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Three Ways to Increase Productivity During Online Meetings

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Here at Spokes, we know that people are going through challenging times. As we all try to settle into the new, virtual workplace, there are bound to be some missteps and your online meetings may not be as productive as they once were in-person. Being in front of a video camera can feel impersonal and can cause many distractions as well. But the work you do is important so it is also important to make sure that your meetings are as productive as they can be. Three ways to do this include creating a clear agenda, keeping the meetings engaging and fun, and decreasing other distractions as much as possible.

Create a Clear Agenda 

Sometimes it’s difficult to stay on track during online meetings. This can be alleviated with a clear, effecting meeting agenda. The agenda should include participant introductions (if necessary) and welcome greetings as well. However, the most important part of the agenda is the topics that are to be discussed. You can make sure the meeting stays on track by seeking input about what topics you cover from other staff members to ensure they are all relevant. You should also phrase the topics as a clear question to be answered. This will help dissipate any confusion about what the discussion is about and will allow participants to make contributions that are on topic because they must answer the given question. Once you have your agenda, it is important to stick to it. This can be done by adding estimated time intervals to each agenda topic. For example, 

12:30 Introductions 

12:35 How can we redesign the website to encourage more donations through our link? 

It’s not imperative that you stick to the exact minute that is on the agenda, but it creates some accountability and other members will know they can speak up if the group has been discussing the same topic and getting nowhere for thirty minutes. Finally, it can be useful to send out your completed agenda a few hours/the day before the meeting so participants can go over it on their own and start generating ideas. 

Keep Meetings Engaging and Fun 

Some structure, like a clear agenda, is necessary, but so is thinking outside the box! In 2012, the Harvard Business Review analyzed hundreds of studies and found what we’ve known all along to be true, that happier employees really are more productive. With the toll that COVID-19 has taken on everyone, it is important now more than ever to make sure your team members stay happy. On a surface level, this can look like changing up the “theme” of each meeting and encouraging everyone to participate. Some ideas include tea time, funky hat day, bring your pets to work day, etc. Just remember that you have to participate as well so others will follow suit! No one wants to log in to the meeting on funky hat day and be the only one wearing their bedazzled cowboy hat. However, it is arguably more important to foster happiness by checking in with your team members and fostering a psychologically safe environment during your meetings. You can offer yourself as someone to talk to and empathize with when being in quarantine gets too overwhelming. When team members are worried, they aren’t very focused. Keeping your meetings engaging and fun can eliminate some of that internal distraction, but what about other environmental factors? 

Decrease Distractions as Much as Possible 

Attending a meeting in your home office or your bedroom is a much different experience than attending one in a conference room. Other devices may pull your attention away from the task at hand and make it much more difficult to follow along. Making an effort to decrease the prevalence of other devices as much as possible is something that can really help. This includes silencing your phone (maybe putting it in a different room), deleting the other tabs open on your computer, and turning off any television or music playing. However, it can be impossible to eliminate all distractions when some team members are working from a house that has other people and pets living there as well. The attention-grabbing effects of these other distractions can be minimized by encouraging active listening and note taking. This allows you  to really focus on what the speaker is saying and it gives you something other than the agenda to look back on if you have a question after the meeting ends. 

With these tips, you can take a boring, off-track meeting and turn it into a productive one with happier team members. Sometimes, creating a clear agenda, keeping your meetings engaging and fun, and decreasing other distractions is all it takes to see a boost in productivity. Remember, Spokes is here to support you so please contact us if you’d like any more information about increasing productivity during your online meetings.

Tools to Engage Volunteers While Sheltering-in-place

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The situation due to COVID-19 has led all of us to make a great amount of changes in a very short amount of time. While sheltering-in-place is necessary to keep us all safe, it is proving to make running a nonprofit more challenging than usual. Luckily, there are ways to combat some of the difficulties presented by this new reality and keep your nonprofit functioning while sheltering-in-place.

