Category Archives: Non-Profits

Troublesome Coworkers

Dealing with a Troublesome Coworker

coworkerMost organizations have at least one individual who might be considered troublesome. They may be tolerated because the group feels that they carry their load. They may not be tactful and could often be abrasive, leaving you with a very tricky situation. How you handle these individuals, who some might classify as characters may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the group. Some might consider them loners in that they often fail to greet coworkers and fail to say hello in the morning. They might fail to have eye contact or make unusual statements at inappropriate moments.  Others often say “well that’s the way he is.” As a manager you must tread lightly with these personalities; but to maintain communications and productivity there are some suggested actions and things to avoid.… Read the rest

Chart the Course

The Ability to Chart a Course

courseOne of the skills necessary for success in any business or nonprofit organization is the ability to chart a course. To properly chart a course, it is important to understand first where you are, than where you want to go, and finally the plan on how to get there. If you have ever been in a new town and wanted to go out to dinner, you might have first looked for a restaurant in a magazine. You then call to find out where they were located. The first question you were asked by the person in the restaurant is where are you now? In fact, you have just taken the first step in charting a course to dinner.… Read the rest

Nonprofit Leadership

Nonprofit Leadership

leadershipAs a person in a nonprofit organization, you understand the importance of leadership in the success of your business. It may also be true that you don’t have a clear understanding of how to improve your leadership skills. Whether you are the sole employee or have a staff of dozens, improved leadership skills can make a difference. When you think of a successful leader, ask yourself:

What specific personality characteristic does this person possess?

How does this person relate to others, professionally and socially?

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Overtime

Overtime Overhaul: Review Proposed Changes Now Before Final Rule Announced

Overtime rule expected to be costly

By Allen Smith  5/10/2016

overtimeAs HR professionals wait anxiously for the release of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final changes to the overtime exemptions, it’s becoming clear that the new rule will cost many employers a lot of money. But the revised standard also will create an opportunity for HR to correct some past mistakes.

Employers will spend $592.7 million to comply with the new rule, the DOL estimated, saying that each of the 7.4 million affected establishments will need one hour to get up to speed on the changes. The department calculated that it will cost $254.5 million for businesses to become familiar with the regulation; $160.1 million to make necessary adjustments; and $178.1 million in managerial costs… Read the rest

Addiction

The Top 10 Signs That An Employee May Be In ‘Active Addiction’

addictionThe cost to business of employee addiction is tremendous. Many addicts (which includes alcoholics) become extremely skilled at hiding or explaining away events related to their addictions. Encouragement from an employer can be a powerful prompt to the employee to get appropriate treatment and so return to full productivity. (Note: Automatic termination of actively addicted employees is neither humane nor advisable. First, addiction is a disease, not a moral choice. Second, many people who are addicted may be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.) Although some of the following may occur in employees who are not addicted, the more that apply, the more likely it is that the employee suffers from addiction in some form or other.… Read the rest

Raising Nonprofit Funds

Nonprofits Marketing

planPeter Drucker tells us that, “Napoleon said there were three things needed to fight a war. The first is money. The second is money. And the third is money. That may be true for war, but it’s not true for non-profit organizations. There you need four things. You need a plan. You need marketing. You need people. Any then you need money.” Let’s start by considering marketing. If your non-profit is funded by an endowment or a wealth donor, this may not be of much interest. For most of us it is an issue which must be addressed in order to sustain our activities.

So many think that they don’t need marketing. In fact, they consider the term unsavory.… Read the rest

Team Success

Why Team Building Is Vital to Your Success

motivationGreat teamwork is one of the most important keys to your organization’s success. The more harmoniously people work together, the better it is for your overall efforts. Teamwork is the way that things get done these days and if you don’t have a cohesive team, you’re seriously handicapping your company out in the marketplace. Team building is necessary for success because it’s unnatural for people to come together in a new group and immediately begin to get along. Throughout history, building a team has been the function of shared experiences and history. When that experience and history is lacking, it’s difficult for a group to share a common vision and goal, or to function together in a way that promotes the best qualities of each team participant.… Read the rest

The Vision

Making the Vision Happen

vision

It is a very rare association or non-profit who has not developed and written a Strategic Plan. If they have not, they should. It is also not unusual that, after a relatively short period of time, the work put into creating that plan is forgotten and results expected are not achieved. At the core of the Strategic Plan is the Vision for the organization. Let’s consider ways to move the organization towards that Vision and overcome some of the obstacles along the way.

