A THOUGHT FROM JENNIFER

I’m writing from 36,000 feet over Minnesota. While trying to get work done on my flight, the Internet has been… let’s say… less than stable. The work I need to do requires access to online tools, and I have only this three-hour flight to accomplish allthethings!

When moments like this happen, I can feel the frustration blinders building; all I can see is the very thing that I’m convinced is ruining my whole beautiful plan! I have to quickly recalibrate. My new trick: I have a post-it on my desktop reminding me to Pause, Ponder, and Pivot.

Pause: I stop and take a couple slow deep breaths. This calms my mind and my heart rate and gives me a moment of perspective. Today I realized:

Ok, Jenn: You’re literally, sitting in a long metal tube, six miles above the earth, while sitting on your butt, wiggling your fingers, and communicating with people around the world. And you’re upset there’s a two-minute delay?!

Well… when you put it that way… 🙄

Ponder: Next, I think objectively about the situation. This moment also helps me clarify: What are really truly the “must-haves” in this moment vs. the “really really wanted to haves?”

Pivot: Now I can identify a work-around to get those must-haves done with the tools available right now.

As leaders, we know things don’t always go as planned, but it doesn’t help you or your team to freak out and allow those “frustration blinders” to keep you from seeing new options. This routine has helped me to reset, adapt, and find new paths forward.

What routines (or post-its?) do you have to help you recalibrate when things don’t go as planned? I’d love to hear from you! 

On the journey with you,

WORK SMARTER

Track RFPs With Ease

By Liz Presutti, PMP

It's August, and for many nonprofits that means it's RFP season! If you feel like you're drowning in RFPs, we're here to help.

Besides the hard work of writing the proposals comes the even harder task of keeping track of them as they progress through the review and submission process—especially if you're tracking a bunch.

We're big fans of online project management tools, but sometimes a simple Google sheet is all you need. We've created a Basic Proposal Tracker template to show all the moving pieces of an RFP. It's especially helpful when you're working multiple proposals.

Get our free template! And, let us know how you used (or improved) it!

SAVE TIME

Save Time & Get What You Need—Faster!

Most life hacks make life better in some way. They save us time and help us do things more efficiently.

The ones that help me are all well and good, but what I’d love to see more of are hacks that show me how to save other people time. I love these even more because when I take a few extra seconds to make something easy for someone else, I usually get the response I need... faster! (And in the end… that saves me time. 🙂 )

One way to do this is so simple that it’s surprising more people don’t do it: When you email or Slack someone, and you need them to reference a document, link to it! I know it takes an extra moment to grab the link; I get it. But it pays off in spades. Keep reading...

A RESOURCE WE LOVE

Insight In My Inbox

Back in the day, I used to love walking to my mailbox anticipating that something fun might be waiting for me there.

Nowadays, it’s exciting when one of my favorite emails hits my inbox. One I always look forward to is the One Minute Email from Glass Box Systems. It focuses on topics for nonprofits around strategy, leadership, scaling, systems, and more. The goal is to help nonprofits reach their full potential. And although Way Forth isn’t a nonprofit, I always learn things I can apply to my business.

Full disclosure, the founder of Glass Box Systems is Andrew Hood who happens to be a great friend and member of Way Forth’s Board of Directors. But I also truly value the wisdom and insight he provides in these weekly emails!

BRAIN BREAK

Word Puzzle Fun

As a team of project managers and coordinators, we’re natural-born problem solvers. That's why we love puzzles.

Our latest obsession is Connections—a quick online word association game from The New York Times. It’s a fun brain break that challenges you to think differently about words you see every day.

To play, you get four tries to group four sets of four words that share something in common. Here's a an example:

Give it a whirl and let us know what you think!

Your friends,

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