By Wasib Muhammad Director, Knowledge Management, Endeavour

Read Endeavour’s Letter to the Editor (re: “Using knowledge brokering to improve business processes,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2010) and the authors’ reply to Endeavour at mckinseyquarterly.com or the McKinsey Quarterly Facebook fan page

Abstract

Knowledge retention and sharing can be a significant challenge for organizations in the non-profit sector. Due to variability in volunteer retention and the scarcity of resources for volunteer and business process development, the approach of seeking external ideas from people in a variety of industries, disciplines, and contexts (Davidson & Billington, 2010) can prove to be invaluable as well as prudent for non-profits.

A recent McKinsey article, “Using Knowledge Brokering to Improve Business Processes,” talks about how private sector companies are applying open-source thinking to improve a range of core business processes. This Conversation Starter article expands upon Endeavour’s letter to the editor on the McKinsey article to discuss how Endeavour has been using knowledge brokering within the broader organizational framework to improve consulting processes and outcomes. Has your non-profit organization been using knowledge brokering to improve its processes and impact? Do you have success stories and lessons in knowledge brokering to share?

We invite you to comment on our blog, as well as suggest topics for future discussion.

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Knowledge Brokering – A look back

Knowledge brokering is one of the human forces behind knowledge transfer. It is a dynamic activity that goes well beyond the standard notion of transfer as a collection of activities that helps move information from a source to a recipient. Brokering focuses on identifying and bringing together people interested in an issue, people who can help each other develop evidence-based solutions. It helps build relationships and networks for sharing existing research, ideas, and stimulating new work. Knowledge brokering supports evidence-based decision-making by encouraging the connections that ease knowledge transfer (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, 2003).

The concept of knowledge brokering can potentially be applied to a very broad range of activities. To be useful as a concept, we need to be able to distinguish between situations within a specific context. Oldham & McLean (1997) propose three frameworks for knowledge brokering, namely: Knowledge system framework, Transactional framework, and Social change framework (Oldham & McLean, 1997).

For the purpose of this article, the following discussion only pertains to the social change framework.

This framework addresses the situation where the end-users, who need knowledge, are members of the general population. Knowledge brokering in this context relates to activities that enhance access to knowledge within society with the expectation that the enhanced access may directly or indirectly lead to positive social outcomes.

Role of the Knowledge Broker

Traditionally, the role of the broker is about bringing people together and acting as a negotiator who facilitates communication, access to information, and exchange of knowledge among team members (Higgins, 2000). In this sense, knowledge brokers act as intelligent change agents that stimulate difference and increase the number of external exchanges in a focused way, as well as creating momentum for action.

In regards to knowledge and skill, (Leonard, 1995) identifies three major types: public-specific, industry-specific, and firm-specific. Knowledge brokers facilitate the sharing of these three types of knowledge between the knowledge sources and knowledge needs. Besides their technical knowledge, knowledge brokers possess what may be called ‘relational knowledge’, allowing them to know what others know, while providing the managerial and physical tools to access that knowledge (Sousa, 2008).

Knowledge Brokers in Non-Profit Consulting and at Endeavour

In the non-profit sector, fulfilling the knowledge brokerage role not only becomes a necessity but it also comes with more responsibility. Primarily due to limited resources and the dependence on external funding, non-profits use knowledge brokers by matching both experience and the sector to share resources and facilitate best practices. At Endeavour, a non-profit consulting organization, knowledge-brokers form a key resource to most consulting engagements.

“…the impact of the knowledge broker is often unpredictably powerful because it is often their anecdotal presentation of their experience that creates a breakthrough for a team.”

– Judy Fields, Endeavour Engagement Manager, Spring/Summer 2009

In order to provide a meaningful experience to the consulting teams and the clients, each team has a knowledge broker assigned to facilitate knowledge sharing while providing insights on research and strategy, and sharing resources that facilitate client relations and project management from prior consulting experience. This is also a unique opportunity for Endeavour to engage past consultants in leveraging their volunteer experience and developing their skills as a mentor to the team.