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Successful Leaders

9 Characteristics That Successful Leaders Have in Common

leadersRunning a non-profit and want to understand what successful organizational people have in common? What kind of life, and organization, do you want to run? This is the kind of goal many people have in mind when they begin to forge ahead with their business ideas. The truth is that successful people have 9 characteristics in common. We all have the potential for greatness if we can train ourselves to keep these in mind as we go about our business day.… Read the rest

Team Building Activities

Ideas for team building activities can include virtually anything that involves getting your peopleteam to interact, cooperate, communicate, and hopefully have some fun at the same time. This is a great way to get staff away from the rules and roles of the office and take a break from the projects and pressures everyone has been dealing with, yet still work on developing transferable skills to take back to work. Some of the essentials of team building include:

  • emphasizing a team focus on shared goals- maintaining individual commitment to these goals
  • identifying problem areas and working together to overcome these
  • developing clear strategies to achieve goals
  • celebrating achievements together
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Building Your Team

Building Your Team

Can You Wait for Your Kids to Grow Up

teamAs a new business owner, your role may  encompass all of the important aspects of the company. Sure, you may have had employees, but they were assigned specific tasks and you kept an eye on everything they did. You were the salesman, the supervisor, the customer service contact, the scheduler of the work, and even the bookkeeper. But as your business grows, you feel yourself pulled in many directions. You cannot effectively completely cover all the roles you filled in the past.… Read the rest

Volunteers

Working with Volunteers

volunteersMany organizations rely on volunteers to help provide services. These may include charities, recreational organizations, hospitals, social groups, civic clubs, and governmental services. These volunteers become a vital part of providing those services, yet in many cases they are taken for granted. Learning to properly use the skills and energy within these volunteers can be a major contributor to the success of these non-profits.… Read the rest

Part Time Employees

Part Time Employees

The Face of Your Organization

employeesCompanies and organizations often use part time employees to serve in a limited role. They are not paid as well as full-timers, sometimes do lower level work, and may have a limited career track. They may be moms who have priorities at home, seniors who no longer want a 40 hour work week, or college students looking to earn some money to supplement expenses. They are hired to reduce operating costs, fill leftover hours from full time employees, deal with an economic downturn, or seasonal requirements. Between 2000 and 2010 the number of employees working part time increased by 300 % or 9 million people.… Read the rest

Creating Success in 2016

Start Your Year Off Right / Goals for a Successful 2016

successfulRLS Focused Solutions, in conjunction with the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, is offering an opportunity to help you achieve a more successful 2016. The workshop will be offered on  Friday January 15th.  They will be held at the Chamber Conference. Room It will begin at 8:00 AM and conclude no later than 2:00 PM. A working lunch from the Purple Onion will be included.… Read the rest

Volunteers

Recruiting and Working With Volunteers

volunteersIn his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins states, “The first thing is to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus.” He, of course, is referring to the bus as being the company or organization. In our practice, we have worked with both for-profit and non-profit organizations.  In the for-profit world the people are employees, while in the non-profit world many of those people are volunteers. Strategic from 2013 have shown that 80% of the non-profit workforce are volunteers, total of 62.6 million. Leaders in non-profit organizations should recognize this important work force and learn how to best recruit, motivate and retain them. They need to appreciate why people volunteer, how to get them on-board and how to retain them.… Read the rest

Creating a Business Plan

How to Create a Successful Business Plan

business planI am often asked the same two questions. Do I need a business plan? What should I include in my business plan? I am going to answer these questions when writing this article. Do I require a business plan? For most businesses the answer to this question would be yes. For the majority of new businesses and ones which require investment by way of a loan or a business partner, a business plan is a must.… Read the rest

Plans That Work

Making Business Plans Work

plansMany of us have spent countless hours thinking about and documenting plans for either our business or non-profit organization. There is a sense of satisfaction with the completion of the final draft that is shared by all involved. Far too often that document is filed or left in a desk drawer to be revised in a year’s time. Many have even reported that they gave up on the planning process because it just didn’t work. I often remember the president of a very well-managed company once stating that the team had become expert on writing business plans, but not real good on making them a reality.

In their book Execution, The Discipline of Getting Things Done Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan discusses this very subject.… Read the rest

Coaching

Five Tips to Becoming A Coach In Everyday Life

coachingBe the change you want to see occur in the world around you. We can’t make other people be more considerate, helpful, honest, etc., but if everyone were to work on him or herself and develop these attributes, our world would be a better place. In this article, we will examine five attributes to becoming a coach in everyday life.

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Boys In The Boat

Organizational Alignment

organizationalI recently read the book, Boys in the Boat. It was a true story of a sculling team from the University of Washington, who through hard work and discipline became national champs and went on to win the 1936 Olympics in Germany. It’s a great story, set against the dramatic background of the Berlin Olympics hosted by Adolf Hitler. It describes how a rowing team developed into the fastest in the world. Of course, the members of the team need to be strong and fit, but there comes a point when all come together in harmony to maximize their performance. It is said that the team is only as fast as its slowest rower, but once they reach that synchronized harmony, they outpace the rest of the competitors.… Read the rest