Give your staff more freedom, not less

Give your staff more freedom, not less

I often tell my clients, when it comes to data management, I'm a big liberal; I believe you should give as many staff as possible the ability to edit data within your data management system (with proper training, of course!). The point of a centralized data management system is not just to hold the data in one place, but to allow all staff to update that data when appropriate.

I've lost count of the number of organizations I've worked with where only one or two staff were allowed to update data within the AMS. If a staff person received a data change (e.g., new phone number, new title, new email) they would have to email the person who can update that data in the AMS. So the result is at least TWO people will have typed out (or at the very least cut-and-pasted) the same information (first the email, then into the database).

And I've seen a similar thing happen with editing the association's website. Often only one or two people are allowed to make edits, so any changes to the website have to go through these staff, which slows down the process and increases the opportunity for error.

My suggestion: train your staff and then trust them to do the work correctly. Isn't that why we pay staff?

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

Seek to simplify

February 19, 2020

Seek to simplify When I work with my clients on system selection or implementation, one […]

Some problems are not problems

February 12, 2020

Some problems are not problems “A problem with no solution is not a problem, it’s […]

UI Matters!

January 29, 2020

UI Matters! Almost since I began consulting over 20 years, I’ve noted how important the […]

Be careful with absolutes

January 28, 2020

Be careful with absolutes When I speak with clients I try to be careful about […]

New Year’s Resolutions

January 22, 2020

New Year’s Resolutions Why do New Year’s Resolutions fail? Research suggests that part of the […]

Why Process is So Important

January 15, 2020

Why Process is So Important One of my favorite business authors is James Clear, who writes all […]

The Significant Change of SaaS Software

January 7, 2020

The Significant Change of SaaS Software One of the most significant technological changes in the […]

Always, ALWAYS budget for more training

December 18, 2019

Always, ALWAYS budget for more training Always, ALWAYS budget for more training. I don’t know how else […]

We’ve always done it that way

December 11, 2019

We’ve always done it that way A couple of weeks ago I wrote about approving memberships, […]

Are you sure it doesn’t do that?

December 4, 2019

Are you sure it doesn’t do that? Even after 20 years of consulting, I’m surprised […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top