“Because of Endeavour’s relatively short project cycles of six months, it’s important to hit the ground running and it makes sense to match knowledge brokers to projects based on their past experiences and technical skills. This role is almost a meld of knowledge brokering and being a secondary project advisor,”

– Jeannette Chan, Endeavour Knowledge Broker, Spring/Summer 2009

Given the nature of the engagement, the leadership of the engagement manager, and the team dynamics, the degree of engagement of the knowledge broker varies among the consulting teams. It has however been my experience – having volunteered both as a consultant and as a knowledge broker – that playing an active role provides an immense learning opportunity for not only the team, but for the knowledge broker as well. The opportunity not only exposes the consulting teams and the clients to innovative and industry-specific ideas, but also helps the teams to better direct their time and resources – the primary factors that can make the difference between an engagement’s success and failure.

Recruitment and Training of Knowledge Brokers

Knowledge brokerage is a unique role within the organizational context, primarily because the knowledge brokers are not ‘trained’ for the position and the role provides as much of a learning opportunity as it is designed to mentor. Hence, the training of a knowledge broker is essentially a culmination of their experiences in their practice area(s) and the past consulting engagement(s). Therefore, it will not be far from truth to say that, there is no fixed job description for a knowledge broker.

“Since there is such a broad range of skill sets on the team and many have never consulted or been an engagement manager, the knowledge broker can bring forward the finer points of getting to the final deliverable. For example, one team was really focused on doing a good job but was placing all the pressure on themselves to find the right answer. I steered them early on to explain that consulting is a relationship building business and getting to the right answer takes a lot of informal and formal conversation to build iterations of a solution and get final buy-in and if you build relationships you will get buy-in in most cases.”

– Judy Fields, Endeavour Engagement Manager, Spring/Summer 2009

In a 2002 article, Hargadon says that acquiring the skill for identifying existing knowledge and how to use it in subsequent projects is not easy (Hargadon, 2002); the fact that criteria for evaluating knowledge brokers is still evolving can make the job hard to fill. However, it is possible to list some of the skills that are necessary for effective knowledge brokering; blended with details of a specific organization’s needs and role, they could be worked up into a job description (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, 2003).

The Core Skill Set

While a one-size-fits-all job description is not possible, there are common core skills involved in knowledge brokering:

Skill Set	Description
Evidence gathering	In all cases, the ability to find relevant evidence is the key. Expertise in searching the web is crucial and one that can make knowledge brokering more efficient (Ofek & Sarvary, 2002)
Critical appraisal	Brokering requires sufficient knowledge to be able to assess information for its quality, relevance, and applicability to a given situation. Good background lets a knowledge broker quickly access knowledge capital to solve a problem (Breton, Landry, & Ouimet, 2002)
Personal attributes	The people who work well as brokers have a certain type of mind: flexible, curious, and able to see the big picture, to make links among a range of ideas and bits of information. Furthermore, self-confidence – not arrogance – is a necessary trait (Hargadon & Sutton, 2000). The knowledge brokers are generally imaginative, intuitive, inquisitive, and inspirational leaders who are capable of managing human intellect and helping to convert it into useful products or services (Smith, 2001). Their analytical skills enable them to figure out why some ideas fail while also picking up ‘hints about problems the idea might solve someday’ (Hargadon & Sutton, 2000).
Mediation	A successful broker probably has an entrepreneurial side and an inclination towards innovation and risk-taking (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, 2003).
Communication	Communication skills are deemed to be the most important skill for knowledge brokers. It is essential to use clear, simple, and effective language to communicate knowledge to a target audience. (Hartwich & von Oppen, 2000)
Curiosity and listening	Knowledge brokers are described as people who invest their time in moving around the organization, talking to as many people as possible, listening and establishing knowledge needs and corresponding expertise so that these can be connected (Hellstrom, Malmquist, & Mikaelsson, 2001)

Table 1 – The core skill set and attributes for a knowledge broker (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, 2003)

Breaking It Down

At Endeavour, a knowledge broker is a current or past consultant or engagement manager staffed for the duration of the consulting project based on their experience within Endeavour, as well as their background match with the practice area.

