What held technology back in my previous organization was lack of organizational communication, the generation gap, penny-pinching, catchall job descriptions without ROI expectations, high turnover with no organizational memory, and lack of management, period.
For example, we could have had our Salesforce database in place last May if we had buyin from the CEO for data migration by a consulting company. He kept wanting second and third opinions, trying to find a cheaper way to do it. I did online research, and there was no one cheaper. I printed out NTEN's report, as well as emailing it to him, on the cheapest databases, and polls by other nonprofits, and he didn't even read it. Every time we met, he said, "We'll talk about this later" and although I kept bringing it up, he kept thinking of new ways to dodge the subject. In the end, he blamed ME for the lack of database, despite the fact that I could not move forward without his approval.
In addition, there were no measurable outcomes expected for our online outreach, including facebook, myspace, linkedin group, twitter, google adwords grant, and website. Even though my job description included marketing, he did not want me to spend any money on it. I never had a budget. So I went to newspapers and radio only rarely, and instead did what I could with the tools available, getting out the word everywhere I felt people would listen, constantly updating and thanking new members on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and the Google Adwords account. Our groups grew, and people appreciated the updates. But he never acknowledged what I had done, or told me what he wanted to get out of that, never did research on new media, even though i photocopied several pages of the "cluetrain manifesto" and gave it to him.
So I don't know what to suggest, other than get into an organization where people are able to have good organizational communication, manage you, and listen to you.
What do you think holds technology back? |
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missmazarine's journal
