Subject: The challenges of change are different in the not for profit sector

Great question - and there must be almost as many books on change as there are on leadership.  Some of the motivators for change may differ but books that focus on the poeple aspects of change - understanding how to communicate well  - are going to be as relevant to the third sector.  

I'm not too keen on the reliance on books for models of change, and prefer to look at and understand actual successful change. 

Change is a normal process that does need attention and wisdom and an objective view: the ability to stand back and say "What are we trying to do? What difference do we want to make, and how do we know it's working?" 

It also needs the ability to connect  with and understand what's going on external to the organisation. 

An effective organisation is doing this all the time, in my view, in an evolutionary way. Every now and then it's necessary to stop and review how well that process is working, and refresh it. This can be called Change Management I guess, and will vary with the context and purpose of the organisation.

I agree that relying on books for models of change is limiting - I do think they ignore much of the messy, complicated aspects of change. There is definitely a need for a wisdom and an objective view and some kind of understanding of the wider dynamics.. And yes, Denise - I agree it is so much about people and communication.   I wonder though if people and communication get more complicated in the voluntary sector where you've got volunteers who might want one thing, funders who want something else and maybe service users who have different needs.  I'm guessing in the corporate sector there might not be so many different needs, motivations and values which might make change easier? 

Some change has unique circumstances, especially when seeking the wisest possible spend.  Whilst self-focus for self-awareness serves an individual, it is not always helpful – when we are in groups – to foster the unique legend of our own imaginations!  

In my experience as a Coach of Spoken Voice and Personal Presence with people from all tribes, the great unspoken is the fear of change, the risk to status, reputation, workload, reduction in team size or loss of job.  Fear of an imagined, negative hidden agenda becomes the childish hidden brake that limits vision, the adolescent block to cooperation and implementation, the adult disappointment that regrets more was not achieved!

So it is with my specialist realm, the personal interior and freeing the voice.  When people seek to develop their spoken voice and personal presence, they seek change and they certainly seek to manage their internal departments – those moods, beliefs, anxieties, curiosity, desires.   

As varied as folk are on the tentative–overdo continuum, so they act and react uniquely.  Universally however, when sufficient desire for change and development manifests to eclipse the (imagined) fear of failure or loss of face, eventually, combined with practice, incisive guidance 'how' to just do it!, with self-awareness, trust and personal responsibility, change is allowed to happen, becomes inevitable, inspires and motivates – much follows.  

It is often what is stripped away during times of transition (personal or organisational)  that brings the swiftest, most profound and seemingly effortless change.  It certainly allows clarity, desire and energy to strike a path.  

In order to be what you are (or now desire to be) you first have to come out of what you are not …

For those seeking a n-f-p quote of the times, recall  the young Speaker's (BBC2) words on Malawi:  

'What's a right?  What's a privilege?  … where do we slice the line of luxury? … and who slices it?

Look for my top tips on Spoken Voice and Personal Presence coming soon to this website or visit www.per-sona.com

Change in not for profits is the same as private sector companies.  However change is driven by the needs of Stakeholders (people who care wither the organisations exists or not).  Many companies struggle to identify the needs of their customers – they create a product and then tell us we need it.  It is usually a passion to provide a need that drives the change in not for profits.

I think one big difference between corporates and not-for-profit is resources - a corporate may have greater resources and more people with experience of change (but it doesn't mean they do it any better).  Two great challenges for the not-for-profit sector that differ to corporate sector are (i) the staffing structure- volunteers are not the same as employed staff, they will have different reaosns for being there and have more freedom to walk away if they become disaffected, and (ii) the client base - often vulnerable people who will need to be communicated to very carefully.  Observing recent major changes just from reading media reports (so I may have got it all wrong)  I've been reading about a national charity moving from a de-centralised model to a centralised model and splinter groups forming in certain regions.  Presumably volunteers (and some paid staff) voting with their feet.  I've also seen very little communication to clients - think about how major changes at a charity which you look to for support might affect you.  You're going to be worried, anxious, confused - understanding the impact on and communication to this group of stakeholders seems to be a weak link.

I think that the staffing structure and the client base are important factors...I'd guess that lots of staff and volunteers sign up to a cause rather than an organisation...and maybe when an organisation changes they  stay more loyal to the cause than go with the organisation.  Do you thinkthe lack of a profit incentive has an impact though?  I mean, it's more difficult in a charity to prove that you are not working properly and need to change.  In a organisation where there's a focus on profit, surely when the profits start plummeting you have no choice but to change...

I think that's a fair point although it's probably wider than just the profit element as charities do need to run their financial affairs appropriately and shouldn't be carrying large negative balances.  The most successful charities run themselves like a business with an entrepreneurial approach and I think this is what is lacking in less successful charities.  There's also a lack of accountability ie no shareholders.  The trustees should be holding the charity management to account but too often are too close and lack perspective.  I can't see any reason why an organisation which has been set up on the basis of a social mission cannot also act in a business-like manner but in some circles in the charity world, words like profit, business, entrepreneur are tainted words!  As an ex-investment banker I do get the sense sometime when talking with charities that they are mentally crossing their fingers behind their backs to ward off the devil!

Well at least they only mentally cross their fingers behind their backs! I too have experienced a mistrust of business and management language and wonder if it isn't time we in charities made our peace with the business world and accepted there is some excellent and not so good practice in all sectors....

 I agree with you about the lack of an entrepreneurial approach, though I think that's difficult when funders want us to hit demanding objectives  -  it can be difficult to be entrepreneurial when you're afraid of making mistakes and not hitting targets.  We might have got overly fixated on those targets though and risk losing sight of our overall purpose in our anxiety to keep funding..

There are always two sides to these things...and just to present the other one, I attended an Open Space event recently where a charity got 120 plus of its staff, volunteers, donors and service users (young people) in a room to talk about their shared future.  The upshot of the day was a massive cry for change.  With no reticence.  Even though it is a very successful organisation, when you ask its people how it can get better, create even greater impact for more young people - they can see huge opportunity for development.  And they had no hesitaiton in using 'corporate tools' to help liberate their thinking...  tools can be adapted to our ways and our jargon (and perhaps we have even more of that than the corporate sector!).

Of course the change curve that this kind of event will stimulate is bound to have its challenging moments....but the front line of this organisation has given its leaders a mandate for change and are hugely engaged in the process.