Because of these difficulties, those working with volunteers may find that they are unable to put in as many hours as they normally do. Not all work can be completed from home and volunteers who deliver direct services are unable to do so due to sheltering and distancing. You might find yourself in need of additional volunteers or new volunteers with different skill sets are needed to navigate the next few months. While in-person training has been suspended until further notice, we’d like to highlight other ways to safely and effectively provide prospective volunteers with necessary information and training. For example, one alternative would be to create a training video to send via email or post on your website. The goal is not to create a professional quality video – just a recording of the presentation you normally make at an in-person training. Another option is using an application like Powtoon to create animated training videos that are fun to both make and watch! 

A second alternative to in-person training is using a video communications platform like Zoom or Google Hangouts to conduct your training virtually. Visit this Business Insider article for a comparison of the two platforms. One of these options will look the most similar to your normal training sessions and will only require that you invite prospective volunteers to the training, providing them with the information they will need to join the meeting. If recruiting new volunteers is too challenging and yet more help in certain areas is needed, consider cross-training current staff and volunteers to perform key duties within your nonprofit. Now is the time to really utilize the diverse skill sets of your wonderful staff and volunteers! This training can be virtual, as discussed above, or can be delivered in-person to employees who are deemed essential workers under the shelter-in-place order.

Though some counties are exploring plans to reopen, there is no set date for lifting the shelter-at-home mandate and no guarantee that life will return to normal anytime soon. Consequently, it’s imperative to innovate and identify new technologies and solutions to sustain meaningful engagement with your organization’s stakeholders, including volunteers, donors, and employees working remotely. This can be done by hosting virtual social gatherings, creating/maintaining an email newsletter, and establishing a strong social media presence for your organization. A small reminder about your organization’s mission, highlighting a shared love for service, and expressing a desire to continue helping your community can go a long way with your organization’s extended community.

Remember, you’re not alone. Spokes is working alongside you to find new ways to safely and virtually provide the management support and resources you need. Please contact us if you would like more specific assistance managing volunteers and sustaining stakeholder relationships remotely.

Self-Care = A Healthy Happy Nonprofit

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Beth Kanter, guest speaker and facilitator of the first Spokes Nonprofit Symposium, engaged participants with her insights and resourceful approaches to organizational health in the workshop based on her book, The Happy Healthy Nonprofit. The Symposium was held on Friday, November 15, 2019.

According to Kanter, self-care is not a luxury but something that should be a part of how you do your work in order to get better results. “Creating a culture of wellbeing has benefits that are measurable, and these include things like fewer absences and sick days, lower health care costs, higher employee work satisfaction, and the ability to attract top talent and retain them.”  Self-care leads to more successful networking, happier staff and volunteers, and more peace of mind for nonprofit leaders and Board members. Symposium attendees agreed that taking time for self-care in the workplace is not only needed, but is a crucial component to the overall morale and productivity in the nonprofit organization.

Beth asked attendees to take some time to analyze and actualize a new type of self-care for themselves so they can avoid burn-out.  This included a demonstration of exercises featuring “4 Mindful Moment Techniques You Can Practice During Your Workday.”

The “Three Minute Mental Vacation Break” provided an easy and realistic practice to apply to any nonprofit leader’s busy schedule. In this exercise, Beth took attendees on a mini-vacation to Hawaii with a slideshow of sandy beaches and flowing waterfalls, set to the joyful rhythm of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s song Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

What is your self-care plan, and how can you improve it or build time into your day to begin it?  As Beth suggests, “A written Self-Care Plan does not have to be a long document.  In fact, the shorter, the better to start.  You can always add to it as you progress through your self-care practices.  Make a list of your Practice Goals or the specific actions you plan on taking to attend to your self-care.”

Overall, participants in this morning workshop walked away with a detailed personal plan for their self-care and multiple concepts and tips to share with staff in the workplace.

Relevant Trending Articles:

Taking a Break from Work: It Is Called a Vacation! Beth Kanter /

Self-Care Through Resiliency, Rhythms and Community

https://www.nonprofitpro.com/article/self-care-resiliency-rhythms-community/

Sexual Harassment Training: What Do You Need to Know?

