Episode 16: The Art of Productivity

Welcome to another edition of “Around with Randall,” your weekly ten-to-12 minute podcast about making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here's your host, the CEO and founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. 

I'm always so grateful when people join me here on “Around with Randall.” Thank you for your time. 

This week, I saw something in the Wall Street Journal, and then paired that with a conversation with a client and a gift officer to maybe pull some things together, to talk about a combination of productivity. and the idea of what you can do when you don't feel like being productive and why it's important.

So let's start with kind of the news piece and then we'll end, as we always try to do with the tactical, what can you do about it? So the Labor Department has recently released statistics as they track them regarding the productivity of the American worker and they do that through a various series of data pieces. You know, those employed, how much gross domestic product there is. There's a lot of math that goes into figuring out how much each worker's doing in the end. They come out with statistics and what's most important is not the actual number, but what are the trends? 

So it appears as if in the second and third quarters of 2020 in the middle of COVID, there was dramatic, dramatic increase in the productivity of the American worker, more than 10 percent increase in those quarters to give you context from 2000.

So we'll use just the century from 2000 through just before the great recession. Productivity was growing at a steady rate of somewhere about two and a half to 3 percent. But, once the great recession hit and then even after coming out of it, productivity dropped to less than 1.5 percent per year increase. And that's really problematic.

That means that one of the great engines of the American economy, hose that work and those that produce something, whether it's service or a product, aren't seeing great gains in the productivity. Whether that's because of innovation, because of the number of hours, because it's people aren't working as hard, lots of different factors can go into that.

But there were a lot of economists saying, this is unusual. This is not the standard growth that we've seen in the United States, particularly last 40-to-50 years. And then COVID hit and we've seen immense changes. Certainly a part of that is the nearly 30 percent drop in gross domestic product. So there's less just total things being produced.

But our workforce hadn't dropped quite as much and has increased productivity across the United States. Okay. So what does that actually mean? I just spent two-and-a- half to three minutes talking about macro economics. And some of you are like, I don't want to listen anymore, so let's make it a button. Let's make it more applicable.

What does greater productivity mean for you? Well, first and foremost, when productivity increases wages increase because there's greater either profitability in the for-profit sector or net revenue in the nonprofit sector. And normally those excess revenues get plowed back into the organization to some level, even in the for-profit world, when you have an owner or let's say you're a, a company that's held publicly, you don't hand out all the increased profitability. You put some of that back in. Maybe you hire more people. Maybe you pay your people better, which is generally what happens because new employees cost more. You're able to increase the increases in wages. So greater productivity should lead over time to higher wages, which is up. 

Positive, these greater profits also lead to greater purchasing power. If you have more money, you're likely to pay for more things. You're buying more things which becomes an economic engine in and of itself to create more productivity because there's more need for those products, greater profitability. So for you specifically, What we know is particularly an hourly wages raises more quickly when there's higher levels of productivity.

So what's this all mean for you as a nonprofit, either leader, or a gift officer, or executive, or someone who's working in a nonprofit? At the same time, we've seen this increase in productivity, I’ve had more and more people come to me and say, “I'm struggling to be. As we create as much focus, particularly since I'm at home or in my office where there's a lot less people.” I don't have anybody saying “I can't get my job done. I'm taking naps or eating Bonbons,” as my mom always used to like to say. It’s just that they're not as focused. 

It's not as productive as they want to be. And there's a lot of reasons for that. Their routines are routines have been changed, particularly if you're working from home and you used to work at an office. And actually that's proven to be incredibly effective from a productivity standpoint, but people are like, well, I sometimes lose where I'm at or I’ve not got as much drive as I thought I would have at two o'clock in the afternoon. I could be more effective. I want to get more done, but I don't feel like doing it.

We've been at this for a while. Coronavirus has been here for a little bit over a little under a year right now. And as a result, we're tired. People are tired. Their routines have been lost. Kids are at home. There's financial concerns. You have more people in a smaller space. Kids may not be as active.

