Whether your organization is directly engaged in electoral politics or not, elections impact just about every issue we care about.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen primaries, midterms, and general elections, with seismic consequences. TMC clients are navigating ruptures. Communities are under attack. Social justice leaders are responding to threats, funding loss, and more, while demonstrating that the work they do matters and the better world is possible.
For nonprofit, education, and public sector managers, election-readiness means preparing for scenarios that would affect your staff, programming, or operations before, during, and after Election Day.
Here are five concrete ways managers can get election-ready.
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1. Check on your people.
The work won’t happen (at least not well) if your people are not okay.
Many of us experience stress and uncertainty during election seasons. We also all cope differently. While some people throw themselves into work, others need more space. Take stock of where things stand with the people you manage. It could be as simple as saying, “There’s a lot going on right now. How can I support you?” For more ideas, try these check-in questions.
2. Make space in the suitcase.
When stakes feel high and everything’s moving quickly, we need to find spaciousness. We advise clients on goal-setting in chaos and uncertainty and one of our main tips is to “leave space in the suitcase.” The lighter your load, the more nimble you can be. Too many goals (and tasks) make it hard to adapt, make good decisions, or seize new opportunities. When things get overwhelming, the solution isn’t just reprioritizing (though, this is important too); it’s deprioritizing.
Start with your organization’s purpose and mission. Consider what it calls you to do (and not do). Then, answer this: What are your non-negotiable top priorities right now?
If it’s hard to answer such a big question, try this:
- Ask: If I knew I/we could only successfully accomplish three things between now and the end of the year, what would I choose?
- Answer using even/over statements. For example, “We would prioritize our election protection efforts even over our mutual aid work.” It might be painful to think about letting go of some of your most important work… and that’s kind of the point. When push comes to shove, you’ll need to make hard choices anyway.
Once you’ve identified your top priorities, find ways to lighten the load:
- Projects and tasks: Identify the things that you can put down during your busiest periods. Not forever, just for now.
- Time and flexibility: Identify places you can offer more flexibility. Moments of organizational pause (even a half day here and there) ensure that everyone takes a minimum amount of time to rest, recover, and reset.
- Could you give time off for volunteering or voting (in some states, you might be legally required to!)?
- Could you add an org-wide office closures to the calendar or repurpose already-scheduled staff time, especially if your organization is in the thick of election work.
In 2020, one of our clients emailed their staff to acknowledge the potential impacts of the election on their team and remind the team about available support, including time off and optional space to process.
3. Assemble an election planning/response team.
For social justice and education equity organizations, Election Day can feel like just another milemarker in a very long marathon as ballots get counted, sectors reassemble, and masses mobilize.
Whether it’s your leadership team, a new working group, or an individual staff person, make it someone’s job to answer two questions:
- What are possible outcomes we need to plan for?
- What can we do to set our team up for success?
Our Scenario-Planning tools can help.
After Election Day, this team may need to function like a rapid response team, helping your organization navigate and make decisions as new developments arise. So prepare for that, too.
4. Pack a “go-bag.”
In the worst case scenarios, you might need to abandon the suitcase and grab your “go-bag” instead. Your organizational go-bag contains the things you’ll need to make a significant shift from “business as usual” to “all hands on deck.”
Include things like:
- Clear MOCHAs for rapid response situations, including designated point people for lawyers, media, and other third parties
- Up-to-date emergency contact information for staff, contractors, and key partners
- A phone tree for rapid communication
- Designated decision-makers and backup decision-makers
- Instructions and permissions for key assets (cash, supplies, office access, etc.)
5. Plan for connection and communication post-Election Day.
After a major event, the leadership response within the first 24 to 48 hours sets the tone and direction for moving forward. Elections are no different. Consider scheduling a post-Election Day debrief so your team can connect and process.
Use these questions to think through how you’ll communicate with your team:
- What will it be like for staff to show up to work the day(s) after Election Day?
- How will you ground yourself and hold space for the myriad feelings and reactions on your team?
- How will you equip your team to serve your community and stakeholders?
- How will you handle internal communication with your team about your purpose, plans, and policies?
The Management Center is a 501c3 organization that helps leaders working for social change build equitable, sustainable, and results-driven organizations via trainings coaching, and online resources and tools.