TIP: Manage Without Micromanaging

Both new and experienced managers can struggle with how be involved in their employees' work without micromanaging. You want to be hands-on and provide support, but still give them autonomy to make decisions. There are two stages where it makes sense to engage more deeply: preparation and review. When the employee is laying out the plans for her work, your role is to ask crucial questions: Who should be involved? How does this fit into your goals? These conversations will assure you the employee is prepared and ready to act on her own. When the project is complete, do a post-action review. Reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what the employee learned. There's no need to get involved in between unless the employee is a novice or problems arise. Read more>

Effective Non-Profit Mission Statement

"Mission" for nonprofits is the same as "profits" for private sector companies. In the private sector, corporations achieve their goals by carefully designing business operations that are reflected in a budget and then regularly reporting on how actual profits compare to that budget. If mission accomplishment is as important as profit attainment, why do most nonprofits not spend equivalent time in mission creation and monitoring?

In reality, nonprofits often completely mess this up. As important as missions are, nonprofits frequently go off in ineffective directions by relying on mission statements that can be little more than slogans. At a time when nonprofits around the world are struggling both to stay afloat and to achieve their missions, they are missing out on one of the most valuable tools to available to them. Read more..