Marc Baizman's blog

 I saw this Harvard Business Review stat that claims one in six IT projects are money pits, going on average 200 percent overbudget and taking 70 percent longer than planned.  I wonder what would happen if we could see only nonprofit IT project performance--what would that look like?  I suspect not much better, and possibly even worse on the scheduling side, as that's certainly been my experience. It makes me think that nonprofit organizations have a tendency to want to bite off more than they can chew when starting a new technology project, and this adversely affects the project.  This may be because the organization doesn't really know what's involved in--for example, setting up a new fundraising database or redesigning their website--or it may be that organizations simply don't allocate staff time for people who aren't "directly involved" on the project.  

Regardless of whether an internal IT person or consultant is assigned one of these projects, it's their responsiblity to make it very clear assistance is required from the rest of the organization, both in terms of staff time required and skills required.  I really enjoyed this post by David Geilhufe on the NTEN Discuss List (of course, you're an NTEN member, right? Right?!) which talks about a few of these issues.

One of the main responsiblities of the IT staff (or consultant) will be to divide the project into easily digestible chunks.  This work entails dividing the project into phases, defining clear business goals, assigning people to the project, and other steps.  Often this simply isn't done, or is hurriedly rushed through because "we need that website live next week!"  This is not a strategy for success, and then the organization gets into a downward spiral of "we need A, but it's taking too long to get, so we'll just assume B, and move on to the next item: C," which ends with no one being satisfied because what was created was not what was expected.

The attitude that "the technology will save us" seems to somehow prevent many organizations from doing much of this up-front work (planning, defining clear goals, process mapping, assigning people to the project, breaking projects down into pieces) required to have these technology projects be succesful.  You wouldn't roll out a new Homeless Prevention Initiative without doing up-front planning, so why would you think IT is any different?

Thoughts from the field?  How are projects handled at your org?  Are you biting off more than you can chew?

(Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephcmoran/5535795940/) The hallway conversations, the parties, the amazing array of sessions and vendors...  And the inevitable depression that sets in after the return to the office.  Oh NTC, how do I love thee, let me count the ways!

1. Best attendees EVAR!
2. The hallway conversations are always terrific.
3. The energy and enthusiasm of a couple thousand people who already "get it" is (almost) enough to keep me energized for a year!
4. An astounding array of people and companies that exist to serve nonprofits.

So with all that love, there are some things that I don't love about the conference (this is my 4th) and I want to share some gentle criticism and I wonder if there are others who feel the same.

1. Just too damn big. Maybe it's just me but it felt especially overwhelming this year.  I hate to say it, but it seemed "corporate."  Possible solution: limit the number of in-person tickets and exand the on-line portion of the conference.
2. Session content just not techie enough.  There just isn't enough meat for the "intermediate to advanced" techies - it's geared towards intro folks.  Possible solution: have a "beginner" day and an "advanced" day, so people could skip things as desired.
3. Sessions are wayyyy uneven.  Is there a way to vet content/speakers?  If I see another bulleted list in PowerPoint, I'll shoot somebody.  Seriously folks, it's 2011.   Having a picture next to a bulleted list does not improve your slide.  And PLEASE involve the audience - we WANT to interact many-to-many, not hear from the "sage on the stage."  And reading a twitter feed helps, but isn't the answer.  Possible solution: crowdsource the content review and session structure with some of the NTEN community.  There are folks who know how to do this and do it well.  Gunner from AsiprationTech?
4. The food sucks.  I know this is likely not negotiable (i.e. you have to use the hotel's catering) but man, feeding a bunch of people at once always seems to lead to terrible, bland, cold food.  I've learned my lesson and always try to eat offsite for breakfast for sure, and lunch if I can get away (not always possible).  Possible solution: List of nearby decent restaurants so those who want to get away from the "conference carbs" can. 
5. Duplicated sessions.  How many social media sessions do we really need?  Possible solution: more aggressive editing from the NTC Agenda Planning team.  

