#grouptrail

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Keep on rolling

A personalized hand crafted gift from Seth to Justin commemorating 12+ years of FMYI! What a great creation incorporating our famous Kronan bike in the office with the FMYI and Grouptrail logos. Just in time for the Bikemore Challenge. Thanks Seth - onward and upward!

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Why some Portland tech companies are sitting pretty in 2016

We got a big shout out today in the Portland Business Journal - check out how we're sitting pretty in 2016!

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New features

Our latest newsletter is out covering the great new features we've been adding to Grouptrail, including the debut of search for upgraded accounts!

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Jonathan Maus racing for Grouptrail Cycling

“Headed back out to MTB Short Track race tonight. This pic by Victor Duong is from last week, my first race in Cat 1. A fast group so I'm just hoping to…”

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Simon Tam: marketing rockstar, author, musician, speaker, activist, and troublemaker

With 30,000 Twitter followers, Simon Tam is often the center of attention. He’s a part of many groups, and plays numerous different roles, defying conventional wisdom and charting new pathways as a role model for future leaders. We wanted to dive deeper into his work to learn more about how he’s leveraging small groups and big ideas to create a better world:

Who do you lean on to help you do what you do within each of your “hats” in life?

Quite a bit of the work I do is in isolation: writing, thinking, preparing, etc. It's probably a good fit since I tend to be introverted in nature. However, those activities require inspiration, support, and feedback from trusted loved ones around me. This means people get to hear me rehearse my talks, review some of my writings, and allow me to incubate my ideas to the point where I think they're ready.

For The Slants, we definitely rely on one another. Not only to we depend on each other for writing and performing songs, we also run the business as a team as well: we keep a shared calendar, store working documents or song files in a cloud based system, have weekly meetings to work on priorities, and even share driving responsibilities equally. While I do manage the group, a band is definitely not something a person can do alone. In addition to the band members, we also have a roadie, two attorneys, and a publicist.

With my work at the Oregon Environmental Council, most of it is deeply dependent on collaboration and coordination. We have work groups and committees to help build accountability and support, as well as have a natural feedback system. As with any non-profit, we each have multiple roles so it's important to have a good support system established. I have a core marketing and communications (MarCom) team that meets at least twice a week to go over ideas, reports, and priority projects. Often, having a team can help reevaluate priorities, especially with how something fits in the larger picture.

How did you come up with the idea behind The Slants?

The idea behind The Slants was inspired by a movie: Quentin Tarintino's Kill Bill. While watching it, there's a scene of a yakuza (Asian mafia) gang walking into the restaurant. I distinctly remember being surprised because it was the very first time that I had ever seen a group of Asians depicted as cool, confident, and sexy in an American produced film. Then I thought about my own art, indie rock music, and I couldn't think of a single example of an Asian American artist. Every Asian American musician I knew of was simply a token member of a larger group - there were no known lead singers or star players, let alone an all-Asian band. So that's when I decided to start the group.

Originally, it wasn't intended to be socio-political or activist in nature. That was something that developed over the years. I'd get emails and letters from Asian Pacific Islander (API) teenagers who said they felt inspired and empowered by us. Also, as we encountered deep racism - from music labels who made offers dependent on replacing my Asian members for caucasian ones, to people who only judged us by our ethnicities - we began to realize that we had an opportunity to better shape the discourse about API culture. So, we started holding workshops, panels, and discussions on Asian American stereotypes, injustice, equity, and diversity across North America. From that, I began traveling more and more as a speaker.

How did you end up being a thought leader - was it something intentional or did it happen organically?

The idea of being a "thought leader" is a strange one. It’s not something that I’ve ever referred to myself - I think it's just something that can happen when you take a bold stance and consistently give the world ideas worth sharing. With my band's music, we simply embed our relentless passion with our values. For some artists, it’s natural to have those personal experiences ingrained into the music or identity of the band (U2, System of a Down, and NWA come to mind). For others, it’s much tougher because the accusation that people are “putting their values for sale” or assumption that audiences would be turned off by “preaching” present a challenge. In any case, we just decided to be true to ourselves, which led to what we are now: music artists with a little activist spirit. We aren’t necessarily preachy (at least with our music), we just share our own Asian American “slant” or perspective on life.

