This week’s 3 Things is going to stray from a norm a bit.  Instead of offering insights and advice to help you “do more, better,” we are instead going to focus on an issue campaign we’ve been working on in our “spare” time.

For the past couple of weeks leading up to tax day (today), we’ve been joining activists from around the country and tweeting, blogging and taking pictures of all the things that our tax dollars provide for which we are grateful.  You can check out the little video we made here – but only if you promise not to laugh.

Too often the American public forgets about the direct tie between the taxes we pay and the amazing services we get as a result.  And, studies have shown that when you tie tax cuts to the services that will be adversely effected as a result, people are less likely to support the cuts.

So, in the spirit of thankfulness, here are the top 3 Things for which we are grateful that are provided by our tax dollars:

1. The public schools and universities that gave us the education to be productive citizens

2.  The roads, bridges and public transportation that help us get to where we need to be

3.  The US Armed Services that keep us safe and the benefits they receive in return for their service.

And 3 more:  the public sewer system; trash collection; safe food & water laws.

And another 3:  street signs; bike paths; 911 responders.

What do you thank taxes for?  Join the conversation at www.thanktaxes.org!

(NOTE:  We’d like to give a shout-out to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota who had the original Thank Taxes idea and allowed us to get involved and be helpful in spreading the word!)

In light of the historic health care reform victory early this week, we thought it would be nice to take a moment to reflect on productive ways to follow up a win. Sometimes it seems those victories are few and far between (at least for those of us on the progressive side of the political aisle), and we’ve seen movements, causes, and candidates lose momentum a lot faster than they ought to after a big win. So we’re offering up our 3 things on how to make the most of a victory.

1. Enjoy the moment. Even the biggest wins usually include some compromises. Nobody ever gets everything they want (and there’s not always agreement about what “everything” means).  Take the time in the immediate aftermath of the win to just celebrate the win.  Be inspired and inspiring. Give high fives all around.  Yes, there’s still much work to do and you’ll get right on that – but for a little while, take the lead in enjoying the win rather than focusing on what’s still on the horizon.

2. Be generous with gratitude. This is a big one.  Whether a volunteer made 1 call or 1,000, it is vital that you really take the time to thank everyone who was involved in the victory; including: the staff, the board, the volunteers and the movement partners.  And don’t just thank those who helped you in the final stretch.  Usually these victories have come as the result of years, or decades, of struggle.  Putting the win into perspective will also help you better enjoy the moment (see #1).

Thank yous can involve everything from blast emails, to personal emails, to hand-written notes.  The more involved a person was, the more time-consuming the thank you should be.  An email is fine for all those volunteers who came out every once in a while; but, those 20 individuals who were there every week, rain or shine, deserve at least a hand-written note from someone important in the organization (Executive Director or Board President).

And don’t forget about the organizational partners you’ve been working with.  Make sure you draw attention to their efforts in your public communications.  Now is the time for generosity as nothing builds strong teams like victories.

3. Use the Momentum. So, you probably didn’t get everything you wanted this time around.  Now is the time to ride the wave and flex your newly toned muscles to tackle the next big thing – whether it’s tweaking this bill, or looking at another issue altogether.  You will never have this much support, focus and good-will again, so make sure you’ve got the plans and capacity to take the next steps once the celebration is over.

And, 3a. Learn Lessons. Before you rearm for battle, it is vital to get all the major players – whether within your organization or with external movement partners – in a room (think retreat style brain-storming getaway) and make an honest assessment of what went well and what you could have done better (even with a win, there is always room for improvement).  Then look at how to apply those lessons learned to the next challenge.

Did we miss anything from the list?  Drop us a line and let us know about some of your hard-fought wins how you celebrated the victories! And happy health care, to one and all!  Thanks for anything and everything you did to help expand coverage, protect the covered from having their policies rescinded when care is needed, and ensure no one can be denied coverage for a preexisting condition.

Below are 3 Things to help you write a great job description…which will lead to great applicants…which will allow you to hire a great new team-member!

1) Remember the point. Before you get started, it can be helpful to keep in mind the purpose of having a job description in the first place.  The point is to take anyone who might ever be interested in your open position, tell them about the job, and have them self-select whether or not they are willing & able to do it.  You do NOT want everyone applying to your job…you only want those who are willing and able to do it (well)…so you need to be up front about the tasks, requirements and expectations.

