how nonprofit staff can regain control of their work lives and get better results #16ntc
TRANSCRIPT
How Nonprofit Staff Can Regain Controlof Their Work Lives and Get Better Results
March 23, 2016 | #16NTCcalm
Find Your Productivity Style Right Now!
npmg.us/style
Collaboration Notes:
http://po.st/calm-16NTC
#16NTCcalm
Write on a Big Green Index Card:
One Challenge at Work that
Brought You to This Session, or
Tell Us How Your Work Life
Feels Out of Control Now.
Tara CollinsDirector of Communications & Resource DevelopmentRUPCO
Sue ClementSenior Director
The American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Danielle KempeExperienced
Fundraiser Looking for Next Awesome
Nonprofit GigMaggie SiemerOperations DirectorGirls on the Run St. Louis
Kivi Leroux MillerFounder
Nonprofit Marketing Guide
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Find Your Productivity
Style(s) Right Now!
npmg.us/style
Or use the paper
worksheet
Or just listen to the
descriptions right
now
Planners . . .
• Like projects organized, with action
steps and detailed timelines.
• Like process and procedures.
• Love a well-built schedule and
everything running on time.
You might be a Planner if . . .
• A meeting with no agenda and
where people constantly digress
feels like an endless hell.
• You can’t stand last-minute
requests.
• Your favorite question is HOW?
Prioritizers . . .
• Love data, facts and brevity.
• Are consistent, get it done,
problem solvers.
• Value efficiency and critical
analysis.
You might be a Prioritizer if . . .
• Meaningless chatter and fluff drive
you nuts.
• You think working on a vague goal
is a total waste of time.
• You are very deadline driven.
• Your favorite question is WHAT?
Visualizers . . .
• Love the big picture, integrating and
synthesizing.
• Enjoy working fast and juggling lots of
projects.
• Are good at finding connections
between seemingly different things.
You might be a Visualizer if . . .
• You love metaphors and conceptual
frameworks.
• You hate being “lost in the weeds”
and “boxed in.”
• Your favorite question is WHY?
Arrangers . . .
• Are people people.
• Are tuned into the emotional and
interpersonal elements of the
work.
• Focus on the impact work has on
others.
You might be an Arranger if . . .
• You love to talk it out.
• You can spot a hidden agenda a mile
away.
• You rely on your instincts and how you
feel about people to make decisions.
• Your favorite question is WHO?
Tara Collins
Planner and Prioritizer
Kivi Leroux Miller
Sue Clement
Arranger
Danielle Kempe
Prioritizer
Maggie Siemer
Visualizer & Prioritizer
Kivi Leroux Miller
Visualizer & Prioritizer
Regaining Control of
Your Work Life as a
Plannerwith a side of Prioritizer
Tara Collins, RUPCO #16NTCcalm
GET READY• Declutter
• Brain Dump
• Be Free
• Jedi Master
According to Work Simply, as a
PRIORITIZER, I would benefit from
• Systemize
• Get Real
• Don’t F&@% IT, FROG IT
As a PLANNER, Work Simply
says I could benefit from:
• Batch• Buffer• Break up
TO DO LIST: I Have 4
• Parking Lot
• Monthly View
• 2-week Highlighter
• TDT
EMAIL:
•Be ruthless
• 5-sentence email
•D-D-D-D-Duh
WORKING WITH OTHERS
• Everybody’s different
• Cross this line…
• Embrace the Unexpected
• CUDDLE
MY TAKEAWAYS:
• Keep tweaking (not Tworking)
• Planning is Productive
• Choose
Regaining Control of
Your Work Life as a
PrioritizerDanielle Kempe
#16NTCcalm
Prioritizers
I personally worked on “managing your own attention and limiting distractions” -needed while I’m job searching at home.
To do lists are our friends but we need to write them down!
Your brain is not a “to do” list.
Prioritizers
Don’t treat your inbox like your to-do list; they aren’t the same thing.
“Don’t treat your inbox like your to-do list; they aren’t the same thing,” has changed my work life.For the first time in years, I have nothing in my email inbox for today. It’s all deleted, dealt with, or filed to deal with later.”
Prioritizers
“Yesterday, had very consciously laid out my day with several Must Do’s and built in decision points. But when I got to the point which wasn’t planned, I did consciously decide to continue ticking things off my to-do list.
