Whether you are leading a company, a small business or a nonprofit organization, you can start the New Year with a few simple resolutions that will increase your chances for success. Here are 10 simple and easy "success" ideas offered by Synergies Consulting Group:
1. Be intentional about surrounding yourself with individuals who represent a broad range of ideas, expertise and backgrounds and who will fuel your creative juices. Identify the expertise you need and go after it whether among staff, board of directors or an advisory board as they can be the sparks to ignite organizational dynamism.
2. Review your organization's mission frequently and align it with your strategic plans. Organizations that stay true to their mission and manifest it through their strategic plans have focus, purpose and a road map to success.
3. Ensure that your strategic plans include a thoughtful analysis or review of your marketing and communication requirements. Today's reliance on technology means your organization must have a well-defined narrative and use technology to deliver it. Access to potential audiences has never been greater.
4. Professional development is a must! Your personal and organizational success depends on your staying current and keeping your professional tools sharp. Attend professional conferences, take a course, enroll in a leadership class, join a list serve in your field and benchmark with the best.
5. Sharpen your financial eye - do you understand all aspects of your budget and importantly do you know and understand what investments are needed in your organization to grow and thrive in the current and future environment? Make an investment plan for your organization.
6. Determine whether your organization can achieve cost savings by developing a cadre of "virtual staff." Areas where this could be effective include bookkeeping, marketing, communications, grant writing, and technology.
7. This may be the year to bid or re-bid for services such as insurance coverage, accounting, banking, printing, legal, and marketing. What are the services you could buy more cheaply if you focused this year?
8. Your data base is the nerve center and potential gold mine of your organization and yet customer and or donor information may be incomplete, inaccurate, misspelled, or duplicative. Remember the term garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)? No less true today than years ago! Do you have the right data base software for your organization and is it current and properly utilized? Creating information protocols could lead to new customers, donors and resources.
9. Your organization depends on your reputation - the good opinion of others. What are you doing in your community and with your customers or donors to ensure their ongoing support and their willingness to bring others to you? You might want to consider working on a community wide project, enrolling in a Leadership program in your community, joining a board, speaking at local civic groups. Be seen and be heard!
10. Successful organizations collaborate with others recognizing that collective energy can accomplish much more than a single entity. It may take a little longer to reach consensus but in the end the project is usually more dynamic, bigger than originally planned, and may help you accomplish many of your personal and professional goals. Who can you align with to accomplish your 2013 goals?
As we enter 2013 Synergies Consulting Group thanks our current and past clients for your business. We are most grateful to have had the opportunity to work with you. We wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year and hope a few of our "success" ideas will resonate.