I think about our kids and you know, we're lucky they're a little bit younger, but we're not doing YMCAs soccer or basketball, so they're around a lot more and they need more attention, more to do. Sometimes we have to help them do that. All of this leads to the question of how do I, if I'm at home or there's less people in our office, create a sense of focus drive to be as productive as I possibly can.

And this is the tactical piece. And so in these conversations, I try to help gift officers more often than not realize how important it is for them to really dial in and be effective at their job. And not just gift officers, but a lot of other non-profit leaders as well. So the tactical piece is I want to give you seven ways in which you might be able to become more effective, more productive, more focused, too.

Even if you're doing a great job now, even increase your valuable stature, nature, contribution to your nonprofit organization. So the first is this idea of what I call timed recollection. You can't physically be totally dialed in eight to 10 hours a day. Psychology would tell you your mind will drift when that happens.

It's important to grab that drift. And I think it's really helpful to take a moment and reflect. That recollection on why it is you're doing what you're doing. And maybe there's some parts of the job. You like a lot. There may be some other parts of the job that aren't as much fun. Maybe some of the things we liked the most are stewardship.

How about getting on the phone and calling someone and thanking them for their generosity? Not even ask them for a gift, just saying thank you. Can you imagine a more effective way to build energy inside yourself by being able to say, “We are so appreciative for the difference you're making.” I think that's tremendous recollection of why we like what we do. Or maybe it's the idea of just basic donor outreach. We get energy from building relationships. And it's the tedious other tasks that cause us to be maybe not as efficient or effective or productive. 

Let's talk about a couple of examples. Making cold calls is tough. Nobody likes it, or at least very few people do. Putting in your information into your CRM or the donor database, not most people's favorite. How about making sure if you're on the financial side, reconciling the books or doing some type of accounting? If you can remember that there were other things that led to that particular area that need to get that done, that might give you an energy to get back to it. I can't get there unless I get these other things done. I can't do the things I like until I get the other things done. And you can reward yourself. 

Number two, if I do this for 30 minutes, I can then go get a cup of coffee or run down the street and get a fancy cup of coffee, or I can go to lunch. Or I even do this with gift officer training. You're going to make phone calls for 30 minutes, and then you can go to the bathroom. So a reward creating a self-driven reward can get you to get some of these things done. 

Number three, I like the idea of creating to-do lists, but they have to be sensible. There's nothing worse than creating a to-do list and it's literally three pages long. And then you look at and go, I can't get this done anyway. I like to create what I call my short-term and my long-term and I I'm a big note card person. I have note cards with me at all times. Those note cards - on one side have the short-term, what are the things I have to get done in the next couple of days so that they’re top of mind, and then on the backside are the long-term, what things do I want to make sure I don't forget that when there's time I can get that done. So creating a manageable to do list is effective. It doesn't have to be note cards. You can do it through your iPhone or Android phone. You can do it through outlook. You can do it a myriad of different ways. I find writing things down and crossing them off works for me. And then every day I redo that note card. So there's, there's a fresh one so that I know what are the priorities on the front side and the long-term plans on the back. 

Number four, start small. If you have a big something to do, break it down into smaller tasks, baby steps. You’ll feel better about getting things done and will actually drive enthusiasm and momentum to get to the end result. If something's big and you can break it down into four steps, it's much easier to see it as it as a tangible, workable problem than just the big issue. That's that thing sitting on your desk, you don't know what to do with. 

Number five, find somebody else to do it with. I've had more success with gift officers who, when they are really struggling to make phone calls, they find a colleague maybe in the office or at home and say, “Hey, for the next hour or 11 this morning for an hour or 45 minutes, you and I let's both make phone calls or let's both put in our stuff into the CRM and then we will get back together and see how each other does.” It creates a sense of accountability and a sense of teamwork that makes that task much easier to get through and to surpass doing it with someone. And they don't have to be right next to you. In healthcare, I’ve got a lot of people in systems who are obviously, maybe not in the same hospital at all. In today's communication world, you can do this virtually. As I said at 11 o'clock today, why don't you and I both put in our stuff in the CRM and see if we get it done in an hour and hold each other accountable…do it with someone else. 

