Media Outreach

With the new school year upon us, I’m sure you’re experiencing an increase in the pace at your organization. When the whirlwind of extreme busyness blows through the office, is a feeling of fear evoked? Or the comfort that your staff can handle it?

I’ve experienced the ebb and flow of office busyness and different types of management in these different scenarios.

I’ve worked in offices when busy times have been the toughest times in my life because management grabs tighter onto my daily activities, increasing my stress.  I’ve also been in environments where peace flourishes, regardless of the speed and craziness of the work flow.

It all comes down to vision and the ability to multiply one another.  If every employee knows the vision of the organization, no manager will need to keep those tight reigns on everything accomplished in the office.  While accountability is always necessary, freedom can not only empower an employee to take pride in their work, it can inspire them to pursue new activities.

And if a vision is as contagious as it should be, a staff person or volunteer will want to multiply themselves by finding another to fill their position.  This enables them to move to a new, exciting role, spurring even more passion for the vision and mission.

If a lack of vision permeates an organization, low morale and lack of motivation can prevail.  When vision is unclear, workers have to run every decision past their superior, causing the devastating chain reaction of a bottleneck. And who wants to move up in an organization that they don’t enjoy or care about?  And who, for that matter, would want to sucker someone else into that same position?

Investing into communicating vision can break off the bottleneck and allow organizations to pool resources in an efficient and empowering way.

Don’t forget that vision leaks.  You may have spent lots of time reminding your team of the big picture; but once more won’t hurt.  And again after that.

Take some time in the next couple of weeks to remind your team why you are doing what you’re doing and how vital they are to the organization. As busyness picks up again, you’ll be glad you did.

Photo By: Ross Elliott