What keeps you up at night?

As a small staff association professional, what are you constantly thinking about?

I’m willing to bet everyone’s answers are different. And rightly so. Every organization is different.

Is it funds? Technology? Manpower? The economy?

What do you do when a situation you can’t control comes up?

By “uncontrollable situation,” I mean things such as steep declines in membership, reduced funding or grants or loss of a donor or sponsor. (A lot of these have to do with funding, don’t they?)

Deep breaths and … focus.

The difference between small and large associations is that in a small organization, every staff member can be involved in crisis management. Not only is this is a great way to help younger staffers grow, but everyone will have a different perspective and opinions. If your organization is small enough, this won’t create a “too many cooks” situation.

It’s important to recognize which problems you can control and which you can’t. And it’s important to be adaptable to sudden changes and shifts in membership and sponsors.

How adaptable are you? As a small staff association professional, do you think you have to be more amenable to changes?

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