Make progress with processes

Photo by John Legrand on Unsplash

One of the problems with organisational structures is that they’re hard to change. Restructuring is painful. And slow. And expensive.

In my last article, I shared some different models for structuring digital in your organisation, with the caveat that a tailored model has the most chance of success.

Pick the lower hanging fruit

An alternative approach, which can effectively connect digital throughout your organisation and break down silos, is creating better processes.

Implementing systems and workflows that encourage collaboration and give the whole organisation access to the right digital skills and tools requires less budget, less time and less permission from the top than big, structural change.

Look from the outside in

Don’t sell this approach as creating better processes; sell it as creating a better experience. Frame better digital processes as being about delivering a better experience to your supporters – or a better service to your beneficiaries – and people are more likely to see digital as aligning with the values of the organisation.

Avoid talking about efficiencies, because framing it as a cost-saving approach will lead to fear of digital (because the assumption is that jobs will go) and resistance to the change required to run a more digital operation.

Looking at the external experience of your organisation from the perspective of a user will shine a bright light on internal niggles. These can be things in dark corners that people are aware of but are ignoring.

Through the process of audience journey planning it will be easier for everyone to accept what’s needed across technology, data, processes and staffing. That way people are less likely to feel that change is being imposed on them.

Empathise with people outside the office walls

Start with creating profiles for your audiences, users and beneficiaries. It doesn’t have to cost thousands to find out about the external experience of your organisation. You can start off by looking at your website and social media analytics. Your fundraisers usually have a good analysis of your donor database. This gives you an insight into who comes to your digital channels and then who supports you financially.

Once you have a clear picture of who your audiences are and what they want, do some empathy mapping. Put the audience hat on and think about what they’re saying, thinking, doing, and feeling at different stages on their journey. This helps you work out their state when they get interrupted by your message or when they seek information from your organisation.

And when they are like that, will they find your message of interest/relevant/attractive? How can you remind them of your message and encourage those who are interested to act? How can you provide a way to engage people who are keen as well as to those who are just interested?

Be really honest and think about the value your organisation is delivering to them. Are you enabling them to act on something that’s bothering them? Are you giving them an opportunity to communicate to their friends and family who they are and what they care about?

Integrate don’t coordinate

Don't do siloed planning; plan together – you're all talking to your supporters.

A client said to me once: “We are very good at coordinating but that’s not integrating.” He went on to explain that when team KPIs line up nicely, teams feel that they’ve integrated their planning. However when team KPIs are not like this, there’s no attempt to integrate.

For example, sometimes, communications, marketing and fundraising teams care about getting a big volume of email signups, but the campaigns team doesn't. It’s more important to them that they have a certain number of emails sent to the target of their campaign. So instead of starting with an audience and identifying whether it’s possible to create an integrated approach, the decision is based on which team has more power to make a decision. Everyone goes back into their silos. And the audience is forgotten.

KPIs and targets can get in the way of integrated planning. Teams with targets can feel that they should be making all the decisions, even in areas where they lack expertise. I had an interesting conversation recently with a senior manager who is frustrated with this and wants to set shared targets for individual giving and digital marketing teams.

Start small and grow

You don’t have to integrate everything all at the same time. Keep it simple. I usually suggest that the best place to start with an integrated campaign is at Christmas. For many non-profits this is the peak time for engagement. People are more charitable and more likely to notice and fund charity activities.

Learn from this one experience and use it for planning of the next big moment in your supporter communications calendar. Little by little, you will build an integrated planning process.

Process > culture > structure

Smoothing out processes leads to a more positive culture, and the right digital structure can follow with less stress.

Start by collaborating, listening and working with others. If, as digital leaders, you represent the user, plan and test, while remaining agile and responsive, you stand the best chance of success.

Through this process it will become clear what structure and roles your organisation needs.