Keeping your organisation’s activities aligned with your mission can be challenging, especially in the current funding environment. Grants, endowments and large contributions from major donors provide much-needed cash, but many come with restrictions and conditions on how these funds can be spent. Distractions easily arise which can pull your focus away from your NFP’s core mission.

Use the following tips to re-align your team’s goals with your purpose and improve your organisation’s overall performance.

Clarify Roles and Responsibilities in Terms of the Mission

Your entire organisation must be zeroed in on fulfilling your primary purpose. To keep them on track, take the time to show everyone in your organisation why their specific role exists, and how their performance in this role supports your mission. Help your team to see how each daily task that they complete moves your organisation one incremental, but important, step forward to achieving your organisation’s ultimate objectives.

Follow Up More Frequently

One way to stress the importance of your team’s work is to follow up with each member on a frequent basis. Rather than reviewing their performance with them quarterly or annually, set aside time to have more frequent, and meaningful conversations about their work for your NFP, and how their role impacts your service community.  If possible, try to meet with your team weekly, and follow up with individual team members on a bi-weekly basis.

If specific members are struggling in their role, follow up more frequently. Take a genuine interest in their development and success, after all the success of your organisation relies on that of your team!  Always be ready to listen to your team’s concerns, and offer constructive, supportive advice on how they can improve their performance and move forward.

Collect Feedback from Multiple Sources

Don’t rely solely on your own observations when assessing and coaching your team. Seek feedback from additional sources that interact with your members, including your service beneficiaries, fellow team members, partners and others who interact with your team.

Set Expectations and Encourage Personal Growth

Work with your team members to identify areas where they can improve their performance. Help them to set goals that are realistic, but that will also move them a little out of their comfort zone so that they must stretch by practising their existing skills and possibly learning new ones to achieve the goal. Stress how their personal development contributes to the impact that your organisation can make in its community so that team members can grow along with your nonprofit.

Break Complex, Long-Term Goals into Smaller, Manageable Ones

When working with your team to improve their performance and bring it into closer alignment with your mission, understand that it is a work in progress. Change does not happen overnight and is usually a long process.

To help your team stay motivated throughout this transformation, break long-term goals into smaller ones. Set benchmarks to help measure their progress along the way.

Coaching is a Critical Factor

During your conversations, talk about their progress so far. Identify areas where they excel and areas that they can improve. You may just discover that the goal needs to be extended or modified.

Coach your team members on specific actions they can take to continue to improve their performance and make it easier for them to reach their goals. Help your members identify models that they can emulate to improve their performance for specific tasks. Pair team members with existing, experienced staff that can act as mentors to help them pick up skills and learn through observation. Allow them time to practice what they have learned. As their performance improves, illustrate how their improvement has a positive effect on the impact made by your organisation.