Organizations Need To Create And Use Best Practices

While most of us train our children in certain behaviors and teach them one method to brush their teeth, etc., and we even train our dogs in terms of what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and attempt to be consistent in these situations, the vast majority of organizations insist on constantly "reinventing the wheel."

For the past three decades, I have been teaching and training organizations and their leaders on how to create a series of best practices, so that those aspects of running the organization that are repetitive from year to year, can be readily and easily duplicated, so as to run seamlessly. However, the vast majority of organizations often find a need to change things up, often without any true rhyme or reason. While I have often spoken about, and written about, the importance of organizations to evolve, there is a tremendous difference between evolution and widespread revolution. Although I have observed a few organizations where revolution was probably called for, in most cases it is simply a matter of tweaking slightly the way things are done, in order to adapt to changing times, changing economics, changing member needs, etc.

Organizations that have any type of annual meetings, events, conferences or conventions, should develop in-depth, step-by-step manuals, so that each year, the organizers or chair people of the event, do not need to recreate everything. While there are always a few things that need changing, having the overall guide is very helpful. However, the concept of best practices includes each year's chairperson to make comments and evaluations as to what worked, what did not, and any suggestions. Too many organizations create a manual, but rarely update it, so that it becames outdated, and thus lack any useful purpose.

Organizations with paid staff should create annual calendars so that the staff knows what needs to be done, and when. This should have deadlines for each step, and the review processes needed. I have heard from far too many that this was unnecessary because they have paid staff that take care of that, but the reality is that there is generally at least some turnover in personnel. Paid staff should also be thoroughly trained and fully understanding their duties, and what is expected of them. Without this, there is often a misunderstanding as to what the expectations are, and generally one side feels that too much is expected, while the other believes that not enough is being done.

Similarly, volunteer leaders must be fully aware of their duties and expectations. Existing leaders should annually (if not more often) tweak the "Job Description" sheet, so that a new leader can be better prepared. Obviously, the few organizations that effectively have real leadership training fare better in terms of this than the majority that do not.

Developing Best Practices For Your Organization

For the past three decades, one of the biggest frustrations I have confronted in evaluating organizations and organizational management is what I refer to as "dysfunctional operations." The vast majority of organizations do not learn from their past, and even when they do similar tasks, events, etc., on an ongoing basis, they do not use the previous experiences as a guideline, or at least a starting point in doing the task this time around.

I am constantly shocked, for example, about how poorly most organizations negotiate contracts when they hold meetings, conferences or conventions. Effective organizations create and adapt a R.F.P. (Request for Proposal) that they submit to properties, carefully describing their needs and expectations. Almost as bad, however, is often organizations that believe they are using an R.F.P., but that the R.F.P. that they are using does not adequately meet their needs. Numerous organizational leaders have insisted to me that they use an outside professional company to organize their conferences, or at least to negotiate on their behalf. However, in most cases, these organizations are using professional hotel booking companies, whose interest is in booking the hotel rooms, that they receive a commission on. Organizational leaders have often pointed to the contracts that state that the hotel is offering the best rate to the organization, and that using the booking agent in no way adversely impacts the organization's purchase power or pricing. However, experience and logic both indicate that if a hotel is paying a ten percent commission, that is money that they will not offer the organization in terms of areas such as Food and Beverage, concessions, etc.

Organizations should develop and constantly update a manually that will be used often as a reference to getting things done more effectively. One section of that manual might be a listing of vendors that have been used, reason for using the particular vendor, and whether or not the experience with the vendor has been satisfactory.

Another best practice area would include an Annual Calendar of items that need to be done every year. Organizations should create adequate forms and reporting documents, as needed.

If an organization runs an annual conference, meeting, or convention, an in-depth section should be kept as to the requirements needed, so that each year's organizers do not need to "reinvent the wheel."

If the organization has local chapters, chances are that some chapters are more successful than others, and some projects, meetings and ideas have also been more successful than others. There should be a way that local chapters use a reporting form so that other chapters can learn from both the successes and failures of their peers.

Organizations should also track programs run, and evaluate them in terms of costs (both financial, time and personnel), and revenues. Organizations should regularly review this to determine its future efforts and priorities.

Another area that requires best practices is in terms of leadership qualification and training. Organizations should carefully and professionally develop a thorough and functional program, and then follow that on an ongoing basis.

While these are just a few of the best practice areas, the point is really that organizations need to examine themselves regularly, and give themselves the equivalent of a total physical and check-up. The most effective organizations are constantly evolving, but are doing so on the basis of building upon those practices that have worked best.