You’re leading a Non-profit Program Development team. How can you improve collaboration and efficiency?

As a non-profit program development leader, you have a lot of responsibilities and challenges. You need to design, implement, and evaluate programs that align with your organization's mission, vision, and values. You also need to manage a diverse team of staff, volunteers, and partners who have different skills, backgrounds, and expectations. How can you improve collaboration and efficiency in your program development process? Here are some tips to help you succeed.

1 Define your goals and outcomes

Before you start any program development project, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure your progress and impact. This will help you communicate your vision and expectations to your team and stakeholders, and guide your decisions and actions throughout the project. You can use tools such as logic models, theories of change, or SMART objectives to define your goals and outcomes, and make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

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Abhishek Kushwaha

Social Businesses I Sustainability I CSR I Strategy & Compliance
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Start with a blank piece of paper and write down what would SUCCESS of the project mean. Once you are done with it, start thinking about how can you measure that SUCCESS. For example: You are doing a Behavioral Change Communication (BCC) campaign then is the BEHAVIOUR changing after or not.

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Ivana Valenzuela

Leader in Adult Education | Driving Growth in People and Process 🌱
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I think SMART goals are an easy framework to start with when leading a team, especially if you can create these goals collaboratively. Creating goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound creates boundaries that help define expectations that exist outside of oneself. I have found that this can create motivation among teams.

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Bashir Mohamed

Partnership Director
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Once goals of project is clear and defined well it provides road map for the team. It will help you also to track whether the expected outcome is as per the set goals or needs correction

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2 Involve your team and stakeholders

Program development is not a solo activity. You need to involve your team and stakeholders in every stage of the process, from planning to evaluation. This will help you build trust, engagement, and ownership among your collaborators, and ensure that your program reflects the needs, preferences, and feedback of your target audience and beneficiaries. You can use methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, workshops, or co-creation sessions to gather input and feedback from your team and stakeholders, and incorporate their ideas and suggestions into your program design and delivery.

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Bashir Mohamed

Partnership Director
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In my experience involving your team and stakeholders will make work more colloborative and enjoyable when implementing. Through reviews and feedback improvement can be done across the projects

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Abhishek Kushwaha

Social Businesses I Sustainability I CSR I Strategy & Compliance
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First be open to Inputs. Ask for ideas and feedback on the project. Make sure you instill a sense of ownership. Let the team members make meaningful contributions – behavior changes when people feel ownership. Focus on building that ownership – in our wall art projects, involving citizens directly creates a sense of pride. For us the artists design murals, but the community helps paint them, making them take pride and ownership in the work.

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3 Use project management tools

Program development can be complex and dynamic, requiring you to manage multiple tasks, resources, deadlines, and risks. To improve your efficiency and productivity, you need to use project management tools that can help you organize, track, and coordinate your program development activities. You can use tools such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, calendars, or checklists to plan your schedule, assign roles and responsibilities, monitor your progress, and identify and resolve issues. You can also use tools such as Slack, Trello, or Google Drive to communicate and collaborate with your team and stakeholders, and share documents and files.

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4 Evaluate your program

Program evaluation is an essential part of program development, as it allows you to assess the quality, effectiveness, and impact of your program, and learn from your successes and challenges. You need to evaluate your program both during and after its implementation, using quantitative and qualitative data and methods. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, observations, tests, or case studies to collect and analyze data on your program inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. You can also use tools such as SWOT analysis, logic models, or feedback loops to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and make recommendations for improvement.

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5 Celebrate and share your achievements

Program development is hard work, but it can also be rewarding and fulfilling. You need to celebrate and share your achievements with your team and stakeholders, and acknowledge their contributions and efforts. This will help you boost your morale, motivation, and satisfaction, and foster a positive and supportive culture in your organization. You can use tools such as newsletters, reports, presentations, or social media to showcase your program results, stories, and learnings, and inspire others to join or support your cause.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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You’re leading a Non-profit Program Development team. How can you improve collaboration and efficiency?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your goals and outcomes

2 Involve your team and stakeholders

3 Use project management tools

4 Evaluate your program

5 Celebrate and share your achievements

6 Here’s what else to consider

Non-profit Program Development

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You’re leading a Non-profit Program Development team. How can you improve collaboration and efficiency?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your goals and outcomes

2 Involve your team and stakeholders

3 Use project management tools

4 Evaluate your program

5 Celebrate and share your achievements

6 Here’s what else to consider

Non-profit Program Development

Rate this article

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