 Whenever two or more people meet in an office, conference room, or workspace, issues may arise. After all, differing opinions are a side effect of being human.
To prevent something small from shifting into a serious problem, we’ve learned at Reach Partners that open discussion can benefit the productivity of our team. Addressing small and large matters early on can lead to a healthier organizational culture. As much as we like each other, Anita and I acknowledge and accept we’ll have challenges working together. To address these, we keep “issues” as a weekly agenda item at our staff meetings. By giving ourselves a consistent time and place for the conversation, we can prepare for dialogue instead of argument. This allows us to focus our work time on client projects instead of stewing over issues. It is one way we value each other, deflate disagreements, and take action to move forward.
0 Comments
 There are moments when something as mundane as a well-crafted email evokes awe. Call me a communication nerd, but I'm on a daily quest to master this art.
A beautifully composed email with a simple layout? Delivered in advance, and it’s structured with information in order of importance? That's my kind of joy. I appreciate it when someone invests time and resources to plan their communications. You can tell when they do. They bundle messages and write one email, not two or three. They organize information, prioritizing my attention and action over their convenience. Best of all, they strategically exclude information that doesn’t pertain to me.  Reach Partners knows the value of a wrap-up or lessons-learned meeting and how that can offer insight into future projects. We have talked about how best to present a Post Activity Report and who should be part of this kind of reflection.
But recently, someone asked whether it’s necessary to plan a wrap-up session when the event is never going to happen again. The short answer: yes. The longer answer, here’s why:  I was once invited to give feedback on an activity my child participated in. I’m confident the leaders had good intentions – after all, they asked parents to fill out a survey. But, I didn’t feel fulfilled after answering the questions. I didn’t understand why my input was needed. Was I helping to make the activity better for the next year? Was I understood?
You’ve likely found yourself in a similar situation. The experience prompted me to think deeper about why we need feedback and the best way to gather it.  When a team invites Reach Partners to join them, we’re asked to provide focus on a project. Even if the team members work side-by-side each day, they often need help with the pace of the project – the way a project’s progress moves forward.
Different than a timeline or milestones, pacing is about understanding when to pause or slow down and when to speed ahead. Every milestone in a project’s plan deserves its own sense of pace.  My days are filled with communication distractions. Like many of you, I’m bombarded by messages via email, text, and phone. Even spoken conversations are often focused on a quick exchange of information before moving on to the next scheduled thing.
These experiences have motivated me to dig deeper for a better way of engaging with others: In a world full of noise, how do we invite meaningful conversations, the conversations that matter? And the follow-up question: Why are these types of conversations important? For human connection? For getting things done? For leading through social complexity? I think the answers to the latter is yes, yes, and yes.  When the City of Fargo decided to replace an old tank with a new water tower in north Fargo, it hoped the tower would serve as more than mere infrastructure. It also wanted the structure to serve as a canvas for public art.
The goal was to support community-based design, something created with people rather than for them. During a competitive process, the city’s Arts and Culture Commission selected Reach Partners to facilitate the community outreach component of the project. Black Ink Creative Partners was selected to render the design.  If you feel overwhelmed by decision-making, you’re not alone.
Each adult makes nearly 35,000 conscious decisions each day, according to various researchers. Some decisions – like where to purchase your morning coffee – only impact us personally. Decisions in the workplace, however, can create a ripple effect for employees, teams, organizations, and others. Knowing that, it’s tempting to assume that more people should be involved in making decisions. After all, more heads are better than one, right? Maybe.  The pandemic has taught us, over and over, that virtual meetings and gatherings can actually be productive, rich with human connection. We’ve also learned that meaningful virtual connections are not certain. Rather it takes intention for it to be possible.
If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know our mantra: Intention starts with purpose. (I know. We say it all the time, (specifically here and here), but it’s true. Really.) Do you want a meaningful virtual meeting? Start with these tips:  Whenever we plan an event, an in-depth meeting, a social gathering, or virtual experience Reach Partners will always argue for the same thing. Every time.
This thing is the most important detail for every planned interaction. It is the life blood of our work and what drives us to do better every day. Most importantly it’s the power, the energy that fuels the work at hand. How do you tap into this energy? How do you make it work for you? Draw the right audience? Craft the right marketing activities? Align stakeholders? Create value? You start by defining purpose. |