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In recent years, the issue of sexual harassment has received more media attention than any other ethics and compliance issue. New mandatory training requirements on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace have also recently been implemented by the State of California. Nonprofit leaders and staff need to make sure they learn what these updated policies are, and that the organization has adequate safeguards and responsive reporting tools in place so employees can feel protected and supported in the workplace.

What Constitutes Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

Overall, sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that is persistent or offensive and interferes with an employee’s job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment is defined by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as:

“unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when, for example: (a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment,

(b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.”

The above is a general summary of the more detailed definition; however, the different types and degrees of sexual harassment behaviors need to be understood as well. For instance, sexual harassment can be physical, psychological, or a combination of both. And while any one incident may not be considered harassment on its own, when several incidents occur or the offensive behavior becomes persistent, that can result in sexual harassment. The expanded training requirements for sexual harassment prevention likely will result in a longer list of actions that a nonprofit leader needs to become fully informed about and prepared to execute.

Who Must Understand this Issue?

Everyone in the workplace needs to understand the issue of sexual harassment and other types of discrimination and harassment. The #MeToo Movement has brought much-needed attention to this issue by empowering people suffering from sexual harassment to speak out and report these behaviors. It is crucial that employers recognize their responsibility to protect their employees (as well as the organization’s good standing in the community) by implementing a set of procedures that allows employees to report sexual harassment with confidence and without fear of retribution or recrimination.

Employees should report any concerns about sexual harassment or inappropriate sexual conduct to the Human Resources (HR) director or a supervisor or manager as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the HR director, manager or supervisor to take immediate and fair action when they have any knowledge of sexual harassment whether or not there has been a written or formal complaint.

After an investigation of a complaint, employees who are found to have violated the sexual harassment policy are subject to appropriate discipline. This can range from the mandatory minimum discipline of a written reprimand to termination of employment. In some cases, the person may also be subject to civil damages or criminal penalties.

Who Needs to Be Trained? 

In prior years, only supervisors in an organization with 50 or more staff were legally required to take sexual harassment training. However, in 2018, California’s legislature passed SB 1343, which expanded the classification of employees who are required to receive training on sexual harassment. By January 1, 2020, employers with at least five employees must provide: (1) at least two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees, and (2) at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training to all non-supervisory employees in California within six months of their hire. The training must be provided once every two years.

Employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training to temporary or seasonal employees within 30 calendar days after their hire date or within 100 hours worked if the employee is contracted to work for less than six months. In the case of a temporary employee employed by a temporary services employer (as defined by the California Labor Code) to perform services for clients, the training must be provided by the temporary services employer, not the client.

Employers who provide the required trainings after January 1, 2019, are not required to comply with the January 1, 2020 deadline.

As a nonprofit employer, it’s imperative to understand the significance and scope of this ruling. Now more than ever it’s essential for employers to create a workplace culture where everyone feels safe and respected. Employers need to become aware of contemporary and emerging issues faced by people of all backgrounds, and seek the training necessary for themselves and their staff to prevent, recognize or address any potential sexual harassment issues that may arise.

Spokes Sexual Harassment Training Workshop

Spokes is presenting a Preventing Sexual Harassment and Discrimination workshop on Tuesday, September 17, at the Spokes office in San Luis Obispo. Find out how to prevent abusive conduct, sexual harassment and discrimination with this high-energy and interactive course. Fully compliant with California AB 1825, proof of attendance and a certification of completion will be provided at the end of successful completion of the course. Click here to sign up online.

Additional Resources:

Sexual Harassment in the Nonprofit Workplace

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Facts about Sexual Harassment 

Sexual Orientation Discrimination: Your Rights

Four More Models for Nonprofit Collaboration

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This article is the third in our series on nonprofit collaboration models. The first (click here) was on getting your nonprofit ready for collaboration and the second (click here) introduced collaborative models 1 through 4 to consider. Today we look at models 5 through 8 that offer some unique ideas for bringing projects or ideas together without having to merge entire organizations. If you have a reaction, comments or additional information to share on any of the eight models of collaboration or mergers for nonprofits, we’d love to hear from you in the comments area.

