The Why of Work: Physical Work Space

Its been several months since I made a post based on my readings of the Why of Work by Wendy and Dave Ulrich. I had several big events going on within my work that have needed my complete focus. As I am now returning to a more standard rhythm I picked up the book and flipped to the next dog eared and highlighted page to see what Dave and Wendy had written that almost a year ago caught my attention.

This section is on the attitude and value of physical space. As a change maker in your institution you can either let the physical space haphazardly evolve or make some strategic decisions that can generate long-term benefit for your institution.

The first argument that caught my attention was this statement "Investing in seating and work surfaces that fit the individual worker may be more costly than one size fits all office furniture but can pay for itself in workers' compensation alone (back pain leads to almost a quarter of workers' comp claims and a third of the dollars spent).

This is mind blowlingly clear that every leader when evaluating their budgets should be taking office furniture into consideration. But why than is this such a systemic challenge in the work place 1/4 of workers comp claims could be mitigated with better office furniture?!?!

Having just come out of our annual budget allocation and planning meeting I can attest first hand that these types of "luxury " expenses were not event on the radar. Often in organizations budgets things such as facilitates, and workers comp are held by individuals who are not directly linked to the workforce and their responsibility and scope would not enable them to make personalized office furniture decisions.

Mid level management who might be best positioned to make these types of decisions are often given limited budgeting authority and their discretionary funds are so limited that they would be faced with the choice of a few new chairs or funding  holiday socials and recognition events. In the non for profit world this becomes even a larger challenge as its extremely hard to fundraiser so that your staff can have the most advanced office furniture. While in the long run it will make your organization more successful at mission delivery the donor is typically not  interested in giving to office chairs.

I try to take this information and turn it into action. First thing I did was find what I think is my dream desk chair: The Herman Miller Embody -  http://myergonomicchair.com/ergonomic-chairs/herman-miller-embody-chair-review/

And while this is not going to come into my life this year, I hope that with my next promotion I can have this chair.

The second thing to do is a bit more complicated and that's determining how I can influence better office furniture within my organization. I think the first step might be a conversation with my direct manager during our next monthly review to see her thoughts on this information; and I will need to do a bit more research in the mean time.

Update:

Links to supporting documentation on better office furniture - 

http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/hwce/office-ergonomics/supporting-literature-for-office-ergonomics/ 

http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/Innovative_Workplaces-508_R2OD26_0Z5RDZ-i34K-pR.pdf 

The Why of Work: Communication

Off and on since September I have been on a journey reading and processing the book "The Why of Work" By Dave and Wendy Ulrich.

After quickly being captured by some startling research and time contemplating the section titled 'Leaders who focus on Meaning create an abundant response', I took a few weeks to think about the "Seven Questions that Drive Abundance". In this examination I am reviewing what the Ulrich's write on communication.

Four intreated points really stood out to me and feel so very applicable to the non profit sector:

A common finding from employee attitude surveys is that communication rates low: Employees often feel out of the loop about ideas leader think are well understood.  Leaders often find that they are continually thinking about ideas and within the non profit sector are developing these ideas with their boards and counterparts from other sectors that by the time the idea is launched the leader is so immersed in the concept and those who are part of the leadership team have heard it since inception there is frequently a lack of communication to those lower down in the organization.

A positive work environment is fostered by communication that is redundant, two way and affectively charged. The non profit sector attracts individuals who passionately care about the area of work. taking this passion and channeling it into positive communication among the team can be that extra lift an organization needs to bring its mission to the next level. Weekly staff meetings do not have to be a chore, they can become a platform for quality communication.

When a complex or new ideas are involved, it probably takes 10 units of communication for every unit of understanding. What? WOW! No wonder I spend so much time scratching my head thinking I told you this already. How do I build this level of redundancy into what I do? I have continually found myself in the position where I am leading change, developing and implementing new projects and pioneering new ideas. Thinking about some of those things that I am currently working on, perhaps I need to purposefully set for 10 individual units of communication with each person on the team. Its very much worth the experiment and if its successful I could save myself so much head scratching and time that I feel that is unsuccessful reiteration of a point I have already made.

Sony regularly encourages employees to offer suggestions for improvement and seeks to implement over 90% of the ideas. Incredible, going back to my prior point that the non profit sector attracts individuals who are passionate, imagine what it would look like if their suggestions for improvement were seriously sought after and implemented. Might the rate of failed non profits dramatically decline? Could the effectiveness of those that are marginal allow them to become something great. How can I as a mid level manager help my organization move this direction? Do I make a point to really hear the suggestions of others? Could their ideas cause me to achieve success that I am not even looking for?

