Organizational development text books will tell you that a group of people is subject to the same influences and dynamics as any other group when they are faced with making the same stressful decisions. It’s clear that the number of people in the group doesn’t matter, the topic of discussion is immaterial and the actual process itself is independent of the skill-sets of the players at the table. It is the nature of groups that they will respond in a similar fashion to similar stresses. With that in mind, I would propose that there are five reasons that an organization may find itself in need of troubleshooting at some point in its life. If you’re faced with organizational dysfunction due to group dynamics, consider these points as the areas in which to work to improve the results you’re getting.
Five causes of dysfunction:
- Low commitment
- Misunderstood Mission
- Fuzzy Strategic Plan
- Lack of group cohesion
- Lack of resources
Low Commitment
While employees are paid to have commitment to the goals of the nonprofit (and some may have forgotten that), volunteer board members may not actually feel like they have a vested interest in the decisions they make at the board table. Sometimes, all it takes is an informal lunch or a get-together away from the boardroom to bring everyone back to the need for them to participate. However you manage the troubleshooting process, getting everyone pulling together, will improve the results of any decisions made at board meetings. And the commitment of the board will be apparent to staff and clients — without the commitment of everyone, an out-of-focus move forward is all you can hope for.
Misunderstood Mission
If a nonprofit’s mission is not crystal clear and easy to remember, it will be ignored or misunderstood. In both cases, the organization will suffer at all levels. Imagine working for an organization whose mission was ‘to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.’ The Disney mission statement makes it easy for employees to remember why they’re doing what they are doing. Facebook’s mission: ‘to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.’ Is your mission statement that clear and concise?
Troubleshooting your mission statement starts with the board of directors. If your board doesn’t understand the mission statement, it’s a foregone conclusion that staff are not going to live it. Many of the tasks they perform (and the time they are spending on those tasks) could have nothing to do with fulfilling the mission of the organization.
What does your mission statement say? Is it clear enough to be understood by all?
Fuzzy Strategic Plan
Strategic Planning may be the most significant contributor to needless work done by nonprofits. This is not to say that strategic planning is a waste of time and money — it’s not. However, strategic planning in and of itself, simply for the sake of having a strategic plan certainly is a waste. To bring value to an organization, a strategic plan must be the foundation from which all operational functions and decisions are born. Everything a nonprofit does should be directly traceable back to the strategic plan.
Having said that, a strategic plan that is not clear in language and intent adds to the confusion of daily operations. Should we embark on this project? Should we spend that money? Can we spend all that time on this kind of project? A fuzzy strategic plan will not give direction for answers to questions such as those.
Your strategic plan must be articulated in a way that staff and the board understands specifically what is meant in its words. Once that is accomplished, it is much easier for the ED to develop tactical and operational plans that effectively respond to the goals of the strategic plan.
Lack of group cohesion
An organization, as was said earlier, is simply a group of people. The effectiveness of that group relies on each of the participants having trust that the decisions that they make will be supported up and down the reporting structure. They also must believe that their contributions matter to the success of the organization. If the bonds of trust are broken by leaders saying one thing and doing another, or bosses not following up on promises, the rest of the staff won’t worry too much about getting things done efficiently and effectively.
Sports teams are a great example of group cohesion. Teams of similarly skilled players clash in their chosen arena until one comes out the victor. What determines the winner is the willingness of team members to believe that their team is the best and most capable with the greatest chance of winning.
Lack of Resources
We all have personal and professional challenges meeting our responsibilities on all fronts because we do not have unlimited resources. Sufficient cash flow is the biggest challenge for most nonprofits. While it’s obvious that a lack of funding will mean that work doesn’t get done, it is actually more insidious than that. Funding determines the number of computers your office has, the amount of space you have to house employees, the number of clients you can assist and the number of people in the office to get the work done. Financial pressures also affect staff morale, supplier comfort and your ability to provide training to existing staff.
While the solutions to resource shortages is probably several other posts, a proactive board or senior management group will be searching for resources well before they are needed. And some of them will also be looking at shifting the paradigm on ways to fund social programming in our communities.