5. Joint Partnership for Issue Advocacy

This collaboration allows two or more nonprofits with similar missions to speak with one voice on a particular issue without having to form a new organization. With both nonprofits working together, they can combine their resources to deliver a stronger, more far-reaching message—especially if the issue faces any type of opposition. Since the nonprofits are advocating together to address only a short-term or sporadic issue, forming a new, permanent organization is not necessary.

This model works best when nonprofits have a shared long-term mission but want to concentrate on achieving short-term goals around one particular issue and want to expand efforts to deal with that issue. Partnerships can mobilize a larger audience for more impact. Challenges can include coming to terms with how each organization feels about the issue, and then determining the content and delivery method for their message so a united front can be presented. There will need to be clear guidelines on which nonprofit will be responsible for costs, workload distribution, and other obligations of the campaign.

6. Joint Partnership with the Birth of a New Formal Organization

Sometimes several nonprofits confronted with a mutual concern can benefit by developing a new,  independent organization whose goal is to address this issue on a long-term, more in-depth basis. This is an ideal scenario when two or more organizations identify a common issue that isn’t exactly in their present wheelhouse to manage, but needs to be resolved to advance the overall mission of each nonprofit.

Significant benefits of creating a new formal organization by combining one or more nonprofits can include: (1) eliminating competition for funding, (2) strengthening avenues of communication, and (3) allowing the nonprofits to consolidate their efforts in working with the new organization to support it. Challenges can include continuing to generate sustained funding for the new organization, and the willingness of the original nonprofits to give up ownership of the issue to the newly formed nonprofit.

7. Joint Administrative Office and Back Office Operations

This form of collaboration allows multiple nonprofits to streamline aspects of their programs by sharing a joint administrative office, i.e., sharing professional services such as human resources, information technology, financial assistance, legal advice, and so on. Another option would be to create a separate organization whose sole purpose would be to provide this type of support for nonprofit organizations on a contract basis.

The model would allow nonprofits to share administrative expenses and operational tasks. Small nonprofits, in particular, would be able to function more efficiently without having to carry the entire expense of hiring staff and outside contractors for these services. Spending less time on administrative duties also means the nonprofit Executive Director/CEO can concentrate more fully on program and service delivery. One of the toughest challenges can be finding a way to keep service delivery balanced fairly for all nonprofit partners. Additionally, it might be difficult for a nonprofit partner to transition to independent services when it becomes too large to comfortably utilize the joint office services.

8. Confederation Model

The best example of the nonprofit confederation model collaborative is the United States of America. Individual states operate separately but are an integral part of a federal whole. The umbrella organization exists to provide services, coordination, and other support to each member.

A large group of nonprofits often exist as a confederation of nonprofits that come together under an umbrella organization that exists to provide services, coordination, and other support to each member nonprofit.  Each member nonprofit operates independently to provide programs and services in its own location. Examples of this model are the United Way, The National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the YMCA. While some of these are huge national or international organizations, groups of smaller nonprofits can also form a confederate model of collaboration.

This model brings similar organizations together to form a network of service delivery in different communities while drawing support from a centralized umbrella organization. Having the umbrella organization provides more branding and exposure to issues. It also helps the individual nonprofits to increase its programs and services through the sharing of resources. A few challenges of the model are making sure that the interests of the individual nonprofits are sufficiently represented in the top-level organization and balancing the autonomy of individual nonprofits while being under the authority of the umbrella organization.

Summary

Working collaboratively can be one of the most important concepts for nonprofit leaders to consider as competition for nonprofit funding, visibility and resources intensifies.  This series of articles on collaboration models for nonprofits are meant to get you thinking about how you might expand the services of your nonprofit by working with others to meet your goals. Feel free to comment below if you have any thoughts or questions about nonprofit collaborations.

Additional Resources:

Information in this article was taken from Models of Collaboration: Nonprofit Organizations Working Together. The Collaboration Prize, ASU Lodestar Center, 2009. h

George N. Root, III. Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration Between Businesses.  

Joan Garry Consulting Blog (Podcast) Ep 89: Nonprofit Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions (with Wendy Foster).

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