The Why of Work: Attitude Toward Accountability

Accountability is such a critical piece of any organizations success. Often team loose sight of it and it has drastic consequences.






Dave and Wendy have a short section spanning a few pages that bring us some astute points that I wanted to capture and share.

All leaders and organizations should set clear goals and make practical plans. I have seen so often in my time in the non profit sector vague goals that have no measurement are dependent on outside factions that the organization has no control over. Equally as often I have seen goals that are impractical and are setting the organization and the employee up for failure.






Have clear, reasonable expectations and hold others accountable for results. People will come to trust that they can succeed.



When leaders shirk candid conversations about accountability, no system will work. Three simple phrases that a leader can use with talking about accountability that are game changers toward success
- Help me understand.
- The data is demonstrating
- ...so that we can solve the problem?












I worked at an organization that was very goal focused, every day at our team meetings we would set goals for ourselves. These goals were based on larger quarterly goals and were steps to keep us on track to meet these larger goals. During the day if one of us was not living up to our goal the team would discuss with that individual what the barriers to success were and work with them to identify how they were going to overcome that barrier to accomplish the daily goal they had set for themselves. Failing to meet ones daily goal was not seen as failure, the next day one would simply revise the goal incorporating the learning's from the previous days failings.

The Why of Work: The Satisfaction of a Genuine Contribution

As my post at the end of September alluded I have been on a journey reading and processing the book "The Why of Work" By Dave and Wendy Ulrich. The Ulriches and the book have a web site: http://thewhyofwork.com/ . After quickly being captured by some startling research and time contemplating the section titled 'Leaders who focus on Meaning create an abundant response', I took a few weeks to think about the "Seven Questions that Drive Abundance". In this examination I am reviewing what they Ulrich's write on employee contributions.

"As a leader, you create a more abundant organization when you help employees clarify their personal identity and enhance their signature strengths and then help them see how those strengths fit with the goals and values of the organization."

The Ulrich's suggest a 5 step process to achieve this:
1. Help employees define and grow their personal strengths. - There is a web site authentichappiness.org that offers a survey "VIA Survey of Character Strengths". A baseline tool to support your employees identifying their strengths. 
2. Define and build organizational capabilities required for success.
3. Meld personal strengths and organizational capabilities.
4. Determine customer and investor expectations.
5. Connect both personal and organizational identities with the needs of customers and investors.


In the non profit world this seems like an overwhelming task and I initially wonder is it even worth is considering the high turn over rate our sector is faced with. I wonder about myself and can think of times that i have been given a task that built the organizational capacity that also utilized and strengthened by personal strengths. These projects as stand along projects were a value added investment to the organization regardless of the length of time I stayed in my position. In honest reflection these projects expanded my time with the organization as an employee.

When I was working in a youth mentoring program our volunteers would fill out an interest survey that we used to match them with a youth who shared similar interests. I am confidant that a similar system could be used for both staff and volunteers to identify who is best suited to tasks needed to meet customer (Client) and investor (donor) expectations. 

The Why of Work: 7 Questions

As my post at the end of September alluded I have been on a journey reading and processing the book "The Why of Work" By Dave and Wendy Ulrich. The Ulriches and the book have a web site: http://thewhyofwork.com/ . After quickly being captured by some startling research and time contemplating the section titled 'Leaders who focus on Meaning create an abundant response', I am now ready to think on the "Seven Questions that Drive Abundance"

1. What am I known For?  (identity) Research is showing that when we identify and regularly use our signature strengths life becomes more meaningful and satisfying. What makes me happy in the long run? At this juncture, challenge and success at work with the capacity to travel, explore and enjoy the opportunities life presents to me. What do I want to be know for? Someone who has the capacity and the energy to tackle and succeed with projects that are above my current capacity.

2. Where am I going? (motivation and purpose) leaders create purposeful organizations that help employees' personal ambitious match organizational goals.