Moreover, in a recent effort to further the knowledge brokerage, an initiative to create a community of unstaffed knowledge brokers was undertaken with the premise of establishing knowledge sharing resources that can provide their perspective without any project bias.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrate the breakdown of current knowledge brokers by practice area and sector respectively at Endeavour.

Figure 1

“[In] a volunteer organization continuity of knowledge can be more at risk than a for-profit organization because it is just that – volunteer. The volunteer population generally is more transient than an employed staff and that is fine… Therefore having a continuous bank of knowledge brokers available helps fill these knowledge gaps” – Judy Fields, Endeavour Engagement Manager, Spring/Summer 2009

Figure 2

Conclusions

Knowledge brokers fill a very niche gap in any organization, particularly in the non-profit sector where they not only provide technical expertise but also the organizational knowledge that can very well be lost without these individuals. Furthermore, it provides the volunteer organization the opportunity to engage past volunteers in an active leadership role.

Currently at Endeavour, we are involved in a pilot program to provide peer mentors for the engagement managers, as the role requires the engagement managers to not only act as team leaders but also as project managers for the engagement.

Judy Fields is one of the peer mentors and she describes her experience as follows:

In my time as a mentor, I am having a very interesting experience as I am mentoring two very different people. One is senior and has been a manager and one who is junior and this is their first time managing a team. A lot of the general knowledge brokering activities apply to mentoring at the engagement manager level as per the points above; however, it takes it to the next level. For the more junior person I guided her by taking her obviously exceptionally good organizational skills and how does she add the people piece to that – i.e. what are the goals you and the team hope to get out of this process in serving the client. It was also by ensuring her that she could talk to me whenever needed about anybody and anything in the strictest confidence and it was okay to make mistakes. When I talked and shared my faux pas of the past, which created a comfort level for them out of the gate.

For the more senior person, there again it was a lot of knowledge brokering direction from the points above, however, her knowledge of people management was much greater so we focused my past experience on how to change the scope of the project so the team could provide value and ensuring them that this was absolutely okay. It’s about how to get to the right answer and giving them feedback on how to steer the client around and get buy-in on a new scope and get a statement of work signed off.

Of course, knowledge brokering is not the only form of support that Endeavour’s consulting teams receive during their projects. Each team has a dedicated project advisor drawn from Endeavour’s Advisory Board, as well as access to a committee of subject matter experts who provide guidance to project teams specific to their area of expertise.

However, it is the culmination of experiences between the project team, the advisors, the knowledge brokers, and the subject matter experts that distils into a successful engagement.

 

Author

Wasib Muhammad is currently Director of Knowledge Management at Endeavour, and has volunteered as consultant and knowledge broker at Endeavour. He currently works as a project manager at Rockwell Automation. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Design from McMaster University and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ryerson University.

Interviewees

Jeannette Chan is currently a member of Endeavour’s case competition committee, and has volunteered as a consultant, knowledge broker, and acting engagement manager at Endeavour. She currently works as a research analyst at the Toronto Region Research Alliance. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and Engineering (Engineering Science) from the University of Toronto.

Judy Fields has worked as an engagement manager, knowledge broker, and engagement manager peer mentor at Endeavour. Her career spans 20 years in aligning technical strategy and execution to organizational goals. Currently she provides as-needed consulting services to several organizations after enjoying a one-year sabbatical to spend time with family. Prior to this, she spent seven successful years at Tucows.com, including as VP, Operations and Planning.

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Works Cited

Breton, K., Landry, R., & Ouimet, M. (2002). Knowledge brokers and knowledge brokering: What do we know? Spring Institute of the Center for Knowledge Transfer.

Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. (2003). The theory and practice of knowledge brokering in Canada’s health system. Ottawa: Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.

Davidson, R., & Billington, C. (2010). Using knowledge brokering to improve business processes. McKinsey Quarterly.

Hargadon, A. B. (2002). Brokering Knowledge: Linking learning and innovation. Research in Organizational Behaviour.