Number six, don't wait until you have all the pieces of the puzzle solved. The best example in this is the idea of when I work with with major gift officers about making qualification calls and they want a seven-page profile on everybody that they've never met. Sometimes you just have to do a very quick 15-second Google search and pick up the phone and call them. In non-major gift work, if you wait till you have the whole picture settled, you'll never get anything done. Sometimes you got to go 40-50 percent of the way there to let the puzzle all of a sudden take form and shape and color.

You may not - by-design - be able to see the full picture until you begin that process. I think about writers. It's really good that they’re really good when they're a terrific writer about getting something on a page and it will change, but it gets them going in terms of that creative spirit, to know that they're accomplishing something and building on it, and that then leads them to this idea of productivity and getting things done.

And finally, number seven, don't worry about failure. I don't know if I can get this done. I don't know what it's gonna look like. Worry about and focus on what you have to do to get it done. Most of the things we do, no one ever has to see if we think it's an utter failure, but it is an utter failure if you don't do anything at all.

So take a chance. So much if you're not in the public eye can be done and started quietly, and then you can jump forward and release it into a wider audience, if so, desired. Do not worry about the failure, worry about what needs to be done in terms of the tactical and worry less about the end result.

So there are seven tactical things you can think about this idea of role of reflection or recollection about what you love about your job and how things that maybe that aren't are tied to it and allow you to get to do it. Certainly create a reward for yourself, a cup of coffee, or just, I'm going to dial in for 30 minutes, then, then I can go down the hallway to the restroom. Create a list - that’s a to-do list -  but make it smart. Don't make it overpowering in terms of the numbers and maybe prioritize a little bit. Start small baby steps, critically important. Do it with someone else, find a partner who can help you create some accountability. Don't wait until you have everything done or knowledgeable about what this is going to look like. Get started and let it develop as you go. And finally, don't worry about failure. Just focus on the individual parts of this. Productivity is going to be important because non-profits are under stress financially.

And the more productive you are, the more likely you are to be more valuable to your organization and also to produce better results to help those in your community that use the service or the product or whatever it is your non-profit does. Non-profits are going to be critically important in 2021 because we're going to continue to fill holes in our communities that are filled with people who desperately need our help. And at the end of the day, that's why we do what we do. 

Just a couple of reminders before here at the end. I always hate this piece, but I get reminded if you like this podcast, two things, subscribe to it. It's on Spotify, Downcast, Apple. So it comes to you when it's released and share with four or five friends. It really, if you think this is helpful, if you found it by accident or you've been listening for a while, send it out to a few people and say, "Hey look, this, this is 15 minutes a week.” Hopefully it's helpful in, in your career with your non-profit, tactically enough, where you can maybe pull some things and make them applicable today. It’s just not about theory. 

Also, don't want you to forget about the blogs. I do a lot of other things over there. Those are 60-second reads, two - three times a week about our profession, about various aspects of nonprofit work, 60 seconds really worth your time. That's at HallettPhilanthropy.com. And if you want to send me an email about the podcast, uh, which is part of what today's was all about, uh, head up, uh, person who sent me an email. I think it was from ML who said, gosh, can you talk about not being As driven as I thought I would be, which led us to the productivity conversation. Email podcast@HallettPhilanthropy .com, two L’s  two T's HallettPhilanthropy.com. 

Or if you just totally disagree with me, send me an email. That's reeks, R E E K S, reeks@hallettphilanthropy.com. Let me know if you disagree, or if you have an addition, I really would love to hear what your thoughts. 

As I do each week, I want to conclude and say, this is a great profession. I love what I do. I hope you love what you do. You're making a difference. It's critically important. This is a vocational call to make our communities a better place. Non-profit work was built to fill these holes and help people that otherwise would have been forgotten. I hope you wake up every morning, like I do, thinking I really love what I do. I'm really fortunate. It's not perfect, but I'm making a difference and I love knowing that I can help other people. If you feel that way, then you're doing the right things.

And I think it's terrific. Remember my favorite saying …Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Then there are those who wondered what happened. We’re people who make things happen for people who are wondering what happened. And I can't think of a better way to spend a professional career.

We'll see you next time here on “Around with Randall.” Make it a great day.