. A niche keeps you focused because as wonderful as we think we are, we cannot be all things to all people. The niche comes first…the money follows. Pick one niche (target market) and stick with it. Get good at it and avoid the tendency to bounce around and try different markets or niche groups. You should get really successful in one area before you expand to another.
“Successful” in this case means:
- You’re reaching your target market.
- Prospects are reacting positively to your marketing message.
- They are purchasing your products or services.
- Your delivery methods are effective.
- Your customer service methods are working well.
- Customers are giving you referrals.
Marketing is 100% of what you have to do as an entrepreneur and you should consider it your only approach to success.
Friday, April 9, 2010
To Market To Market - Part 2
Business isn’t business…business in marketing!
And it’s all in your head! Your marketing mindset is comprised of your beliefs about marketing (whether those beliefs are right or wrong). Those beliefs manifest as thoughts, thoughts manifest as words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become your character, and your character determines your destiny.
That’s a real mouthful! But the bottom line is, the things you believe about marketing can and will prevent you from succeeding in business or they will empower you to take action!
Your business plan is the place to define the actions and steps necessary to create an effective marketing strategy. One question to keep in mind is this: Who do you know who…? and then fill in the blank. Most businesses want to sell to the end user; but businesses will be better served if they market to people who know the end user. For example, if you manufacture purses, you don’t want to go door-to-door to sell them; so you build a network of companies that are already selling to people who want purses and you market to those companies; they in turn sell your purses. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
When most people think about marketing, they typically think two thoughts: cold calling for sales and high-cost advertising. But marketing is not sales and marketing is not just advertising. Marketing is the communication methodologies you have in place to let people know about your business and its products and services.
Marketing is what enables your customers to find your products and buy them. Then and only then will you get paid!
And it’s all in your head! Your marketing mindset is comprised of your beliefs about marketing (whether those beliefs are right or wrong). Those beliefs manifest as thoughts, thoughts manifest as words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become your character, and your character determines your destiny.
That’s a real mouthful! But the bottom line is, the things you believe about marketing can and will prevent you from succeeding in business or they will empower you to take action!
Your business plan is the place to define the actions and steps necessary to create an effective marketing strategy. One question to keep in mind is this: Who do you know who…? and then fill in the blank. Most businesses want to sell to the end user; but businesses will be better served if they market to people who know the end user. For example, if you manufacture purses, you don’t want to go door-to-door to sell them; so you build a network of companies that are already selling to people who want purses and you market to those companies; they in turn sell your purses. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
When most people think about marketing, they typically think two thoughts: cold calling for sales and high-cost advertising. But marketing is not sales and marketing is not just advertising. Marketing is the communication methodologies you have in place to let people know about your business and its products and services.
Marketing is what enables your customers to find your products and buy them. Then and only then will you get paid!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
To Market To Market - Part 1
It's All About Planning!
The first step in developing an effective marketing program is to develop a comprehensive business plan. Lots of folks try to market their businesses without ever having established any strategic goals. And lots of businesses have failed.
Having a business plan is like having a roadmap. You might want to go to California but how are you going to know if you’re actually getting there or if you’re just out having a great ride? Business planning is all about setting goals and determining what objectives you’ll have to accomplish to reach those goals. (Like a roadmap, get it?) And it lets you measure your progress.
Every good business plan will contain the same basic elements:
In order to be successful in business you must first be successful in marketing, but do the first things first:
The first step in developing an effective marketing program is to develop a comprehensive business plan. Lots of folks try to market their businesses without ever having established any strategic goals. And lots of businesses have failed.
Having a business plan is like having a roadmap. You might want to go to California but how are you going to know if you’re actually getting there or if you’re just out having a great ride? Business planning is all about setting goals and determining what objectives you’ll have to accomplish to reach those goals. (Like a roadmap, get it?) And it lets you measure your progress.
Every good business plan will contain the same basic elements:
- Description of your company and its products and services.
- General overview of your industry in the current economy.
- Analysis of your competition and why you’re better.
- Portrait of your customer.
- Strong marketing message and methodology
- Operations and technical approach.
- Management team.
- Growth strategies.
- Budget.
In order to be successful in business you must first be successful in marketing, but do the first things first:
- Write a business plan.
- Keep it real.
- Be sure it’s reasonable.
- Do the research.
- Have people who are objective read it.
- Update it regularly.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Proposals that Close Deals
Any time you have to put a proposal together, remember to write it for the reader. We all want to sell our products or ourselves to our clients; we want to present all the wonderful things we do; and we want to get paid handsomely! But you have to ask yourself: If I were the buyer, would I think this proposal was presented to me to be a benefit to my business or a benefit to the guy who wants to do business with me?
