NB.  I can’t remember where I saw this first.  I found it on my disc recently.  If anyone out there knows from whence this came, I will happily credit the original creator.  Until then, have a good laugh….

It might be straightforward, but not easy; and it takes soooo long to get all the little itty bits all together.

But I think we’ve done it now, so this will be the last post on this site.  We’ve moved to www.3rdsectorskills.com

All the resources that were on this site are available on the new one, and lots more otherwise there would have been no point moving.

Bye!

I came across this quote by Dwight D Eisenhower which summarises planning nicely.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Those of us who have planned for a while recognise that a plan is only as good as the day it’s made.  Real life has a horrible tendency to throw wobblies at you as soon as the ink is dry.  So the canny project recognises that it is the process of planning that is really important, and the plans themselves are a happy by-product which may sometime be useful.

It’s the process of planning that helps you think about how to implement your project, how much resource you’ll need, how much time.  The more you plan, the more you’ll be aware of the risks to the project, and you can think about how to mitigate them.

Then, when it comes to implementation, and the plan starts to crumble, you’re in a much better position to adapt and have a better chance of brining your project in successfully.

Go forth and plan!

Here are some TLAs I’ve come across which made me smile – I hope they do the same for you.  As I’ve collected these over the years, I’ve no idea where they first came from, so I can’t acknowledge them.

NB only read on if you’re not easily offended.

• RTFM: Read The Flipping (!) Manual.  Often used by the support desk folk who are fed up with answering bloody stupid questions.
• MIL-TFD-4AC: Make It Like – The Flipping Drawing – for A Change.  A spoof military specification used on technical drawings when the author was fed up with the manufacturer not doing what he was told
• OSINTOT: O Shit I Never Thought Of That. A project management term
• TLA – Three Letter Acronym.  Self-explanatory

It’s so easy to book a meeting in your diary, and forget how long it will take you to get to it.  I’ve found it useful to figure out the travel time, then book an additional appointment labelled “travel” on either side of the meeting.  It stops me booking other appointments back to back with the meeting, and it reminds me to stop what I’m doing and get moving in time.

A simple trick, but so so useful.

We’re all short of time. Despite all the gadgets that are supposed to save us time there never seems to be enough of it to do what we want to do.

Here’s a simple thought – why not say no to some things?

How many times in the last year/month/day have you heard yourself agreeing to do something that you know deep down that you will never have time to do? And what’s the result? This task will sit on your to-do list and in your guilt box and distract you from, well, everything. When you sit down to do another task this one will pop into your head and nag you. It won’t be forgotten. And you’ll do your original task in a hurry or feeling distracted and probably won’t do it justice.

The end result of all this is that you do most of the things you said you’d do, perhaps not to the best quality, and you’ll leave some things undone, and feel guitly about them.

So the answer is to say no. You can be polite about it, but still say no. “I’m sorry, I’d really love to do ..xxx.., but I really can’t fit it in right now.” The person asking would far rather you came clean at once, so she can find another way of getting her task done, rather than have you either not deliver at all, or perhaps worse, deliver a half-hearted attempt right on the deadline. You might still feel guilty about refusing a request but that’s more easily dealt with. And now you have time to give your full attention to your other tasks.

“Better no job at all than a half-hearted attempt”

It’s not easy being the chief executive (or director, or whatever) of a charity, and some I know view trustee meetings with dread.  It needn’t be like that.

It helps to remember the different roles.

Trustees are responsible for the charity.  Specifically, they are responsible for ensuring that the resources of the charity are expended in furthering the aims of the charity, and for ensuring that the charity acts lawfully.  That’s quite a responsibility, especially when you think that they may not meet that often, and they leave the day to day management to the staff.

A consequence of this role is that trustees should concern themselves with the big picture – the charity’s strategic plans, overall policies etc.

The CEO is responsible for implementing the trustee’s decisions, and putting their strategic plans into practice. You, as the CEO, are responsible for the day to day management of the charity. You know all the detail and the trustees don’t, but they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the decisions. So when it comes to approving the budget, bear in mind that you have spent a good deal of your time playing with the numbers, estimating, juggling, changing, and they will have a few hours to read the information you have prepared for them, and will have a small amount of time to decide if your assumptions are correct, and if they are happy with the budget.

To get the best out of the trustee meeting then, put yourself in their shoes, and now write the paper. Remember they are not on top of all the details, as you are.  You need to remind them of decisions made. You need to explain assumptions in light of their knowledge, not yours. And speaking as a trustee here, please don’t work really hard to make your report short – I would far prefer a 5 page report in English to a 3 page report in unintelligible finance-speak (just what does ‘leverage the cost-base variance’ really mean?)

These thoughts were prompted by a conversation I had with one of my trustees, and it made me realise that a little thought on my part would make his life so much easier, and therefore would make mine easier too.

It would be interesting to hear your experiences – please comment.