3. Whom Do I Travel With? (Relationships and Teamwork)

4. How Do I Build a Positive Work Environment? (Effective Work Culture or Setting) 
- Promote good communication
-Development opportunities
- Pleasant physical facilities - This is something that the non profit sector struggles with. When operating on donor generosity it is often challenging to justify spending money on pleasant physical facilities. Things that have been successful and engaging for my volunteers while have little to no cost are things such as having a volunteer come in and decorate for the holidays, building boards that change and rearranging offices. In terms of employee moral, I would argue that its worth the $300 on a nice office chair is more than worth it when it makes your paid staff physically comfortable and will keep them working for you longer.
- Encourage self reflection

5. What Challenges Interest Me? (Personalized contributions)

6. How do I respond to Disposability and Change? (Growth, Learning and Resilience)

7. What delights me? (Civility and Happiness) Look for and rejoice in the different ways people find sweetness in life, going beyond civility to delight. Delight often comes in small packages. Today for example the catnip seed I ordered arrived and I was delighted by the small package =)

The Why of Work: Enrich the world

As my post at the end of September alluded I have been on a journey reading and processing the book "The Why of Work" By Dave and Wendy Ulrich. The Ulriches and the book even have a web site: http://thewhyofwork.com/ . After quickly being captured by some startling research I find myself contemplating the section titled 'Leaders who focus on Meaning create an abundant response'.

President Woodrow Wilson said "You are not here merely to make a living. you are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand"

The Wlriches write that... As humans and employees we engage in a search for meaning. As a leader many see this as a personal affair and that is a loss to not only the company but world.


 ...but perhaps we are too narrowly defining leaders. Leadership need not be confined to an executive suite. Every person in your company, management chain or organization has the capacity to enrich the world, its your role to create that opportunity regardless of where on the management chain you sit. Perhaps if we start to think of ourselves and those we work alongside and those we manage as leaders the above statement that leaders see the search for meaning as a personal affair can be altered where those who are not in the executive suite see their potential for leadership and the benefit to society if we work to create opportunities for those around us to enrich the world.


I am fortunate working in a social service organization that hope and vision not the paycheck is what drives those around me. My volunteers are the fulfillment of this concept and I merely need to ensure that they have the ongoing opportunity to lead projects, programs and each other to fulfill our service mission in the community.

The question I find myself pondering is how do I guide those around me to see their capacity and success in enriching the world. What process or activity do I need to persue to guide them to this realization? Is my guidance really needed? Would someone else be better suited for the role? Is everyone around me aware of their success in enriching the world and I am just looking for a new way to state the obvious?

The Why of Work

The Why of Work by David and Wendy Ulrich.

That question - the Why of Work, is one often easily answered in the non profit sector. Its a calling, a mission, a passion, a heart factor.

As I reflect on the sector and my experience in it all of these hold some truths, but when daily operations, and apathetic employees create poor performance across large portions of the non profit sector the why of work is the ideal question to be exploring.

The Ulrich's did not write the book for the non profit professional, it is aimed at those in upper mid management in a for profit environment, reading and reflecting on it has caused me great insight into ways that the sector struggles and ways that I can move my sphere of influence forward.

The first point that really captured me into the research of this book:
A Saratoga institute study found that 72 percent of employees who quit, leave because they feel they are not being recognized for their contributions or sufficiently respected and coached by their leaders.

- Wow, that is something that is very much in a leaders control. This has direct application to volunteer management and fostering and retaining great non profit employees.

In several of the organizations I have worked in those who had been in functionally the same role within the organization 5 or more years were often apathetic and complacent. In four different organizations I watch, highly talented, mission driven employees leave well before the 5 year mark. These individuals during personal conversations expressed feelings of overworked, taken advantage of, frustration at the lack of recognition and respect they deserved.

My take away from this is that I as a manager need to step up my recognition and coaching. Last year I hand wrote a card to each member of my team and distributed them at the holiday party, thanking them for their service. This year I have already set aside 1.5 hours each week to bring that recognition to the next level, I have set aside a portion of my budget to purchase small appreciation gifts to give with these notes and I plan to include an idea for a new years resolution focused on their development within our organization.

Combine calling with coaching and the potential to retain great members of your non profit workforce will improve.

Volunteer Burn Out

If a fire is left alone and not fed with any new fuel, it will eventually burn itself out. If the fire of your enthusiasm is not being refueled by the satisfaction of your volunteer work, your enthusiasm - just like a fire - will die

The signs we hate to see and the words we hope to never hear are those typed as volunteer burn out.
The best volunteers are usually the ones most prone to burnout. That's because they're so dedicated, they often fail to take mental health breaks or ask for help. And because they're so dedicated, organizations often pile more and more responsibility on them. This is not activity specific, I have seen it happen across every sector I have worked with. I read an interesting study done by an organization that had a suicide help line. While I think most people can easily identify why volunteers on this help line would be prone to burn out, if found that their top 3 reasons for leaving were strikingly similar to those that I see across the volunteer sector.

