February I registered to attend a 3-day retreat for association professionals known as Association Charrette. The event provides an environment for colleague collaboration to openly examine actionable pathways for association industry success. While it sounded like a great idea, there was no predefined subject matter on the agenda. I’d never attended anything like that before…
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Associations and non-profits fall into one of three categories: Anti-data. These organizations trust their gut. They are like gamblers who keep spending money because something in the atmosphere feels right. Fence-sitters. Most associations are here. They appreciate and occasionally make decisions based on a recent collection of data. Sometimes, they use research to inform their…
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Gone are the days of Leave it to Beaver and traditional workplaces. We are now entering into a new workplace paradigm in which technology changes everything. Just think about smart phones and tablets. Can you even imagine a world, let alone a workplace, without them? No! With all the change, it’s important to remember that…
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The way that people view their work, and its place in their lives, is changing. Men are more likely to balance their time between work and with their families. Women are more likely to continue working after they have kids. This shift is especially true of Millennials who desire a deep sense of purpose and…
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Coast to coast—that’s how she rolls. In the last two years, Emily Goodman has worked from New York to Seattle. And her clients have connected with her from the east and west coasts and several states in between. We caught up with her in Seattle, just before she set out on a trip to Morocco.…
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Carl, a freelance web developer, had just a few extra minutes to stop by the post office before picking up his daughter from school. He was expecting a check from a job he had completed the month before. Carl quickly grabbed the envelope and stuffed it in his pocket to get to the school on…
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Let’s be honest. Nobody likes giving feedback. We might say that we do, but we don’t. If you’re human, and we’ll assume that you are, you don’t look forward to difficult conversations. Without a good loop of feedback, however, organizations don’t grow. Bill Gates, one of the most successful leaders in the world, is quoted…
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The best thing about talking to multiple generations is letting go of preconceptions and stereotypes and simply enjoying the human connection. Generational titles make great magazine covers and give shape to employment research, but it’s the people who round out great work teams. Jeff Walters was running a bit behind for the conversation due to…
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Friday morning found Danette looking enjoying a mountain view from her comfortable spot in the Roanoke Public Library. She finishes up her thermos of tea and checks the local newspaper for weekend events. Danette usually works from home but needed to change up the view for a day of work. She was writing for clients…
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If you’ve spent time in a traditional workplace, you can agree that constant noise, conversations, and frequent interruptions can create an environment that reduces the amount of work that gets done. The alternative that many organizations are utilizing is a remote workplace where employees can work from a quiet space and communicate with one another…
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