Hargadon, A., & Sutton, R. I. (2000). Building Innovation Factory. Harvard Business Review.

Hartwich, F., & Von Oppen, M. (2000). Knowledge Brokers in Agricultural Research and Extension. M. von Oppen, Adapted Farming in West Africa: Issues, Potentials and Perspectives.

Hellstrom, T., Malmquist, U., & Mikaelsson, J. (2001). Decentralizing Knowledge: Managing Knowledge Work in a Software Engineering Firm. Journal of High Technology Management Research, 25.

Higgins, R. (2000). The success and failure of policy-implanted inter-firm network initiatives: Motivations, Processes, and Structure. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 111.

Kammen, J. v., Savigny, D. d., & Sewankambo, N. (2006). Using knowledge brokering to promote evidence based policy-making: the need for support structures. (84), 608-612.

Leonard, D. (1995). Wellsprings of knowledge: building and sustaining the sources of innovation. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Ofek, E., & Sarvary, M. (2002). Knowledge exchange and knowledge creation: should the emphasis shift in a competitive environment? INSEAD Working Paper.

Oldham, G., & McLean, R. (1997). Approaches to Knowledge Brokering. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2001/networks_knowledge_brokering.pdf

Smith, E. A. (2001). The role of Tacit and Explicit Knowledge in Workplace. Journal of Knowledge Management, 311.

Sousa, M. (2008). Open innovation models and the role of knowledge brokers. Inside Knowledge Magazine.

NEWS RELEASE

April 12, 2010

Toronto, Ontario – Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits (Endeavour) announced today an equivalent of $600,000 in consulting grants to eight non-profit organizations in the Greater Toronto Area for its Spring/Summer 2010 projects. The grants enable non-profit organizations that otherwise cannot afford consulting to receive assistance to help them improve their performance and community impact.

Today’s announcement will bring the value of Endeavour’s management consulting services to $2,325,000 by October 2010, representing over 29,000 hours donated by Endeavour through 32 projects [Footnote].  Instead of receiving a monetary grant, each client is matched with a consulting team for a six-month engagement. The teams are comprised of professional and student volunteers representing diverse expertise and experiences.

Alex Gill, Endeavour board member who runs a non-profit consulting and charity management firm, Mendicant Group, and teaches non-profit management and corporate citizenship at Ryerson University, said, “The private sector uses professional consulting all the time to improve, focus and learn. Unfortunately, this is a resource that many non-profits cannot afford. That’s why I am proud to support and mentor teams from Endeavour. The organization provides enthusiastic, professional volunteers who can help non-profits address many of their consulting challenges, and that’s a situation where everyone wins.”

Endeavour’s clients are early-stage to well-established non-profit organizations from many different sectors, with local to international reach. One of Endeavour’s new clients, Alli’s Journey, was created in 2006 by a young woman with cancer to raise funds for education, research and support for adults ages 18 to 35 with cancer. Pam Shainhouse, President of Alli’s Journey, said, “We are very excited that the Endeavour consulting team will work with us to strengthen our organization by building a more strategic model for our board, allowing us to advance our mandate of supporting the young adult cancer patient.  With their vision, we will be able to attract the right board members to expand Alli’s Journey nationally.”

After the consulting engagement is over, Endeavour stays in touch with clients to evaluate progress and project outcomes. Helen Harakas, Executive Director of Windfall Basics, a client that Endeavour worked with to develop a strategic plan for an earned income venture, said, “The Endeavour volunteers conducted an incredible amount of top quality research into the bridal industry. In addition, they physically came into our space to see it and to observe and interview our staff, our volunteers and our bridal customers during a warehouse sale. In the end, the Endeavour volunteers produced an incredibly professional and thorough strategic plan that we have already put in place. Their recommendations were smart and very clear, enabling us to implement them easily and with great success. We greatly appreciate the quality of the work that the volunteers did on our behalf and we are so excited about working with them again on our upcoming initiative.”

