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Powering Nonprofit Success Through Participatory Processes:

Did you know that organizations prioritizing participatory processes and deliberately decreasing barriers see a significant increase in program effectiveness? This Fall, I’m excited to delve into how this framework powers real-world success through our three-part webinar series, Insights for Impact!

On September 18th, Dr. Inderjit Vicky Basra, President and CEO of the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, and Jessica Raymond, former Chief of Staff of the YWCA, joined Sharity Global Expert Anne Miskey to offer real-world examples of ways participatory processes elevated their organizations’ mission and impact. Dr. Basra emphasized the importance of including direct and indirect experts in decision-making conversations. She noted, “…layered communication makes the change.” When those in the community who experience the challenges your organization strives to address work alongside those with academic or professional experience in key areas, your organization can begin to affect systemic change. Jessica added, “When we talk about advocating for people and engaging their voices…here is the mic! You sit at this table, you tell me what you need from us, you make the decision…”

Key takeaways from the conversation included:

  • Write equity into your policies and procedures.
  • Avoid “tokenizing” the community you serve. Ensure that if you ask something of your community members, such as asking them to share their stories, you are developing and strengthening a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
  • Identify ways your organization may connect direct experts, those with lived experience, with donors, elected officials, and other community leaders and influencers.
  • Engaging all voices allows you to review and evaluate the impact of your programming with an open mind and heart.
  • Give credit to all the experts helping you execute your mission. Whenever possible, compensate and recognize direct experts, those with lived experiences, for their work on behalf of your organization, just as you would an indirect expert with academic or professional experience. 

Dr. Basra summed up the importance of engaging all voices when she described the success her organization has had with connecting survivor mentors with the recently rescued. “[Survivor’s] concepts around hope look very different because they’re sitting across from somebody, that at some point, was in the same space that they are in…Their survivor-mentor becomes a beacon of hope!” Anne added, “The little ways you can connect your donors in real ways to people” will bring about transformation.

Watch The Full Video Now

By Teri Yanovitch
September 4, 2020

 

As a result of COVID-19, many employees have been working remotely. Not having employees physically present in a location makes communication of an organization’s Service Excellence culture more difficult. However, just as there has never been a more critical time to build trust and goodwill by going the extra mile to WOW the customer, the same is true for your employees. The key is to lead with empathy. Take the time to understand your employees’ world, and that you care and support them during this challenging time.

Here are eight  recommendations for how to continue reinforcing and building an exceptional customer service mentality into the hearts and minds of each employee outside the traditional office environment:

  1. Communicate the importance of service with a short reminder at every opportunity. Make sure you also communicate it during the interview and selection process of new employees.
  2. If you don’t have Service Standards, then create, define, and communicate them. Keep to a maximum of four or five Standards. People will forget if you have too many.
  3. When onboarding new employees, share your Service Standards. Also, provide specific examples of how they can be applied to that individual’s job.
  4. Dedicate a section of your organization’s newsletter to your Service Standards. Consider featuring contests, puzzles, anecdotes, or even customer compliments.
  5. Ask employees each week during virtual staff meetings to share how they incorporated one of the Service Standards into their work most recently.
  6. Managers/supervisors should “meet” virtually one-on-one with employees. The goal is to build relationships with your employees to better understand their personal situation and challenges, so they can better assist them.
  7. Hold monthly mandatory team video meetings to let employees get to know other team members. Allow time within the meeting to let employees learn from each other by sharing situations of how they were able to deliver a “Wow” customer experience.
  8. Set up a communication medium, such as an intranet portal, to allow for peer-to-peer recognition of colleagues delivering exceptional service. The recognition should tie the employee’s actions and behavior to one of your Service Standards. 

What other tips would you add to help reinforce your Service Culture?