“Sorry, We’re Too Busy to Improve”
“No one is working 10-12 hours a day. Being busy is not working. Taking calls and meetings is a waste. Whenever someone tells me they’re actually working 12-14 hours a day [I ask] are you working or is your time filled with tiny blocks of bullshit ore are there large blocks of uninterrupted time?”
That is the insight of Jason Fried, Co-Founder and CEO of Basecamp, the makers of productivity and collaboration software.
In this interview on Wharton Business Radio Highlights and thru his blog Signal vs Noise Jason says “On what?” is big question we all should be asking when it comes to how we spend our working time.
I suspect every Agitator reader has experienced the hair-on-fire workplace of most nonprofits. Buried under email, stuck in meetings after endless meetings as the real work piles up.
Most troublesome: the failure to properly manage time and set priorities prevents most organizations from taking essential steps that would truly improve their fundraising. “We just don’t have time.”
Here’s how Jason summarizes the basic rules that have made his company one of great success stories:
- Basecamp’s culture: Most basic: 40 hours is enough time to do great work. We have to mean 40 hours. Full 8 hours of time to themselves. Not regular meetings, standing meeting. Uninterrupted stretches of time is most valuable;
- Cut out stuff that doesn’t matter- meetings (should write things down; you can read it when you want to). If I pull everyone into a room we have interrupt everyone’s time.
- Require that folks are good writers. “We read a lot, write a lot” If you can’t make your points clear and concisely you’re not a good worker.
- Don’t look at credentials when hiring. We look at work. “Take me through the thought process.” Explain why you did and how you did it. Throw out resumes and look at written cover letter.
- Your time and attention is worth paying attention to. You have to protect and guard your time. I can’t do work if I don’t have attention
Do you use your time wisely and effectively? Kivi Leroux Miller What Does Your Workday Look Like?lists a few questions to get you started with a self-examination of how you spend your time.
And…how are you doing on those meetings? Avoiding as many possible I hope. You might re-read our The Annoyance of Meetings and note the insights of George Smith, the late, great UK copywriter who put it best:
“I always used to say that meetings were what you were doing when you weren’t working. They remain the regular ceremonial of the client/supplier relationship and a terrifying abuse of everyone’s precious time. The average fundraiser now spends most of his/her time in meetings. Everyone knows there are too many meetings, no one does anything about it. This is why commuter trains are now full of people working – they have been in meetings all day.”
What steps are you taking to make the most of your 40 hours?
Roger
P.S. Jason Fried has a new book on creating a ‘calm company”. My guess is it’s worth reserving a copy. It’s aptly titled It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy At Work.
P.P.S. And here, to lighten your day is a perennial (time wasting) favorite of Agitator readers.
4 responses to ““Sorry, We’re Too Busy to Improve””
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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I love the Lego cartoon. And never get tired of seeing that video. Sadly, culture eats strategy for breakfast. To get out of all the meetings and incessant checking of emails requires a CEO who says “STOP!” Leadership matters. The trick for fundraisers and nonprofit marketers is how to lead from where they stand. I have an article today on that very subject. https://clairification.com/2018/05/07/modernize-nonprofit-marketing-fundraising/ Because sometimes the “powers that be” are too busy to listen. Alas.
Yup. Me and my org are just too busy to strengthen ourselves. And we’re just too buy to learn…You know, following research and reading books and stuff like that. Just tooooooo busy.
But wait!!! How can I call myself a professional if I’m just too busy to learn and improve? How can my organization learn and change and?
Oh my. Snarky again. Come on people… How can we be great if we ignore learning – and learning produces change?
Not a huuuuuge fan of this particular post. First, 40 hours would be a fabulous workweek, but I suspect I’m not the only fundraiser who has a lot to do all day and events to attend almost every evening. Second, while bad meetings are a waste of time — I cancel all standing meetings for which there is no clear need or objective — a lot can be accomplished by getting a team all in one room at one time to hash out a plan, rather than playing 48 hours of email round robin. (But great if a planned one-hour meeting ends 50 minutes early.) Third, if you “throw out the resume” you are likely to wind up with people who have no idea how fundraising works. Personally, I put much more emphasis on the cover letter and interview than on the CV, but hiring someone with raw talent but limited/no fundraising experience for a non-entry-level fundraising job will quickly remind you that there’s more to fundraising than being friendly and asking for money. Fourth, all those emails and calls I receive tend to necessitate a response, even if they’re annoying. Fictitious examples: 1) An attendee from last week’s luncheon event emails me to ask the name of our florist, which I then need to track down. 2) My colleague from another department emails to ask if someone from my department can help greet VIPs from Thailand (who will never give us money). 3) A board member’s assistant calls to ask us to revise an acknowledgment letter using the trustee’s work address rather than his home address. All of these requests have two things in common: 1) they are tedious and 2) they require a quick response. Otherwise I will alienate people with whom I need to have good relationships of mutual trust and respect. It’s a drag that so much of my day is filled with these things, but they can’t be wished away.
But I do love the Lego cartoon!
The title of this article says it all. I can’t tell you how many clients either make very slow progress or no progress at all because they are just “too busy”. One of the first things we do is a a deep dive into what employees are really doing. What meetings, events, and even programs can be stopped in order to turbo boost fundraising? Those that have the guts to do it, usually are the most successful.