Feel confident as you manage staff transitions
Written by Niki Juhasz
So, your communications director is leaving. And you’re happy for them – really, you are. (Or not so much. We don’t judge.) But that makes your life just a little harder for the coming weeks, because your most important audiences still need to hear from you while you replace them!
This is a common challenge we’re seeing with so many of our nonprofit, foundation and school district partners. (You’re not alone! There’s significant turnover in communications this year.) That’s why we’re sharing our step-by-step recommendations for what to do next.
Step 1: Start with Your Humans
At Forthright, we have a People First culture – that means we always start with our internal team, and we recommend you do the same! Think through:
Who you need to share the news with.
For example, does your comms director have direct reports?
Do they work closely with your development team?
With your director of student affairs?
Nonprofit partners and fellow advocates?
It’s important that your team members don’t hear the news through the grapevine or feel left out of next steps.
How this will impact those stakeholders. Remember, you’re sharing news about their work life and work load with them.
Are you asking them to take on some of the director’s tasks?
Will they report to someone else?
It’s important to consider what this MEANS for each team member – and to plan for it.
How you can give them the space and time they may need to process. Changing the team dynamic can be hard! Make sure your team has the safe space they may need to ask questions and process the news.
Once your internal team is taken care of, you’re ready to make your plan for next steps.
Step 2: Determine What HAS to Happen
Depending on your communication team’s size, your comms director might handle ALL of your communications – and even some of your policy and grantmaking tasks, too. Or they may manage a team that helps get it all done. As you plan your interim coverage, consider:
What HAS to happen. From social media posts to regular newsletters to stories for your year-end-giving campaign, your comms director manages a lot. Oftentimes clients will hire us to step in and serve as the interim communications director, which means we help with this prioritization. Start by putting together a full list of what your comms director manages, along with why that’s on their list. For example, if your donors are expecting your annual report – and your development team relies on it for fundraising – then you’ll want to make sure this still goes out on time.
What you can eliminate from the departing person’s list. Then, ask yourself – is there anything we can pause without impacting our mission and work? The thing is, not all of it HAS to happen. For example, do you post a video per month on YouTube, with low engagement? It’s likely your audiences won’t notice if you don’t post for a couple of months. Recycle old videos of your content instead.
What you can delegate. Then, consider who can take over the tasks that must continue. For example, if you live tweet local policy hearings – and this moves your policy agenda – then consider who has the expertise to thoughtfully tweet these hearings. Talk with that person’s boss (and that person!) to figure out next steps. If you just won’t have additional capacity on the team, think about outside resources. We’re often tapped to pick up an important project – like running a must-do policy campaign – so that the internal team can focus on the core of their jobs while an organization makes a hire. What you’ll take off your team members’ plates in the meantime. Say it with me: we don’t want to burn out our team. If you’re adding responsibilities to your team members’ plates, make sure you’re also taking tasks off to ensure you’re not overloading them. This is extremely important for your team’s long-term happiness – and to ensure you’re not looking to fill *their* position in the coming months.
Once you’ve answered all of these questions, you can create a well-balanced interim plan.
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Step 3: Launch a Smart Search for Your Next Comms Director
Finally, it’s time to find the perfect addition to your team! Here’s the good news – we have resources to help you along the way:
And for the final unofficial step: treat yourself to a fancy coffee, that piece of cake you’ve been dreaming about or that glass of wine at the end of a long day. You’re managing a lot – but I have every confidence that you’ve got this. We’re right here with you.
