A common situation in small organizations is this: the finance department consists of a bookkeeper, the executive director’s background is as a program manager and there are no accountants on the Board. Many of these organizations are continually at the edge of a fiscal cliff and deal with ongoing crisis with staff cutbacks or skimping in other ways that actually hurt the organization. Even small nonprofits need to have a sound financial strategy. Some action steps should include:

Editor’s note: The following case study was submitted to us by Crisis Manager reader Antoni Lee, managing director of Australian communications firm Rhetorica. As Mr. Lee told us, “While the incidents themselves may now seem minor to some, the reputation and business damage is ongoing and significant.” Orica Takes Medicine the Hard Way It is …

Welcome to 2013! It’s not only a new year, it is a new age. Although the Mayans started it, I think it is only fitting that the rest of us join in. In business, I declare that we are entering the age of Intersectionalism! No longer will one discipline or idea have the scope to …

The foot-in-mouth disease continues to affect organizations and individuals worldwide Each year around this time Merrie Spaeth, former Director of Media Relations for President Reagan and current president of Spaeth Communications, announces her BIMBO of the Year awards. The BIMBO awards are meant to demonstrate the dangers of associating oneself with the very negative terms …

Our organization continues to downsize. We are getting a lot of “flack” from our managers saying there are not enough qualified employees to do the work in their department and everyone is overwhelmed and grumbling. Are they right or are they lobbying to prevent additional layoffs? Here are some examples of why they may, indeed …

Crisis management for a clash of modern vs. traditional communication While the rest of the business world has boarded the social media train, an incident earlier this month involving Netflix CEO Reed Hastings brought to light an important question: How do you avoid having your social media communications run afoul of regulatory bodies that are …

Experience of course. So is loyalty, dedication and a strong work ethic. However, none of these alone is enough to ensure your job security – that you continue to be employed in the future. You must add value. That means what you do contributes specifically to your organization’s bottom line. After all, you can work …

Part of a Technical Writers job is to create test plans and to communicate it to the Quality Assurance Team. The Technical Writer will be responsible for the standard test plan (see previous posts) for user acceptance testing to be performed, maintenance of an organized list of open issues, verification of resolved issues, and continuous …

How many of you in college or graduate school had a course, or even a workshop, on managing your career? I bet not many because too many young professionals and emerging leaders come to me for coaching with all kinds of career and leadership concerns. Career Intelligence #1 gave 20 real world practical ideas about …

In this season of peace, love, family, and a little madness, I have a list of holiday wishes for you. May all your projects close on time and on budget.