A THOUGHT FROM JENNIFER

Welcome to our inaugural Way Forth email—Collective Thoughts—dedicated to providing you with valuable insights and strategies when driving projects and making the goals of your nonprofit a reality!

We’ve been in your shoes, and we want to help you work with less overwhelm and more confidence.

If you’ve worked with nonprofits, you know this all too well: they are often under-resourced and overwhelmed.

This is why, each edition of Collective Thoughts will offer practical strategies, time-saving tips, and “something fun” for those much-need brain breaks. Our goal is to share ideas you can implement quickly, helping you grow your confidence, productivity, and impact.

If you have questions or problems you’re encountering related to project management, email us at info@yourwayforth.com. Chances are you're not alone! Many others likely have the same questions, and we can address them in future emails, blogs, or social posts.

Achieving your goals doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We can help.

On the journey with you,

WORK SMARTER

The Power of the Recurring Meeting

Nobody likes unnecessary meetings. They clog up your calendar and take time you could use to get stuff done! However, over-correcting by not meeting can also be counter-productive because you miss out on key points of collaboration.

Setting up a brief recurring meeting (20-30 minutes) can let you have your cake and eat it too.

First, the short duration demonstrates that you respect the time of your invitees.

Second, it forces you to assess the priority of your agenda each week so you focus on just the most critical topics that are too time consuming or nuanced to address in Slack or email.

Finally, if you decide on a given week that the meeting isn’t necessary and you cancel, you can use the time slot to remind your teammates to post updates in Slack or a PM tool. And extra credit: you’ll be appreciated for cancelling an unnecessary meeting, which builds trust in you and your decision making.

Win-win!

SAVE TIME

Show & Tell

Imagine this: you receive a 10-page report along with a request for your feedback. You could take the time to type out your response, which will take a lot of time to craft through writing, could come across in a tone you don't intend, and will likely lead to the need for a follow up meeting. Or instead, you could quickly provide video feedback using Loom.

Loom allows you to communicate asynchronously with your team using video and images, eliminating the need for lengthy written explanations. An added plus is that your personality and tone shine through. And, great news—there's a free plan! (That's what we use.) Here's a quick example of a Loom video so you can see it in action.

A RESOURCE WE LOVE

Play to Your Strengths

At Way Forth Collective, we love Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment! It gives us insight into each of our team members' natural strengths—providing personalized results that enable us to maximize each one’s potential.

When you take the assessment, you uncover your unique combination of 34 themes, which are then sorted into four domains: strategic thinking, relationship building, execution, and influencing. On our team, we have people who are uniquely wired across all the domains, which is one big reason why we work in teams!

To make the most of CliftonStrengths, we invested in some stellar coaching last year with Steve Garcia at Get Your Business Done!. We’re happy to make a recommendation or a connection if you’re interested!

JUST FOR FUN

Take Walk in the Rain

No doubt you’ve been working hard lately. So, as a reward, why not take a little brain break? Put in your ear buds, turn up the volume, and watch this video from Nomadic Ambience to experience what feels like an actual walk in the rain while you sit at your desk. Or, just listen to the audio while you work for a little peace and extra focus.

(Really—take their advice. Put on your headphones! Trust us. 🙂)

Your friends,

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