From Flash Cards to Project Manager

Recently I've been writing curricula for a three part nonprofit series. One of the earlier tasks was to explain to novices or experienced students how to set up a nonprofit organization using a variety of learning methods. First, I had a crude timeline, but wanted more visuals. Good visuals can save a
lot of time. So instead of a timeline, I used a pictoral flow sheet. Since my desire was to appeal to
a diverse group of students, using a wide variety of teaching methods, it occurred to me that a more
effective way to teach this concept would be to create old fashioned flash cards with picture and
a written decription, and have small groups of students interact, and manipulate the cards and report
to the larger group the rational for the proposed order. By each group reporting, students learn from
each other, and listen to others' perspective. It occurred to me that not all students may be familiar
with basic project management.

Another task in the first class is to select a nonprofit board using nine defined criteria. This requires them to interview other students and is a nonprofit version of speed dating. The objective is to match desired attributes to the needs of the organization. Once the small group has selected their "Board", and before they "hire" staff or recruit any "volunteers", the Board will need to wrestle with how to assign resources (match the right Board member to the right task, or find and manage outside resources to aid them in the process). With any project, there is a time limit, so one or more task are requires in order to proceed with another task so they can be put in the correct order. Different tasks require different amounts of time. Some tasks are significant enough that they could be another whole project. The goal for students is to learn basic project management skills, so they can integrate these skills and build on them for the rest of their life.

Learning is more than spitting out the right answer to pass a test. One hallmark of successful learning is that students becomes passionate about teaching others.

What Drives Our Interests?

What is your ministry curricula based on? Yesterday a public servant asked that question. My answer is that research informs our practice, but does not define it. So what exactly does that mean? Just to clarify, some of our work is just plain individuallly tailored problem solving. Workshops or training does involve curricula design and we tailor these services to meet the organizations needs.

Barna Research Group identifies four things churches consistently do poorly on. That provided a good foundation.

We read and draw on diverse research, lessons learned and life experience. Then we listen, observe and assemble information about resources learned through extensive networking to benefit those we serve.

A few sources used individually and corporately include:

• Pertinent research in Christianity Today. There are many articles on disaster, business continuity and risk management.
• Risk management recommendations from insurance companies.
• ABC's of Church Management.
• Read several disaster plans ranging from national denominational plans, to college and university plans to county and city plans.  
• Personal interviews with emergency management professionals and faith-based leaders in the field.
• Observation and volunteer work in disaster warehouse.
• Exposure to the emergency management field while working in a limited duration position for the City.
• Volunteer experience with American Red Cross
• Over 200 years of combined experience with the faith community, and exposure to several faith traditions and cultures.
• Work on a plan for a District office that supports fifty churches.
• Help with strategies to reverse a negative financial trend, improve evaluation processes, raise organizational visibility, leverage donations, negotiate a nonprofit discount, overcome employee resistence, obtain answers to tax questions, identify alternatives to high bank fees and more.
• Extensive post-masters education and a dozen Red Cross classes and about eighty FEMA and FEMA consortium courses.
• On-line courses through Columbia University graduate public health education.  
• We also read alternative materials such as serious gardening magazines, peruse websites, read up on how to live off the grid, not because we are survivalists, but because there are practical lessons that can be applied to what we do.

 

When disasters happen, we review news accounts, follow websites, listen to credible sources on the ground and capture lessons learned. Any thing related to disaster preparedness involves continuous evaluation and improvement.

 

What drives our interest?

First our primary interest in NOT in disasters, it is resilience and helping organizations improve their capacity to serve in good times, but also during adverse conditions. Our family was deeply affected by three tragic work-related disasters. We've also been impacted by other critical life events and learned from others' experiences. One of the lessons we've learned is that a person cannot always control what happens in life, but they can add resilience. Resilience is a protective factor against the effects of disaster, but it is also protective in other ways. Our prayer is that no person should suffer needlessly. Resillient employees recover more quickly and completely.

 

What does that look like at the organizational level?

Disasters don't have to be big to be devastating. Policies and procedures, having adequate safety plans in place, and building a resilient workforce help prevent disasters or or reduce the impact. Risk management and succession plans help organizations act responsibly and improve their capacity to serve under adverse conditions. There are several blog posts on what small businesses, churches and other nonprofits can do to improve employee resilience, improve the entity's sustainabilty and empower vulnerable residents.

To learn more about what we do, look under our "Services" tab. Read our story under the "About Us" tab.