Andrea Wong, President of Endeavour, said, “It’s exciting to see how much Endeavour has achieved and grown in our first three years, solely through volunteers. Spring/Summer 2010 marks our sixth round of projects, and we’re thrilled to have increased our consulting grants from six to eight this round, with 75 new and returning volunteers. As we receive an increasing number of project applications, we are focused on building our capacity so we can continue to serve more non-profits who will benefit from Endeavour’s consulting service.”

Spring/Summer 2010 Consulting Grantees

• The 411 Initiative for Change (411) has engaged Endeavour to help develop a business plan that is aligned with its new strategic objectives.

• Alli’s Journey has engaged Endeavour for assistance with organizational structuring.

• The Always Nubian, Always Scarborough Association (A.N.A.S.A.) Collective, A Trustee Program of Schools Without Borders has engaged Endeavour to evaluate the organizational capacity and sustainability plans required to reduce its dependence on Schools Without Borders.

• Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust (CCLET) has engaged Endeavour to help with business planning for a new set of educational videos and teaching tools.

• International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) has engaged Endeavour to help explore new directions for the organization that will enable it to make a greater impact in the field of travel medicine.

• Motions Youth and Community Centre (MY.CC) has engaged Endeavour to assist with strategic planning as well as developing policies and procedures.

• Sky’s the Limit (STL) Youth Organization has engaged Endeavour to help develop a 5-year strategic plan.

• Women’s Healthy Environments Network (WHEN) has engaged Endeavour to develop a performance management strategy to effectively evaluate and communicate its progress and results to stakeholders.

To learn more about Endeavour’s Spring/Summer 2010 clients, projects and volunteers, visit http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/projects.

Endeavour will begin accepting project applications for the Fall/Winter consulting cycle this summer. To learn more, visit http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/wp/clients. To be notified when applications open, subscribe to Endeavour’s mailing list at http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/subscribe.

 

[Footnote] Each consulting engagement is valued at $75,000, based on a blended consulting rate of $80 per hour. Endeavour saves each client potentially $75,000 per project by providing volunteer consulting that they otherwise would have had to pay for. The 32 projects include a second project with a returning client.

About Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits (Endeavour)

Endeavour provides management consulting to enable non-profit leaders to improve organizational performance and community impact. We are a volunteer organization that serves non-profits that otherwise cannot afford professional consulting. Since 2007, Endeavour has recruited and managed more than 200 volunteers to provide management advice to 31 non-profits helping communities in many areas, such as the arts, children and family services, disabilities, education, environment, healthcare, immigrant services, rural development, skills training, social justice, poverty relief, and youth development. Learn more about Endeavour at www.endeavourvolunteer.ca

– 30 –

For more information about this news release, please contact:
Andrea Wong, President
Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits
Email: media@endeavourvolunteer.ca

More non-profit organizations are using social media to reach their constituents and to achieve their goals. While Endeavour has been successful in raising awareness and support through social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, our recent social media survey results indicate there are opportunities for improvement.

How do you think non-profits can better leverage social media to engage their communities and fulfill their mission? What social media tools and practices have you used? What other strategies have you seen being used successfully in the non-profit sector? Do you think Endeavour should start using Twitter?

We invite you to comment on Endeavour’s blog.

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By Hamza Khan, Social Media Advisor, and Andrea Wong, President, Endeavour

February 28, 2010

Last month, we conducted an online survey to help us better understand how effective we have been in using social media to engage individuals in Endeavour’s network. The survey results, summarized below, are being used to guide us in improving our social media strategy to support the continued growth of Endeavour’s network and our work in supporting non-profits.

• A total of 161 individuals responded to the survey. Of 150 respondents, most identified themselves as a potential volunteer (33%), a former or current volunteer (27%), or a potential non-profit client (16%).

• Endeavour’s network frequently uses social media for professional purposes, primarily to expand their professional network (73%), to keep in touch with former colleagues or contacts (59%), and to share information, knowledge and opinions (42%). Nearly half use social media for professional purposes a few times per week.

• A little more than half of survey respondents are aware of Endeavour’s Facebook group created in 2007, currently with 316 members. Of those, half are members, and about half of the members visited the group in the last three months. Staying up-to-date with Endeavour was the most common reason given for joining the Facebook group.