In terms of my other work, I was tired of misinformation being shared so I started finding opportunities to share my thoughts: I created a few blogs, started delivering workshops, and volunteering for organizations by giving away my best ideas. That's one of the secrets of leadership: if you want to influence others, simply generously give to others. The boldness that comes from living a life based on values is unmatched: people who are driven by a dedication to their community will always overcome hardships and hurdles in ways that people driven by profits never will. That kind of passion, innovation, and transparency is what people want to follow. 

What is your vision for how you want to create a better world and how does your work with the band/activism, environment, and thought leadership fit into it?

My ultimate desire is to help build a world with less prejudice: one where people ask questions before making assumptions. I do everything possible to help make the world a better place: fight climate change while protecting people and their environment (through Oregon Environmental Council), tear down systemic racism and empower the marginalized (through The Slants), and partner up with non-profit organizations/higher education institutions to develop new leaders with a values-based approach.

I often jokingly tell people that I have five jobs; but the reality is that it's more like ten. However, I sincerely enjoy everything that I do so it doesn't feel like work. I love waking up everyday knowing that I have the potential to shape the world, to leave it a little better than it was the day before. It's why I choose to work for non-profits, to teach at colleges, and to spend my nights and weekends touring as a musician or speaker. It's invigorating! When we think of a "better world," most people think of it as something far off, something unreachable in our lifetime. But the reality is that we can always find new opportunities to bring in more joy, wisdom, or love to the communities around us each day. Doing that can make turn the vision into a living reality.

Learn more about Simon’s work and follow him on Twitter.

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Northwest Earth Institute

Over the past 20 years, more than 160,000 people have participated in Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) discussion courses and their EcoChallenge. We’ve benefitted from their programs at Grouptrail. And we wanted to get an inside peek at how their small group is leveraging big ideas to create a better world by talking with their Executive Director, Mike Mercer:

What are the key skills you look for in your team?

While we do look for employees who possess the skills we need to be successful, we focus on character to a much greater degree. Our team is made up of critical thinkers who have also drank the Koolaid. That may seem a bit paradoxical, but we want team members who are completely committed to a sustainable future, and expect they can stop to consider a view point very different from their own.

We don’t look for a homogenous team, but rather complementary team. Some are cheerleaders and make the team feel energized. Some do a great job of modeling inquiry before advocacy by starting with great questions to better understand. Some are super practical and keep a bunch of idealists grounded. We look for a variety of characteristics in a variety of people, and those differences have to lead to synergy, rather than dysfunction.

The skills we are looking for mirror the needs of the organization: 

Knowledge of how people learn, think and change

Technology know how to support both office operations and our connect, reflect, act theory of change

Effectively communicate our story to support the brand

Capability to bring in contributed funds where earned revenue doesn’t “fill the pie”

Ability to inspire our program participants to act and advocate for even bigger change

We are also developing our consulting skills to provide solutions and services rather than simply offering off the shelf programs.

What have been the key to NWEI’s success and what tips and tools have helped you implement ideas?

Our thinking should always start with our mission and our theory of change in mind as the filters through which we view our work. Our mission is,”Inspiring people to take responsibility for Earth.” Our theory of change follows a closed loop process of Connect, Reflect and Act. By this we mean, change and learning are fostered through social means and our connection to others. By helping participants reflect on the altruistic, self interest and social norming values they already hold, we’ve hit the sweet spot in promoting the desire to change. We then work to trigger positive action. Our belief is people are open to and actually like change. What they don’t like is being changed by external forces. Connecting and reflecting are critical precursors to change, but change is actually measured in action.

Other big ideas that inform our work are advocacy and flexibility. We expect and foster advocacy, in all its manifestations among NWEI participants. Advocates who share and demonstrate the outcomes of their NWEI experience with others and support social norming. Advocates who are civically engaged to encourage policy and elected officials toward supporting a thriving future. Advocates who support our work through volunteerism or financial means. And advocates who move from being a participant to an organizer of others.  

