Brad Rourke

Category: management

  • Putting Our Organization First

    At the drive through I saw this sign that struck me as amusing and I just had to snap a picture. It said: If you fail to receive a receipt with your order please notify manager before leaving window for a refund of price paid. After I finished chuckling, I felt compassionate. This is the…

  • Handling Distractions In The Distracted Workplace

    A recent article by essayist and venture capitalist Paul Graham has gained a lot of notice, and not just because Graham is a partner in startup boot-camp Y-Combinator. Graham’s piece describes what looks to be a fundamental difference in the work rhythms of two different sorts of people: managers and makers. Here’s how he puts…

  • Helping Nonprofit Managers To Overcome Fear Of Social Networks

    All over, I see middle management being urged to “get on the social media bandwagon” because they may get left in the dust.  But, often the senior management of the organization is skeptical or downright hostile to the idea. By understanding the fears that are driving this hostility, you might be able to break through.…

  • Are There Projects You Should Let Go?

    How many projects are you working on that are off-mission or off-topic for you? Why don’t you kill them? Are there clients you should fire, foundations you should let go? Do it! Make room for something better.

  • Take My Strategic Planning Survey

    I am working on a report on strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. I am actively seeking your help.  Please take this survey on strategic planning for nonprofits. As some of my readers know, this is an area where I have worked for some time. Some people enjoy strategic planning, others don’t. I enjoy it and…

  • How To Review Programs: Head, Heart, Hands

    To go along with yesterday’s article and video on three dimensions for reviewing documents, here is a way of looking at programs and program plans. You need to pay attention to head, heart, and hands. Heart: What is the overall intent of the program? Is it on target? Head: Do the plans make sense and…

  • How To Review A Document: Overall, Across, Within

    Every document should be checked along three dimensions: Overall, Across, and Within.

  • Nine Tips For Better Meetings

    Especially among nonprofits and community organizations, meetings are a plague. They seem to be called at the drop of a hat, they run over time, and all too often the chief result of one meeting is another meeting. But if you focus on the purpose of the meeting, and follow some simple guidelines, meetings can…

  • How To Be Nice Online (In Praise Of Smileys)

    In my very first job, I worked for the field office of a large organization. It was 1990, and we actually had email. This was long, long before email was ubiquitous. It was a curiosity. One day, our boss’s boss’s boss came into town for a series of events. When it was over, he sent…