Again 1,000,000 years in the past (I’m speaking early 90s right here) throughout my first job out of faculty at a federal company, we used routing slips for every little thing. It was a technique to share a standard merchandise (whether or not {a magazine}, a brand new handbook or a draft of one thing) and to ensure everybody noticed it. Everybody’s identify could be on the slip and that was hooked up to the doc. While you did your half, whether or not simply studying the doc or making feedback on it, you then initialed the routing slip and gave it to the following individual on the listing.
With so many extra on-line instruments now and with employees typically not working in the identical bodily areas, we don’t see these paper routing slips almost as a lot anymore.
However that operate — guaranteeing everybody has seen one thing and infrequently in a specific order — continues to be extraordinarily related to nonprofit communications work.
Immediately, the routing slip operate may be partially or totally automated by your mission administration software program. When Individual A checks it off of their to-do listing, it would robotically be despatched to Individual B. Or Individual A would possibly manually assign it to Individual B.
Or perhaps you employ a shared docs system the place you ask individuals to touch upon the doc, and then you definitely handle the entire feedback and ship out the ultimate copy to somebody (or someones) for closing overview.
No matter what it bodily appears to be like like on paper or on a display, you want some type of normal routing course of in your work as a communications professional. For those who don’t have one now, that’s probably a giant supply of your frustrations at work.
I encourage you to visually map this route out. First, consider the trail that your work merchandise observe as they transfer from concept to task to first draft to draft that will get reviewed by others, to finally a completed product that will get printed. You could have many various paths, relying on what it’s you’re creating. Ideally, this path is pretty clear and straight, however we all know in actuality that the trail could double again on itself generally!
Now right here’s the routing half: Who’re the those that contact that work product alongside the best way? What are they imagined to do with it? How does it transfer from one individual to a different? Does it all the time come again to you in between every step, or can it go instantly from one individual to a different?
And the way does that occur? Are you doing this by way of mission administration software program? Or by way of a sequence of emails? Or throughout conferences?
Managing this complete course of, the individuals in it, and when every step occurs is a HUGE a part of your work as a communications skilled, despite the fact that this duty is never if ever named instantly.
So what does your “routing slip” appear like, whether or not it’s bodily or digital? I’d love to listen to about it!
