Do People Heart Your Organization?

Here's a question for you. Would anyone in your organization feel like they had the authority to do this? When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I... Read more →


Let's Get Naked

Like Christine Martell I've clearly let my magazine reading fall by the wayside more than I realized, because the article I'm about to reference was published in April 2007, which in Internet time might as well be April 1997. At any rate. . . Last week I finally got to read Wired Magazine's The See Through CEO, which is a must-read for everyone. Some choice quotes: Google is not a... Read more →


Want to Get People to Pay Attention in a Meeting or Training Session? Bring in the Toys!

The other day I had to meet with 20+ high school seniors, so I decided it was time to go back to one of my tried and true meeting strategies--Toys. It was so successful (as it always is), I thought I'd share the idea. Bring on the Play-Doh! About 9 years ago I was doing a retreat with 30 people. This was for a nonprofit that provided manufacturing training and... Read more →


The Habits Of High Impact Nonprofits

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an excellent article summarizing the findings of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits by Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie Crutchfield. Chronicling four years of research into 12 highly successful nonprofits, including Teach for America and Habitat for Humanity, the book dispels some common myths about what makes a nonprofit successful, as well as identifying six successful practices. The Myths and Practices... Read more →


Supporting Personal Learning Environments--A Definition of a PLE

As part of answering Reader Questions this week, I'm going back to something that Glenn Ross asked me awhile ago: If I'm responsible for L&D in my organization, how can I help my employees identify their PLEs (personal learning environments) and what resources do I need to provide for them? Apparently Glenn likes to ask the tough questions. But I'm feeling brave, so I'm going to try for an answer... Read more →


Want to Comment on What People Are Writing About You? Google News Can Help

You know when you read a news story about you or your organization and it looks like they REALLY blew it? Maybe you were misquoted or quoted out of context. Or maybe they didn't tell the whole story. To this point, you've had little recourse other than letters to the Editor, which may not be particularly helpful, especially when they appear at a later date on an entirely different page.... Read more →


Five Reasons Why You Need a Portfolio and Seven Reasons Why It Should Be Online

Do you have a portfolio? Is it online? After reading Cammy Bean's post today, I started thinking about all the reasons why an online portfolio makes a lot of sense. Actually, let's start with just having a portfolio, whether online or in a 3-ring binder. So two lists--one on why you need a portfolio and another on why it should be online. Oh--and when I'm talking portfolio, I'm talking the... Read more →


Make Your Organization Web 2.0 Too

As soon as I finished posting about moving your organization's website from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, I see in my feed reader (via The Agitator) that Todd Cohen at Philanthropy Journal has published a report on how nonprofits are using new media to engage constituents. Todd makes an excellent point about needing to change your operational paradigms, not just the look, feel and functionality of your web presence: "Nonprofits... Read more →


Is Your Website 1.0 or 2.0?

Last week I posted on RSS-enabling your website so that visitors can subscribe to your regularly updated content. As I mentioned in that post, and as Laura Whitehead brought up in comments, RSS only makes sense, though, when your website actually provides timely news and information. If your site is simply an online brochure, then RSS isn't going to do much for you. This got me to thinking about the... Read more →


Schedule Your Meetings with Doodle

Have you ever tried to schedule a meeting with several participants? It can be a nightmare of emails and back and forth phone calls as you try to find the perfect date and time. Lately my meeting planning has been much easier as I've started to use Doodle to set things up. Here's what I do (more instructions here): Click on Create a Poll. Name my poll and identify myself... Read more →