The nature of this work is extremely time sensitive with lots of moving parts. That means many of the tasks are daunting, and procrastination can cause your team to miss out on money. This is why it is essential to have procrastination-busting practices in place.
- Have a Master Calendar
We have talked about this before in developing a grants management system. A master calendar with deadlines and tasks delegated is essential to prevent procrastination. Include alerts weeks and days out before deadlines. This will also provide tools for prioritizing projects and budgeting time, and give your employees leeway if they need to delegate or shift around duties should emergencies or other extenuating circumstances arise.
- Establish accountability structures
This is not a disciplinary structure, but rather an accountability mechanism. Establish a structure to enable your team members to check in on each other throughout the project. This happens organically to an extent because there is a task chain for completion. However, timing accountability check-ins can be an art form. You must walk the line between micromanaging or being overbearing and providing helpful accountability to enable your team to meet unforgiving grant deadlines.
- Effective delegation
Having too much or too little on one’s plate breeds procrastination. The best way to prevent this is to delegate tasks in a balanced and effective way. As you work with your team, you will cultivate and understanding of everyone’s strengths and general workflow. This will allow you to delegate tasks in the most efficient and effective way. When people can manage their workload, this prevents both burnout and boredom and in effect prevents procrastination.
- Work on something else.
The good news about grant writing is that there are so many moving parts that if you get hung up on one aspect, there are always more sections to work on or more research to do. Sometimes you can even beat procrastination on one grant by working on another. Sometimes it just takes getting in the flow of writing by working on one section to bring it back around to working on what you were trying to focus on in the first place.
Sometimes the workload just gets too overwhelming to manage. We are here to help. At Boyd Grants, we provide coaching, consulting, and grant writing services to ensure you make your deadlines and get the funding your organization needs. For more information visit www.boydgrants.com.
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