Commonly Underused Program Resources

People and their time are incredibly underused (and misused) resources. The reasons are varied whether personal or societal. Organizations and program leaders have a responsibility to work within their scope to empower people and value their time. People are vital for the unique strengths they bring to a program, while their time is finite and divided across numerous daily demands. Story is arguably humankind's most powerful creation, and it can bring good an bad. Human services research can occur in various settings that have their own operating culture. At times that operating culture, through story, can take on an ethos that overshadows the real humans that exist within it. The latter is a slippery slope toward negative outcomes like underused program resources. 

In this scenario where the program's operating culture has an outsize story, the people on the program team can lose track of their role and its associated power to effect change. For example, if the operating culture is so strict in its program processes that there is no room to innovate or voice concern, then the program team will approach the program automatically, without exerting their unique strengths to rigorously execute the research and build the story necessary to a program that matters. Organizational leadership is critical to manage how operating culture is impacting the people on the program team. Just as within a program, the story must be propelling and supporting the needs of the stakeholders affected, not the other way around--the story is still just a story after all. It is meant to be rewritten, as stakeholder needs evolve and new ideas built on better evidence are generated. 

While time use is also affected by operating culture, it is more likely to be an underused resource related to missed communication opportunities. People squander time when they are confused about next steps; whether that confusion results from lack of leadership, schedule confusion, limited understanding of output expectations, etc. Here is where program leadership is key to regularly monitor for this type of blocker as part of standard program processes, so team members feel accountable to and supported by program leadership to raise blockers they may be experiencing to execution. This monitoring process is most successful when program staff do not feel personally judged and program leadership are effective at resolving the blocker (at a minimum program leadership is empathetic to the frustration associated with blockers that are not immediately able to be resolved). 

Ultimately, an effective operating culture and proactive leadership can make better use of staff and their time. Fully using program resources is beneficial to morale, outcomes, and organization reputation. It is a success that matters to distribute staff strengths across the program execution needs, which is easiest to do in a supportive operating culture that is open to reimagining the story for the better. Time is best used when program team members are supported to speak out when they are stuck, overwhelmed, available, etc. It is also an opportunity to remain vigilant the the context unfluencing the program and recognize when a pause or pivot may be in order to prevent spending time on an output that is overcome by late breaking events.

Bottom line: People and their time are paramount to having a program that matters; a supportive operating culture and responsive leadership will make the most of these resources.