That's just a couple of thoughts about the conference.  And of course, in spite of the things I've mentioned, this conference is still THE place to be every year, and I SO appreciate all the hard work that the NTEN staff put in.  Thank you Holly and co, you guys are amazing and I love what you do for the community!  (And I met my wife here four years ago, so I really do mean it when I say I love what you do!)

 Do you sometimes feel like you're the only one who's drinking the Kool-Aid?  Are you the only one who's saying "Did you check the intranet for that?" or "That's in the Google doc I shared with you, remember?"   I know I feel like that, more often than I'd like to admit.  I have some tips for you Kool-Aid drunks (ha) out there that I hope will help you in your day-to-day experience of being nonprofit techies and helping the nonprofit not-so-techies.  

Tip #1: Be encouraging!  Just because someone *still* hasn't gone to the project website doesn't necessarily mean they don't want to.  They may not have had time, or they forgot their password (it happens, and you might have to reset it for them).  Be encouraging, and maybe even stay at their desk and make sure they can login (or whatever is appropriate for your org).  If you're frustrated or, even worse, patronizing, you can bet they'll never do the thing you want them to do.

Tip #2: Make a help guide!  I bet that with a minimum of effort you can bang out a quick reference one-pager or even a quickie screencast.  As I've mentioned before on this blog, I love Jing for this.  http://www.jingproject.com  Your screencasts can be hosted on Screencast.com, your own server, or in the pro version ($15/yr), YouTube.  These are so easy and fun to make, I dare you to not to make these!  I think you can have fun with this, and if you don't, I know you can find another Kool Aid drinker who will enjoy it (the intern?).

Tip #3: Lunch and Learns!  Don't waste your lunch hour by eating lunch...at your desk...alone...again.  Use it to teach your coworkers a handy Excel tip about VLOOKUPs, or have an open "Geek Out" where people can ask questions about their most vexing tech problems.  This is a valuable opportunity for you to show everyone what the heck you do!  I know it can sometimes be uncomfortable to be in this type of situation, but I promise that the goodwill you generate will be worth it. And make your lunch and learn a regular occurrence.  

Tip #4: Get people on your side!  You are your own internal marketing team, so you need to be persuasive about your ideas and initiatives.  See if you can recruit others to your projects, and then you'll have more allies that you know what to do with!   

I hope these tips get you thinking about how your attitude can influence others that you work with, and can get them drinking the Kool Aid too!  Please share YOUR tips in the comments below!

 I just started reading the fantastic "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard", and it's making me think about how I've managed change at the organizations I've been part of.   I lean towards presenting facts, rational arguments, and a use little bit of bribery (candy, booze, etc).  That's just who I am -  a pretty rational, thoughtful guy, who, if presented the facts, will make a decision based on those facts.

Actually, nope.  Not true.

Or at least, that's not really who I am, according to the authors, Chip and Dan Heath. I'm also an emotional, irrational, crazy person making decisions based on my gut.  One of the important things talked about in the book is this metaphor of the "elephant" and the "rider" - the "rider" is the rational thinking self, theoretically in charge, until the emotional "elephant" starts heading a different way.   It's when you align these two things, the elephant and the rider, that change can happen much more easily.

Thinking about big changes that I've been a part of, or that I've rolled out to groups of people at nonprofits, I'm guilty of trying to motivate the rider by presenting logical, rational information, and not really paying attention to the elephant.  Thinking about the elephant (emotional, irrational, whimsical), made me realize that I need to appeal to both to really make change effectively.  Things I'm planning to do differently:

• Have regular open "share your feelings" sessions where people can express how they feel about the change that's coming/or has already arrived.  This may be 1-on-1 in an "office hours" type environment, or in a meeting situation.  I will make sure to have snacks at the ready - whether it's at my desk or in a large meeting!
• Give some advanced early adopters cool "expert" badges to motivate everyone to learn a new system
• Create FUN help and training docs.  These don't need to be completely dry - you can always create fake data with celebrities or cartoon characters.  Anything to lighten it up.  It also shows that there's a person lurking underneath all that technical expertise.

Here is a podcast series (Social Innovation Conversations) which has Chip Heath, one of the authors, talking about change as it relates to nonprofits.  Hope this helps you in making change at your organization!