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By Genevieve Sovereign, Endeavour Consultant, Ecologos Institute Project

With my first project with Endeavour almost complete, I wanted to reflect a little on the accomplishments and lessons learned from my experience over the past several months.

As a novice with volunteering, I was very excited to join Endeavour last year, and that has not changed at all. More than ever I believe that this group serves an important role in helping the non-profit sector grow and operate in a very competitive market.

In terms of personal value, where do I start? I have been able to build upon so many useful skills, learn about the management consulting field, as well as the non-profit sector, and interact with many different people of varying backgrounds and interests. To list all the benefits I have gained through this experience would take more space than I have here. But here are a few…

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Non-profit organizations provide much needed services and programs in social services, the environment, the arts, and so much more. Their work benefits everyone in our communities, and is only possible with the public’s support. Most of the money non-profits raise goes to program delivery, but some also must go towards administrative costs.

Should non-profits operating expenses be supported by a portion of our donations? How have your or your friends’ perspective on the issue of administrative costs changed over the years? Have you ever declined donating to an organization because of reported excessive administrative costs?

We invite you to comment on our blog, as well as suggest topics for future discussion.

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February 8, 2010

By Kelvin Lui
University of Toronto B.A.Sc. Engineering Science Student
Endeavour Consultant

My thoughts to those suffering in Haiti.

As we watch the aftermath of the destruction on TV, many of us have responded by donating to various charities. However, I saw something on CBC News a week ago which bothered me. A person being interviewed cautioned viewers to be careful when donating to charities. Based on her research, she felt that some charities/non-profits incur high administrative costs. Her underlying logic was that a charity with high administrative cost is less worthy of public support.

I would like to provide a much-needed counterargument to this manner of thinking. It pains to use the Haitian disaster as a starting point, but when else does the subject of donating to a non-profit organization cross our minds on a daily basis? In my opinion, we should appreciate the fact that a portion of our donation is spent on administrative costs, whether it is for the Haiti disaster or for local charities, because these “costs” are what enable the non-profit organizations (NPOs) to deliver their services.

We should not base our donation decisions on the percentage of administrative costs an organization incurs, but rather on the magnitude of the positive impact that it achieves. By considering whether or not to donate to a NPO implies that we trust the service it provides. If this trust has been established, should we not also trust their management to best allocate our donations to maximize the impact of their services?

To understand “administrative costs”, we must first look at NPOs’ role in the bigger picture.

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By Sara Maki
Director of Marketing, Endeavour
Consultant, Food For the Poor Canada Project, Endeavour
International MBA Candidate 2011, Schulich School of Business

As an international MBA student and Endeavour volunteer, I was delighted to have the opportunity to co-lead Endeavour’s workshop at the 2009 GLOBE International Management Conference with fellow Endeavour executive, Wasib Muhammad.

The two-day GLOBE conference, hosted by and at York University’s Schulich School of Business on November 13 and 14, 2009, focused on the need to have an international perspective to succeed in today’s global business world. One hundred business students were selected from across Ontario to attend the conference, which offered delegates the opportunity to hear keynote speakers such as Francoise Faverjon-Fortin, VP of Export Development Canada, to understand Canada’s growing place on the international stage. Along with the international tone, the conference promoted the spirit of social change, with keynote speaker Marc Kielburger of Free the Children addressing the importance of making positive contributions to society.  

In the spirit of social change, Endeavour was invited to lead a workshop offering students insight into how the practice of management consulting can be used to give back to the community; seventy delegates participated in Endeavour’s Case Simulation. To highlight the importance of having an international perspective in our consulting work, we featured an Endeavour project that required understanding of the client’s international market. Read the rest of this entry »

By Tanya Rumble, Consultant, Food for the Poor Canada Project, Endeavour

A few weeks back my consulting team had the opportunity to meet with our client for our mid-term presentation. She graciously opened her home to us for this meeting, the purpose of which was to ensure that our consulting engagement was on track with our original statement of work. So, on a brisk Sunday morning in early December, our team of six meandered from our corners of the GTA and convened with our client in her North Toronto home. Little did we know that what was to be a standard PowerPoint slideshow with discussion would turn into a most interesting adventure.