Today, I started jumping back and forth responding to email, crossing little tasks out and recall a moment where I said ‘wait, let’s decide to finish this’.
That said, I’ve been quite productive the last month.”
Heidi Pickman, Communications Director at California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity
“The biggest challenge is that just because something’s a priority for me, it does not make it a priority for people I rely on for
content, reviews, decisions, etc.”Cindy Olnick, Director of Communications
at Los Angeles Conservancy
Prioritizers
Regaining Control of
Your Work Life as a
Visualizerwith a side of Prioritizer
Maggie Siemer,
Girls on the Run St. Louis#16NTCcalm
How am I a Visualizer?
• Big picture!
• Adaptable, change status quo, why, why, why?
• Seek out new ways of doing things
• Once a decision is made, want to move quickly
• Love flexibility/openness in discussion but there’s a place for an agenda (#Prioritizer)
• Perceptive to coming changes but often has a basis in analysis-I’m a data girl! (#Prioritizer)
• Love light, the feeling of space, color
• Only one in my office who brought in artwork for the walls
• My desk is a crazy mess and now I don’t beat myself up about it!
• Love technology but find myself drawn to post its, colored scraps of paper, colorful pens for planning
• If something’s not in front of my face, I will probably forget about it.
Challenges toGetting Things Done
• Sometimes overwhelmed by volume of work so focus on insignificant tasks
• Easily distracted/jump around
• Interruptions from coworkers and putting out fires
• Little control over my time and schedule
“Work Simply”Experiments
1. Try not to schedule meetings on Mondays
• Mondays always seem to spiral out of control with interruptions so instead of trying to control that, I am embracing it by working only on things that lend themselves to interruption• Post a blog post every Monday morning so I try to
get the rest of the week’s blog stuff organized at the same time
• Also schedule some tweets for the week
• Try to get through as many emails as possible
• Deal with all of the things that seem to come up on Monday!
2. Spent a chunk of time cleaning up my inbox and am now trying to maintain
• Set up Google “multiple inboxes” to sort emails into action, awaiting response, to read and “someday” projects• Tried the archive/label process but if I hide the emails
away, I will forget about them (#Visualizer)
• Tiptoeing into emailing tasks to a Trello board
• Try not to have more than 100 emails in my “main” inbox at a time (I know that’s still a lot, but compared to what it used to be….. ;)
• Try to delete emails when I’m finished rather than follow my natural tendency to hoard them
Multiple Inboxes
3. Used the technique in Carson’s book to clear off my desk, but all of the papers came back!
Plan to periodically go through everything following the procedure and be ok with everything piling up in between.
• For every piece of paper, ask yourself these questions:• Do I need to retain this for compliance, tax, legal
reasons?
• When would I need to access this again?
• Where else can I find this information?
• If the answers to those questions are no, never and it’s stored somewhere electronically, ditch it!
Work Simply at Home
• Using Pomodoro technique at home because I’m not naturally tidy and I find the prospect of spending hours on chores unappealing.
• 25 minutes of chores, homework, etc., followed by 25 minutes of something fun, repeat
• Switch tasks for each “chore” 25 minutes cause I get bored (#Visualizer)
Reflections
• As a Visualizer, I want everything to change immediately and I have to keep reminding myself that this is a process. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and I know there is more to do!
• I like having a framework to work within for ideas on how I can be less stressed about getting work done.
Future Plans
• Want to tackle the Work Simply to do list dump next
• Need to work on saying “no” (or just “not right now”)
• Love the idea of monthly/weekly planning and have not incorporated yet
• Using “theme days” would be helpful but not completely possible right now – want to try this as much as possible
Regaining Control of
Your Work Life as an
ArrangerSue Clement, ASPCA
#16NTCcalm
Does one size fit all?
Start with Who
What’s your shiny
object?
Theme Days
The most important thing is to remember the most important thing.Tara Brach
A Few Quick Questions
Before We Tackle
Some of the Situations on
the Green Cards?
Let’s Help You Regain
Control of Your Work Life!
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Tara CollinsDirector of Communications & Resource [email protected]
Sue ClementSenior Director
The American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Danielle KempeExperienced
Fundraiser Looking for Next Awesome
Nonprofit Gig@djdig
[email protected] Maggie SiemerOperations DirectorGirls on the Run St. [email protected]@Mags0S (It’s a zero)
Kivi Leroux MillerFounder
Nonprofit Marketing Guide
@kivilm [email protected]