When you write your proposal, base it on what you’ve heard your customer talk about. That’s right…listen to your customer…talk less and really take the time to learn about your customer’s business. Every customer has complaints and they will tell you want their main issues are if you will just “listen between the lines” and look behind the obvious.
Know something about your customer and its industry. What is your customer facing on a daily basis that you can help with? What’s happening in the customer’s economic environment? Your customer will trust you more when you demonstrate that you really care. So give your customer what it needs, not what you have to sell.
When you write your proposal, base it on what you’ve heard your customer talk about. That’s right…listen to your customer…talk less and really take the time to learn about your customer’s business. Every customer has complaints and they will tell you want their main issues are if you will just “listen between the lines” and look behind the obvious.
Know something about your customer and its industry. What is your customer facing on a daily basis that you can help with? What’s happening in the customer’s economic environment? Your customer will trust you more when you demonstrate that you really care. So give your customer what it needs, not what you have to sell.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Wow! Free Money!
Wow! Free money from the government…for everyone…just for the asking! That’s great news in today’s economy…and sadly the general public believes it’s actually true. But before you go happily down the grants trail, let’s separate the facts from the fiction.
Can anyone get a grant? Technically yes; but every funder has its own parameters of service and eligibility criteria. It’s your responsibility to know which programs might apply to your own nonprofit business. There are so many Federal agencies out there and each of them has grant money to offer; but the general belief is that there’s someone “in the government” just sitting there with an open checkbook on the desk waiting for your letter. It just doesn’t work like that.
There are a lot of scams out there on the web, especially when you just type the word “grants” into your search engine. If it’s a government grant you’re looking for, every grant…repeat…every grant the Government is going to award will be on www.grants.gov. So don’t let anyone sell you a list when you can simply get it for free yourself. Grant research takes time. The only way to shorten your research time is to know exactly what you’re offering and which agency might be interested in your particular program.
Be prepared before you go hunting for grant money. You’ll need to have a business plan that’s well written because a grant application is typically just the information you have in your plan in someone else’s format.
Can anyone get a grant? Technically yes; but every funder has its own parameters of service and eligibility criteria. It’s your responsibility to know which programs might apply to your own nonprofit business. There are so many Federal agencies out there and each of them has grant money to offer; but the general belief is that there’s someone “in the government” just sitting there with an open checkbook on the desk waiting for your letter. It just doesn’t work like that.
There are a lot of scams out there on the web, especially when you just type the word “grants” into your search engine. If it’s a government grant you’re looking for, every grant…repeat…every grant the Government is going to award will be on www.grants.gov. So don’t let anyone sell you a list when you can simply get it for free yourself. Grant research takes time. The only way to shorten your research time is to know exactly what you’re offering and which agency might be interested in your particular program.
Be prepared before you go hunting for grant money. You’ll need to have a business plan that’s well written because a grant application is typically just the information you have in your plan in someone else’s format.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Information Smoke & Mirrors
When you learn to manage information, you’ll have a lot more time to manage your business! Information is the fuel that keeps your business running:
- Financial Data
- Personnel Files
- Production Statistics
- Facts & Figures that keep you competitive, solvent & profitable!
Information organization is a mirror of your business: it’s either under control or it’s out of control. Out of control information management results in panic, wasted time and lost clients. It sabotages productivity and makes employees feel resentful and angry.
Mismanaged information keeps everyone out of The Loop. Mismanaged information confirms employee suspicions that the manager’s not up to the job. A well-managed information system, on the other hand, is vital to productivity and professionalism and keeps the right people in The Loop.
Managing computer files is just like managing paper files. Think alphabet! Do NOT be an alpha-phobe! ABCs are fun…use them!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Word About Discipline
Exactly how do we describe "discipline?" Well, to make it simple, discipline is self control. It allows us to self-direct and stick to and achieve goals. Every employee (as well as every supervisor) needs to have a measure of self-discipline in order to accomplish the goals of the organization. But we all know that disciplinary action is often necessary when an employee has behavioral issues on the job. So what does disciplinary action accomplish? Easy. It restores and instills discipline. The goal of disciplinary action is good self-discipline (or focused, self-directed behavior).
Your organization must have a written disciplinary policy. This policy should define the standards you want followed throughout your organization. There are many books written on disciplinary methods, but the typical implementation includes positive reinforcement (as a first try); then negative reinforcement outlining consequences of unacceptable behavior; and finally a form of punishment that enforces sanctions such as termination, transfer, etc.
Performance requirements must be backed up by a solid disciplinary policy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
