It is 2022, and Smith Strategies is stepping into our newest role for nonprofit and social enterprise organizations – Operations Strategist. I know, yes I know — you are racking your brain with thoughts on…”What exactly does that mean, and do I need one of those?” Well, let’s talk about it!
Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself…
For those of you who are meeting me for the first time, or it has been a minute since we last talked, my name is Aarica J. Smith. I am the Founder and Chief Strategist at Smith Strategies & Consulting, my consulting firm that provides coaching and consulting in operational strategy to help nonprofit and social enterprise organizations move forward in achieving their mission.
I started the company in 2016 to help individuals create their nonprofit organizations and develop their board members into strong leaders of the organization. As my skillsets of project management and concept development continued to build in my career, I found myself loving the operations aspect of organizations.
I enjoy working behind the scenes to help organizations reach their goals with project planning, stakeholder communications, and implementation. My career has included a variety of roles in the nonprofit industry, including event manager, fundraiser, corporate account director, program director, multi-certified Salesforce consultant and an operations lead.
In each of these roles, my gift and zone of genius is still the same: Building Relationships and Execution.
What is an Operations Strategist?
As an operations strategist, I look at the current processes and systems that organizations have in place and work to improve them, making them more efficient and specific to the needs of the organization. Examples of work we have done include:
- Created an online intranet site to provide company news and resources to staff
- Developed company policy manuals and handbooks
- Developed operational processes, including continuous improvement, recruitment, performance management and vendor management
- Project managed org-wide events & conferences
- Facilitated board/staff meetings, planning sessions and retreats
- Managed cross-functional projects with timelines, status update reports and risk mitigation
- Led change management initiatives to implement new onboarding and training processes for staff
Okay, But Do We Really Need An Operational Strategist?
Every organization needs a champion to get their initiative to the finish line, however, some organizations may not have the resources or the time to dedicate their current resources to this initiative. Just a few questions for you…
- Does your mind swirl with ideas or initiatives that you know would be fruitful to develop the concept, but haven’t had the time to do so or found the right person to do it with?
- Do you have a program or initiative that you have been wanting to launch, but just not sure when you can devote yourself to doing it?
- Does your current process or system need an updated or complete overhaul, but you are not quite sure where to start?
- Would it be nice to have a champion work in their zone of genius regarding operations and project management, alleviating you and your team to continue moving forward in your respective zones of genius?
These are just some of the thoughts are clients have asked themselves, and to answer your question, YES! Our goal is to make provide organizations with the clarity to move forward with plans to their goals, as well as the freedom and confidence to know that you are working with a stellar, tenacious team that knows how to execute by any means. Your champion has arrived! Let us come in and support your team to meet its operational goals.
What Services do we offer?
The great thing about our offerings is that we can support your organization in whichever stage of implementation that you are currently in.
- Planning Stage — If you are just getting your feet wet on your new concept and want to get an idea of how heavy (or light) the lift would be to implement this new concept, our From A to C in 90 Mins offer will do the trick. We host discovery sessions with key stakeholders to understand the requirements and expectations for the new concept, and we provide you with a clear plan to move forward, including proposed project plans and timelines.
- Implementation Stage — Say you have done the planning, but need support on the execution of the plans. Or, you need help with both, the planning and the execution. Check out our It’s Handled: Strategic Implementation offering, where our team will work the plan, provide weekly status report, implement and provide reflective summaries and recommendations at the conclusion of the work.
Have an engagement that needs a longer commitment? We have our Premiere Partnership Program, where we will come in to be your in-house strategist, partnering with your team to implement long term engagements and operational support.
What about the Previous Services, like Helping to Start a Nonprofit?
Smith Strategies & Consulting started with helping individuals, and we will continue to help individuals in manifesting their dreams of starting a nonprofit. We are excited to now offer self-paced, online courses that provide extensive details and templates to get your nonprofit started!
To see a list of the courses we offer, visit our Courses page. Courses are pre-selling for 15% off until April 1st! Be sure to pre-enroll today!