For us flexibility doesn’t mean trying to be all things to all people, but rather understanding our competencies, hearing needs and then deliver solutions to address those needs. This may not seem like a big idea to most, but coming from an organization who primarily developed and delivered effective programs that were static in nature, this view of flexibility is huge!

Learn more about the Northwest Earth Institute’s incredible discussion courses and fun EcoChallenge.

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Walk+Bike Challenge

We’re all about “Small groups, big ideas, better world.” Our community partner this month is The Bicycle Transportation Alliance and their Walk+Bike Challenge for schools in Oregon this May. Grouptrail is excited to be a sponsor and will donate 10 cents to the BTA's Walk+Bike program for every child that participates!

Please help spread the word over social media. And get involved with Walk+Bike and Safe Routes to School efforts in Portland or wherever you live. If you need a way to organize your Walk+Bike efforts at your school or manage the projects going on with your PTA/PTO, check out our free group messaging app with tools to get things done.

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Tips and tools for board and committee engagement

Your board of directors care about your mission enough to serve in a leadership role for your organization. How can you engage them meaningfully?

A common goal we’ve seen during our experience with nonprofit boards and government-related advisory committees is wanting to better engage a board or committee. Scaling a positive impact in the community requires hard work and intense collaboration. Involving strategic help from influential leaders is a key asset during this process.

Here are some key questions you may be wondering about with answers about tips and tools:

Why should you spend time engaging your board?

More connections for raising awareness of your organization to drive additional funding.

Decrease your risk by having key stakeholders to vet new ideas.

Fewer surprises by having strategic alignment on your goals through regular interactions.

What are some processes for maximum engagement?

Board meeting time of day and frequency is important for ensuring full attendance, a high level of energy, and maintaining momentum.

Committee arrangement to provide structure for ongoing deliverables and ad hoc task forces.

Internal communications calendar to provide regular organizational updates and key performance indicator dashboards.

What are some board committee structure options? (Options provided by Gary Baker)

Board of the whole (3-12 members) with no committees and all task forces.

Two-committee board (10-30 members) with a two-Vice-Chair system to provide a nimble approach.

Traditional board (15-100 members) with standing committees for Executive, Finance, Programs, Membership, Fundraising, Nominating, Audit, Strategic Planning, and Marketing.

What are some activities to build engagement?

Personal bonding time to build a working relationship across the board and with staff that could be ice breaker exercises, happy hours, and coffees.

Strategic planning with board and staff for co-creation and involvement with the vision, mission, and goals.

First-hand experiences so boards can tour your programs and see them in action to get a deeper understanding and connection to your work.

What are some tools you can use to build engagement?

Real time virtual meetings using a system like GotoMeeting that features video and screen sharing to encourage interaction and flexibility when everyone can’t meet face to face in the same place.

Multimedia storytelling with apps like iMovie to convey info in a compelling way that a regular PowerPoint can’t match to get a point across.

Ongoing group collaboration leveraging simple free messaging tools like Grouptrail that has tools to get work done so board and staff have visibility into past and present board work while fostering more opportunities for interaction in between board and committee meetings.

How should I decide on what group collaboration solution to choose?

Examine the company practices on pricing (is there a free version?), usability (is it simple to setup and use?), privacy (are there ads, or do they share your information with third parties?), and their corporate responsibility commitment (are they a B Corp, for example?).

Make sure it can keep everything organized as you work on projects, events, and brainstorming, while also sending out email alerts to help with reminding your board to check and use it regularly.

To increase efficiency and reduce back and forth messages, see if it has tools for getting work done: storing file attachments, polls to help schedule meetings and gather input for decision making, to-do items that board members can claim as they volunteer for tasks, and integration with other popular services like Dropbox.

How can I get user adoption with my board engagement tool?

Conduct a live training at a board meeting and walk everyone through a real example of something you’d like them to collaborate on.

Designate an online facilitator to post updates and files to keep the processes moving.

Leverage the rule of three to create focused lists of action items at the end of each meeting and follow up on them in your tool afterwards.

I hope these insights are helpful for the great work you’re doing at your organizations. I’d love to hear from you: what’s worked, and what have been your challenges?

Originally written for the Nonprofit Technology Network