1. Other demands in the volunteers life took on greater importance.
2. The volunteer did not feel part of a team.
3. Responsibilities and expectations were not clear.

We as volunteer organizations have little control over the number 1 reason, however both 2 and 3 are within our realm of impact.

If you sense a high rate of burn out in your organization start with building a team. Forbes outlines 6 team-building success strategies that not coincidentally address point 3: 

1.       Be Aware of How You Work

As the leader of the team, you must be extremely aware of your leadership style and techniques.   

2.       Get to Know the Rest of the Team

You must make the time to get to know your team and encourage camaraderie.   

3.       Clearly Define Roles & Responsibilities

When you successfully complete step 2, you can then more effectively and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of those on your team.  

4.       Be Proactive with Feedback

 Feedback should be proactive and constant.   Many leaders are prone to wait until a problem occurs before they give feedback.

5.       Acknowledge and Reward

  Take the time to give your teammates the proper accolades they have earned and deserve.   

6.       Always Celebrate Success

 This goes beyond acknowledgment – this is about taking a step-back and reflecting on what you have accomplished and what you have learned throughout the journey.

Non Profit Best Practice: Develop ways to actively engage government and corporate entities

Non Profit Best Practice: Develop ways to actively engage government and corporate entities.

Who to engage
If this a new concept for your organization so many possibilities exist, if this is something your organization is already doing and looking to expand a more serious examination might be needed to identify who these entities are.

For those who are just starting this process: Ask yourself , your board and your leadership the following series of questions. *Please note I use the word clients as much of my experience has been organizations service people. If your serving another mission say an environmental cause replace clients with impact area.

• What entities do we impact? (Example: Schools, or after-school programs)
• What entities impact our services? (Example: City Council)
• What entities impact our clients? (Example: Schools, or after-school programs)
• What entities do our clients impact? (Example: Schools, or after-school programs)
• What entities directly affect or staff and supporters? (Example: City Council)

The list you come up with is where you should start to make efforts to engage.

For those of you who are looking to expand: Now is a good time to reach out to your staff and clients to solicit ideas.

• What companies or agencies do they engage with other than yours? (Example: Faith based groups)
• What in your community do they see opportunities for engagement? (Example: Garden Club)
• What opportunities exist for your organization to be seen as a leader in your field? (Example: Present at a conference)

How to do this

Now you have made a list of corporate and government entities, what next?

1. Research - Spend time to learn about those on your list, who are the key contact people, how they work and if they have any past experience working with non profits.
2. Reach out indirectly - Invite the entity to one of your events. Most likely they wont come but it will start the process of them knowing your organization exist and gives them an insight into some the work you do.
3. Reach out directly - Call or stop in, whatever is appropriate in the community you work in. See if you can introduce yourself to a decision maker and at the very least have an opportunity to pick the receptionist brain about the way they work. - Your goal at this phase is just to become familiar, learn more about them as individuals and the work they do.
4. Continue contact - in the following 3 months keep communicating, follow up with card after the initial meeting thanking them for taking the time to meet with you, invite them to another event, share something that you think they would be interested in knowing (local news or subject related article), connect via linked in or other social network.
5. Evaluate - At this point make the decision is this a company or agency that we would benefit from a more formal working relationship.

1. Yes - Set a time to make the request
2. No - Keep inviting them to events but move your energy onto the next potential, you have gained a connection that is worth keeping.

Why it matters

Non profits cant operate in isolation. Active engagement of government and corporate entities can open up a variety of benefits to your organization. The most obvious opportunities are for potential donations or volunteers. Many other opportunities exist that these relationships could provide your no profit with including: insight, local/ relevant news, referrals and advocacy.

Practitioner examples.

In one agency I worked for I made contact with a local pastoral association. It turned out that one of the pastors was childhood friends with the city manager. Due to this connection when our agency needed support from the city manager I was able to reach out to this pastor and use him to open the relationship for my organization to be supported by the city manager.

In a different agency I work for we begun developing a relationship with a large company who was expanding and moving employees and their families into the area. As this relationship was developing we noticed that several of their employees were using our services, we were able to share this information with the company allowing them to refine their relocation process to better support their employees families.

In both of the above examples the relationships continued to grow and the agencies I worked for saw expanded benefits of donations, volunteers and community advocates.