There is no way to measure what you do,  if it isn’t clear what is expected of you – get clarity. 

As an Executive Director or Staff Member for an Improvement District you’re busy. There aren’t typically enough hours in a day to match your to- do list for the day.   Since you have a Board of Directors,  your to-do list  is bound to be a very varied list.   The one thing that will help to get clarity and avoid frustration is knowing what is expected of you.  If you can’t measure what you are doing, it’s because you aren’t clear on what you are expected to be doing .  Many times people set expectations in their mind, but fail to communicate those expectations – whether they are right or wrong. This lack of communication  causes frustration to all parties involved.  This is avoidable.

Here are a 4 things you can do to help you avoid frustration:

1.Meet with Board Members individually.

Go and meet each Board member at their place of business. Take them to coffee. Get to know them. Find out what is important to each of them.  Initially, these meetings may seem unrealistic in terms of time, especially if you have a large Board.   However consider these times a  small investment to make your job less stressful for the future.  You just may be surprised at the things you learn that you would have never learned in a Board room or general function.  s

2. Schedule a special meeting with your Board.

So that everyone is on the same page, get all the Board members together and set the expectation ahead of time that this may be more than an hour. Bring lunch in. Let them know that you are going to determine what is expected of you or you and your staff and a general outline of priorities of these expectations. Put everything in writing and then have each Board Member sign it so that everyone is clear what you are expected to be doing and for whom.

3. Keep track of  everything.  

Accountability is key for Executive Directors and their staff.  You should be keeping track of the things you do, no matter how insignificant you think they are.  Most ED’s I know are hard working, get it done kind of people who don’t sweat the small stuff and they will do things because they want to do the right thing.  Many times these extra things that are done aren’t tracked anywhere.  While that is admirable, at the end of the day you will still have to quantify what you are doing when you report to the Board.   Find a simple system like this one to help keep track of all those random requests you get from your property and business owners and you will be surprised by how quickly those “little” things amount to “big” amounts of your time.

4. Finally, realize that you cannot make everyone happy at the same time.

That doesn’t just mean Board Members, that means other Property and Business Owners too. Everyone “knows” that issues with their own business is a high priority for them. That doesn’t have to translate to high priority for you. With just with the sheer volume of owners that you engage with in your district, you need to establish some ground rules.  Be clear about what you can and cannot do ahead of time.  This will alleviate any additional frustration for everyone.

You can do this!

Those are just 4 quick things you can do  to help you stay out of frustration.  If I can stress just one of these I would pick number 4, because at the end of your day, you will have to realize that you can only do so much in 24hrs!