| How do I manage an office in the digital age? | Embrace the idea that you're a technology person and you'll be learning new things for years to come. Then identify the digital skills you need on your team and create a plan to develop those skills. |
There hasn’t been a great nonprofit management book in the last decade. At least not one that describes digital capacity and how to run an “office” in the 21st Century.
Most principles and values of social impact work are unchanged. We still try to bring about equity and sustainability while protecting the places we live and love and empowering individuals and under-represented voices. We still work through direct services and advocacy for systemic change, and we still do it all without enough resources.
What we do hasn’t changed very much in the last century. How we do it has changed enormously.
Digital technology has a big impact on the social impact world (as it has on every corner of society). Twenty years ago, a typical nonprofit organization closely resembled other post World War II organizations.
We needed a physical base of operations, a tremendous amount of storage space, and a system for communicating information to people across the country (usually through mailing and media campaigns). The stereotypical volunteer job was to lick stamps and knock on doors.
Today, every aspect of our work has been touched by digital capacity: our ability to communicate and store data across distances. Organizations can operate with remote teams. Computers communicate with the public and collect donations directly. Data is stored in the cloud and accessible all day every day from any location. There are profound implications for every aspect of organizational life – and for office managers in particular.
To be an “organization”, someone needs to create spaces and capacity for people and information to come together. Whether you call them an office or operations manager, the admin person, or the executive director, this person is key regardless of size. And golly, has their role changed in the last decade.
Every aspect of office life is now shaped by digital technology:
Digital capacity touches all areas of office-work. Office managers are responsible for procuring, maintaining, and teaching the systems that power our work. They are responsible for the computers and physical devices that staff and volunteers use; some software — like Google Docs or Outlook — is common to all office environments, while other software — like donor databases, custom smartphone apps, and volunteer management systems — is unique to social impact work.
On top of the software and devices, office managers must digitally adapt old communications and HR practices. Common questions – like how to organize an effective staff meeting and how to manage a workforce – have different answers today than they did even five years ago.
If you are learning admin and digital tech on the job, you’re not alone. To begin with, there are very few training programs that prepare someone for the life of a nonprofit office manager. On top of that, tools and skills and communications styles are changing rapidly. Whether you’ve been in your role for years or months, there is a very good chance that you are trying to figure out better ways to do things.
If you’re looking for help navigating the world of operations and digital tech, it might be time to start a self-assessment.
These tips will also help make the journey a little easier:
Being an office manager may be your dream job. You may love connecting and empowering a group of people and taking care of the systems that support their work. Or the work may have landed in your lap because someone has to do it. Either way, administrative work is part of social impact.
How we bring about change has always been the hard part of impact work. Technology, human relationships, systems and routines have always been puzzles that need to be solved to create change. Movements have always succeeded or failed based on their ability to communicate, to maintain relationships and momentum, and to stay focused on their goals.
Tools come and go, but the work remains.
To explore your organization’s digital capacity, try the NTEN assessment to find the largest areas you can shore up your work.
The Organizer is a newsletter for people working to create equitable and sustainable communities. Whether you are part of a nonprofit, a charity, or a social enterprise, this newsletter is for you.
Each edition, we explore one aspect of social impact work. We answer a common “How do I …?” question, and we tell you about a tool that will help make your work a little easier. Subscribe for free at Entremission.com.