The author, John Marek, is a writer and executive director of the Anson Economic Development Partnership.
If you have ever attended a workshop on productivity and time management, you’ve probably seen the exercise where the instructor pulls out a glass jar, fills it with sand and tries to push a couple of large stones down into it. Later, he empties the sand, adds several large rocks, then gravel, and finally sand. It illustrates how filling your day with trivial tasks doesn’t leave time for tackling the big stuff. It’s an effective analogy, but I view time management a little differently.
In the days of analog television, there were usually two dials for selecting channels, one for VHF and one for UHF. There was also a thin ring behind each of the dials known as “fine tuning.” After selecting the channel, the viewer would use the fine-tuning to clear up any “snow” in the picture. If all that sounds like a lot of effort to change channels, remember that there were only a handful of television stations in those days and you might go a night or even two without having to make a change at all.
As the executive director of a countywide economic development organization (EDO), I relate that old-timey television experience to how a well-run nonprofit EDO operates.
Finding a balance between the “big picture” and mundane operational tasks can be challenging. I cannot tell you how many times I have come into the office in the morning with the intent of making a minor update to the website or tracking down a lost water bill and looked up to see that the whole morning was gone.
Most nonprofit EDOs are set up for the board of directors to contribute the general strategic direction, the channels if you will, and the staff, the director in particular, to focus on organizational efforts, the fine-tuning of that strategy.
Organizations tend to become inefficient and lose focus when the staff is consumed by day-to day operational details at the expense of the big picture. Visualizing the work as a vintage television helps me to stay on track. To start the day, I look at TV Guide and determine which channels I want to watch that day – which big-picture strategic initiatives I want to focus on – then once I am on that channel, I can use my fine-tuning to ensure that everything I do relates to that strategic goal.
There will, of course, be unplanned interruptions, just as an encyclopedia salesman (keeping with the retro theme) coming to the door might have interrupted a TV program. But you always return to the channel you were on.
Who is the antenna rotor in this scenario? Tune in next week to find out. Same Bat time. Same Bat channel.