Ah, December... that most wonderful time of year, when everyone slips into Christmas & holiday mode...and unfortunately this means pretty much everyone, including founding members, office bearers, volunteers and even secretariat staff (if your small non-profit organisation happens to be able to afford any paid staff, that is :-)).
And of course, the problem of everyone being "away" during the holiday season becomes all the more pressing if your small non-profit organisation is run only by volunteers.
So here are some quick and hopefully, useful tips on how to manage things during the December - January holiday period.
1. Make a list of everything that needs doing during that period.
Keep this list down to the most critical and "must-do" items only, but make sure that you've covered all bases in compiling the list. Don't forget background administrative things like checking the mailbox to collect mail and paying utilities bills if they are likely to fall due during that time.
2. Put together a "Holiday Season Team" :-)
Hopefully, you can cobble together a few kind and helpful souls who are willing to take on some added responsibilities even during the holiday season. Assign each person a role or a few roles, depending on the needs of the organisation. Be prepared to guide them through the specifics of the role, especially if they have never taken on that particular task before.
3. Come up with a message to be communicated to stakeholders.
Communication is key at this time of year. Prepare a document detailing opening and closing times, closure dates, plus other important information. Stakeholders should be informed that the organisation will be running on skeleton staff during the holiday season. You'll probably find lots of requests for participation coming in right smack in the middle of the holidays (as many people start going on leave from work, and feel inspired to do something different :-) don't be afraid to tell them that your premises are closed and the usual activities are not going on until the new year. After all, if your organisation doesn't have paid secretariat staff whose leave can be planned, your stakeholders will need to understand that the volunteers who run the organisation will also be taking time off at the end of the year.
4. Keep a list of backup reminders - just in case.
The Holiday Season Team will be just as busy juggling multiple obligations and events as everyone else, so in spite of their best intentions, someone might inadvertantly forget something. To be safe, keep a backup reminder list on hand so that you can keep on top of things and make sure that nothing really critical falls through the cracks.
5. Keep a "To Do After the Holidays" list.
Use this list to record anything that needs doing, but doesn't need doing just yet. By writing these things down or capturing it somewhere, you can then forget all about those items, safe in the knowledge that nothing has been forgotten and the list will be ready for you when you get back to work in January.
And lastly, don't forget to take some time off yourself :-) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all Secretariat Managers out there! :-) I'll be back with more posts in 2017! :-)
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