We began our presentation with freshly brewed coffee and steeped tea, and mid-way through the presentation we were treated to freshly baked banana bread. As we progressed through the slideshow and were entering into productive dialogue about the direction of the project, our engagement manager’s ears perked up, and with eerie intuition, proclaimed that there was a tow truck outside our client’s home, towing her vehicle. How she came to this conclusion given that we were all engrossed in the presentation, our client’s feedback, and of course, the fresh baked banana bread is unknown to us all. Now we were all concerned with the fate of our vehicles. We rushed outside to find a city tow truck setting up to tow her car straight to the pound. With some quick jockeying of the vehicles, we were spared the tow truck, but not the fine. While it seems an odd anecdote to share, given the complexities for consulting, it is a most poignant analogy for the challenges that management consulting presents.
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NEWS RELEASE

Endeavour Announces Spring/Summer 2010 Volunteer Recruitment in Partnership with Careerify

December 28, 2009

Toronto, Ontario – Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits (Endeavour) today announced a volunteer recruitment partnership with Careerify, an online social networking website that allows users to search and apply for jobs, while also building their professional network. This partnership begins immediately with today’s launch of Endeavour’s Spring/Summer volunteer recruitment campaign.

Andrea Wong, President of Endeavour, said, “A number of Endeavour’s applicants are new graduates looking for a job or experienced professionals looking to change careers. By applying for Endeavour’s volunteer consulting opportunities through Careerify, they also have the opportunity to build their professional network and learn about jobs that might be a good fit. Our partnership with Careerify not only helps us connect with candidates, but also allows our candidates to connect with potential employers.”

Having received over 300 volunteer consulting applications for Endeavour since 2007, Diana Wong, Vice President of Volunteer & Client Relations at Endeavour, also welcomes the online recruitment solution. “This year we saw a huge increase in applications. We screened nearly 200 applications for only 60 volunteer positions in 2009. Careerify not only simplifies the recruitment process for Endeavour, but it also helps our organization gain exposure to a non-traditional audience through posting and referrals on a job website. This can lead to a more diverse pool of highly-qualified applicants for Endeavour,” said Diana Wong.

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By Andrea Wong, President

The title of a recent letter to the Toronto Star, “Business approach doesn’t fit”, caught my eye, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was written by one of Endeavour’s board members and advisors, Alex Gill. Alex shares his concerns about “the troubling approach taken by Charity Intelligence toward identifying efficient charities” in response to the November 25, 2009 column by Carol Goar, “Holding charities to business standards”.

In her column, Goar tells readers that “just in time for Christmas giving”, Charity Intelligence has released its 2009 recommended list of charities that offer donors “the biggest bang for their buck”. We learn that twelve Toronto charities that made it onto the list are well known with influential corporate/institutional backers. These charities do excellent work and deserve recognition, but as Goar points out, “so do many small, grassroots voluntary organizations that will never win a Charity Intelligence seal of approval. They change lives in ways that can’t easily be measured. They know their clients personally and take the time to listen to them. They don’t aspire to be big, businesslike or competitive. Some charities deliver services efficiently. Others mobilize citizens, strengthen communities, combat indifference and solve problems in ways that defy market analysis.”

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By Genevieve Sovereign, Consultant, Ecologos Institute Project

How to keep your head above a snowballing holiday schedule

It’s mid-December. Panic has sunk in. If you’re a student you might still be neck-deep in exam review material, wondering fuzzily if the half bag of candy canes behind your monitor counts as both your last and next meal. If you’ve joined the rat race you probably spend the A.M. commute wondering how to cram limitless tasks into a finite number of hours, the P.M. commute wondering what errands and chores you can postpone until the weekend, and your Monday lunch break wondering how you missed the festive season’s memo about your weekend being cancelled.

The yuletide time of wonder is upon us. Rejoice! And might I suggest — that we just pause for a moment and take stock(ings). Here are some tips that little elves would like to share.

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