2) Think it out. Don’t just make slight changes to an old job description and call it a day (you know you’ve done it).  Prior to actually writing anything, sit down (if this person will be working with/for a team, sit down together) and really think through both what kind of personality and what kind of professional experiences your ideal new employee will possess.  Do this by asking yourself questions like:  Do we need a natural extrovert who can build relationships quickly?  Do we need a self-starter who doesn’t need a lot of direction?  Do we need someone who follows directions well and doesn’t question authority?  What drives me crazy in an employee?  What will a typical day-in-the-life of this employee look like?

Once you have the answers to these questions, separate then into a “wish list” and a “must list.”  Use your “must list” to build the “Necessary Qualifications” section of the job description.  Use the “wish list” to build the “Preferred but not required” section.  It is okay to allude to, or even be upfront about personality traits this employee must possess.  For example:  “The ideal candidate possesses the ability to build relationships quickly with potential new partners,” should prevent any introverts who don’t like meeting new people from even applying and wasting your valuable time.

(Side note:  You can teach facts, you cannot teach personality or experiences.  Keep that in mind as you build your “must” and “wish” lists.  Very often prior experience with your specific issue should fall under “wish” and not “must.”)

3)    Be specific. It is important to be as specific as possible when writing the tasks, responsibilities and expectations of the job.  This is a big part of getting only the applicants who are willing & able to perform those tasks to apply.  If you are hiring a personal assistant, don’t just say “various office and administrative tasks as assigned.”  Instead, list responsibilities such as:  “Accurately maintain Executive Director’s schedule,” “Prepare clear and concise briefing materials for Board of Directors,” “Maintain the office filing system in an up-to-date, orderly and user-friendly manner,” “Coordinate all staff travel and travel-related affairs,” “Must be proficient in basic computer programs such as Microsoft Office and Internet Search platforms.”

It can also be helpful to be specific about the working environment in the job description.  Whether the person will be working alone from a satellite office versus working in a noisy, bustling office can mean the difference between a person being a good fit, and therefore applying, or not.

And while you’d rather be in the position of having too many good candidates than not enough, you also don’t want to spend any of your valuable time reading the resumes of, and interviewing, a bunch of extroverts who prefer working in a team when you need an introvert who can work alone.  Especially when that problem could have been solved by having written a clear, accurate and honest job description.

1. Know who you want to train. This might sound like a “duh,” but you’d be surprised at the number of trainings we’ve helped organize where that simple question wasn’t answered.  A training can be organized to teach 10 new staffers a new skill, or to help instruct 1,000 activists to do what you need them to do.  Regardless of the audience, knowing who you want to train is the first step to planning a successful event that will help you reach your goals.  Having this answer will help everything else fall into place:  curriculum, recruitment, etc.

(Quick Tip:  if you need to recruit several new organizers for open positions, a great way to find and identify potential talent is to organize a field training around your issue.  Work with partner organizations to recruit attendees and identify trainers, then sit back and watch the participation with a special eye toward the super-stars you may want to hire.)

2. Know what you what to teach. A vital second step for any training program is to identify the ultimate knowledge goal of the training and target curriculum and trainers that best achieve those goals.  If you’re training a group of new staffers, the answer to that might be:  a) a better understanding of our issue; b) who our grasstops supporters, opponents and targets are; c) the best way to convey our issue (messaging) to new people.  If it’s a group of new volunteers it might be:  a) how to knock on doors; b) how to conduct a 1-1 meeting with a potential new ally; c) how to enter data into our database.

Work backwards by asking the question:  “what do we need participants to know when they walk out of the training?”

3. Recruit strong trainers and let them lead the way on curriculum developmentMany people don’t know that if you organize a training and identify industry or subject leaders to actually teach the subject matter, most of these professionals will be willing to create their own curriculum (in fact, many already have power points and materials they’ve created for other trainings they’ve done in the past). What you’ll need to provide is clear direction and learning goals (see above).  Aside from taking something off your plate, you’ll actually get better materials – your trainers are the experts after all…