‘Stepping back in order to stride forward’: Jamie’s DDC story

Jamie Boyd is Growth Programme Manager at Social Bite, a homelessness charity. This article tells Jamie’s story of stopping to reconsider the CRM he was about to choose for his organisation, reflecting on bias in decision making, and putting in place a different decision-making process.

We all have biases

Jamie isn’t special. Just like the rest of us he’s a human who is biased towards what he knows. In the world of charity digital going with what you know is what we see most of.

There’s a lot to be said for going with what you know — you don’t need to learn something new, and you probably know what you’re getting.

But what if going with a solution you know is not right for your organisation or your users? How would you know until you’d tried and failed with it.

Or what if it might actually be the right choice, but you don’t have a way to be confident in your decision?

Meeting others builds insight

When Jamie joined the DDC programme his attention was on everything in his own organisation. Its needs, what is going on, working out what to do.

However, he says the DDC peer sessions, where people shared their projects and challenges, were what gave him a first insight into different ways of doing things.

“It was a bit of a live scan of what is possible, an ear to the wall of similar organisations. They broadened my thinking.“ — Jamie

Strategy workshop changes everything

However, it was the programme’s Digital Strategy workshop that blew everything open for Jamie. He learnt that choosing digital tools and solutions should never be a formality.

Reflecting on this with the help of a strategy mentor he had an Aha! moment: he realised he was assuming his preferred choice of CRM software would be the right one because he had used it in a previous role.

He realised that he needed to create a strategy before deciding on which software to implement.

Jamie is quite honest in admitting his reluctance to step back and reconsider, but he had the bravery and humility to realise that he could be wrong and that a better, more informed decision-making process was needed. Even if that process led to the same choice in the end.

“There was resistance to moving away from what I hoped for and I am more comfortable now with scoping out the other solutions. This is a more mature approach to be taking.” — Jamie

What he’s doing now

Jamie is cracking on with his new project: to create a digital strategy for Social Bite. A strategy that helps them make the right CRM choice. He is carrying out:

• A tech audit — what tech is being used across the organisation
• A digital skills assessment — to gauge staff competency across digital tools and concepts
• Reviewing the CRM he started with
• Booking in demonstrations of alternative CRM platforms
• Outlining a digital roadmap, showing possible 1, 3 and 5 year journeys.

He’s also got an eye on using his DDC experience, particularly around inclusion and accessibility, when Social Bite redesigns its website later in 2022.

This feels good

Jamie admits to feeling comfortable now.

“If I hadn’t been on the programme I probably would have created a sub-par biz case for moving forward with implementing Salesforce without really doing the proper bit of work scoping the solution. We could have gone down an expensive, wrong route.” — Jamie

His advice to others: “focus on the needs of your organisation and the people who will be using it. Try to document that and be willing to consider all options equally.”