My career has seen me make the transition from a large-staff association to a small-staff organization more than once. But now I feel confident saying that small associations will be home to me until I retire. Here is a look at three lessons I gained from being on staff at a small association.

Ability to prioritize. Since I no longer have a staff team to help me get the job done, I had to develop a keen sense of prioritizing my time, my tasks, and my responsibilities. I learned the value of weekly to-do lists so I can see what “needs” to be done and what I would “like” to get done. These lists also help me to see what I can rearrange or reschedule. Then, at the end of the week, it gives me a sense of fulfillment because I can see what I accomplished during the week and pat myself on the back.

The importance of vendor relationships. I quickly realized that my revenue expectations were big, but the amount of money to realize those expectations was a lot smaller than in my previous large-staff associations. That meant l had to start doing competitive bidding—who wants the job and who can do it at this price. Because of the relationships I created years and years ago, vendors offered creative solutions that met my price points but did not cost me the essence of my project.

Work-life balance. When you have limited hands, you realize you just can’t work, work, work. If you do, you’ll quickly get depleted. This meant that I had to learn balance: So when I left the office, I really left the office. If I was at the gym, I wasn’t at the gym doing work. When I went home to have dinner, I wasn’t eating dinner and doing work. I realized that if I did not take care of me, there would be no me to take care of.

When you have limited hands, you realize you just can’t work, work, work.

In addition to acquiring these skills, working at a small-staff association also taught me the importance of getting to know and adjusting to your workplace culture.

For instance, I found it was easier to be less public in larger associations—meaning there were not a lot of opportunities for the entire office to meet. It tended to happen once a month at the all-staff meeting. But, when I joined a small association, I saw everyone multiple times a day.

I have also found there is more of a “whole” team concept in small associations. When I worked for the large associations, it was easier to work in silos. But now it’s common for someone from another department to stop by and talk through an idea. And I see our executive director every day that she is in the office.

But I have also found one downside to working for a small-staff association. Telecommuting and flex schedules are difficult to maintain. With a small team, you may be asked to cover the office in someone’s absence. But as the world of work becomes more mobile and tech savvy, even my current small-staff organization has embraced flexible work options: We are no longer an office where everyone comes in at 8:30 a.m. and leaves at 5:00 p.m.

I admit that when I came to my first small-staff association, I felt like I was going to wow them on how I could make them “better.” But 16 years later and currently enjoying my second small-staff experience, I know that what I had to first understand was how things were being done. I could not come in and offend people or the way they did things. Because now that I worked for a “whole team,” I had to slowly make changes and be mindful of how those changes would affect others.