Greetings from Cusco, Peru!

I am honored to be working with Wake International on their Tech2Empower Program in Cusco, Peru. The program hosts a delegation of women who work in the tech industry to share their knowledge and skills with women-focused nonprofits, startups and girls empowerment programs in developing countries and in the US.

Our group of advisors includes 20 impressive women from 8 technology companies who are sharing their skills and expertise with local women entrepreneurs help them to scale their businesses. From organic energy bars to artisan jewelers and even a Llama trekking company, five small businesses in Cusco will benefit from the collective knowledge and work of these twenty women. They will also spend time with and encourage girls from local schools to explore tech careers.

The first day day kicks with an orientation.  The rest of the day is spent learning about the local culture, including a walking tour of the city, visiting an historic site, and ending with a local cuisine cooking lesson.  It is great to have a day of fun before starting an intense week working on service projects.

The orientation included having one of the advisors, Kanika Raney from Google lead us in an icebreaker based on a workshop called #IamRemarkable, a Google initiative empowering women and underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.

The workshop was developed by several women who work at Google. The program teaches women how to build confidence with self-promotion. The idea is that by learning how to speak openly about your accomplishments, it helps others understand your strengths and skills. The goal is change cultural norms that tell women to be humble and not to speak out - and it ultimately holds them back.

Here's how Kanika facilitated the exercise.

* She started with a brief overview about why it is important for women to speak out and bust the myth that women should be humble. * She handed out cards that said I am Remarkable and asked us to write about something unique, either personal or professional, that illustrates why we are remarkable.  She cautioned it shouldn't be something in our daily routine or general. * The next step was for everyone to read out loud what they wrote or share with the room.  She modeled reading hers. * Next, she asked for a volunteer to come to the front of the room and read their card. And then a second volunteer, until organically everyone in the room had shared their #IamRemarkable. * She closed by summarizing the common accomplishments and urging us to remember that as women in the workplace, we should share our accomplishments, that it is not self-promotion. This was a very empowering icebreaker - and a great way to get to know a little bit more about the people I will spending the next week with on a service project here in Cusco, Peru.  She will be doing this exercise with young girls at the high school we are visiting later this week.

Yesterday Allison Fine and I participated in a chat hosted by the Salesforce Foundation and moderated by Emily Goodstein on the topic "GivingTuesday Myths."  I have to say that the best thing shared was from Rob Cottingham who illustrated a key point about the importance of building relationship and engagement!

Here are the myths we discussed. Here's a transcript of our discussion captured in a Twitter Moment.

* Myth 1: #GivingTuesday is only about raising money. * Myth 2: GivingTuesday and End of Year fundraising should be treated as two totally different campaigns. * Myth 3: There are very few resources and best practices associated with GT. It is like the wild west out there! * Myth 4: It is too late to put together an effective #GivingTuesday strategy. * Myth 5: #GivingTuesday is such a crowded time for fundraising so my org shouldn't participate. * Myth 6: Our technology worked pretty well last year, so we shouldn't make any changes. * Myth 7: If my org doesn't have a big online following, #GivingTuesday won't be successful for us. * Myth 8: Raising money through Facebook is the best way to win #GivingTuesday. * Myth 9: I’ve heard GT can only involve donors, not my staff or volunteers. * Myth 10: Donors will only pay attention to your organization at the end of the year. Is your nonprofit ready for GivingTuesday?

NOTE FROM BETH:  When United Way Worldwide colleague Neil Parekh shared this piece earlier this week, I asked if he would publish as a guest post on my blog.  I know it was a difficult piece for Neil to write and appreciate him sharing this..

TRIGGER WARNING. This blog post references rape, sexual assault and harassment, but also offers suggestions on how to reach out for help, resources for talking with children and self-care tips.

Sexual Assault: Resources for Families and Tips for Self-Care by Neil Parekh Director of Network Communications United Way Worldwide

The topic of sexual misconduct – from unwanted advances to assault – has been “above the fold” news with troubling regularity in recent months. The latest headlines have focused on the political calculus, and I, like much of America, followed much of the news coverage closely. In particular, a video of two women confronting Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in an elevator saying, "My assault doesn't matter to you," really struck a nerve with me.

I am a survivor of sexual abuse. I am also the father of a five-year old. Like many survivors and parents, the past two weeks have been particularly difficult.

The bravery of the women who confronted Sen. Flake, and the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, prompted survivors to share experiences online about why they haven’t spoken out about their own histories of abuse, assault or rape, using the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. Some wounds were fresh; others, like mine, were decades old or took place during childhood.

It was no surprise then, that the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), which runs the National Sex Assault Hotline, has reported a 338 percent increase in hotline traffic. The day after the hearing was the busiest day in the hotline's 24-year history, with more than 3,000 people calling to get help.

I was glad to hear that 2-1-1, the free 24/7 confidential information and referral service, made sure its operators were able to help callers find local survivor support or mental health resources to help reduce the burden on RAINN and address the long wait times. (As a longtime United Way employee, it was gratifying to know that United Way – without getting involved in the politics of the day – was in a position to offer help through 2-1-1.)

RAINN has excellent advice on how to talk to your kids about sexual assault. When my daughter, Emily, was two years old, we bought Your Body Belongs to You to help her understand the importance of privacy and the difference between having a parent or trusted adult help her when she’s in the bathroom, a doctor doing an examination or a someone else touching her inappropriately. Occasionally she will bring out the book herself during story time and she makes references to it in casual conversation.

For parents, Psychology Today recently published tips on how to speak with loved ones about disclosure. For survivors, Teen Vogue published self-care tips, acknowledging that it’s hard to avoid triggers and be overwhelmed by the news.

For me, exercising self-care is probably the hardest, but a crucial piece of advice. Having a job that I find rewarding and being involved in other creative outlets have definitely worked for me. What’s really helped me, however, is finding community and support. I wouldn’t have been able to get through last week or share my story without it.

_IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS LOOKING FOR LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES OR SURVIVOR SUPPORT, CALL 2-1-1 OR TEXT YOUR ZIP CODE TO 898-211 TODAY._

_ _

Neil Parekh works on the communications team at United Way Worldwide. His focus is supporting 12,000 staff working at almost 1800 United Ways in more than 40 countries. Follow him on Twitter: @neilparekh_uww (work) and @neilparekh (personal).

ABOUT UNITED WAY United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. Supported by 2.9 million volunteers, 9 million donors worldwide, and more than $4.7 billion raised every year, United Way is the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit. We’re engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide to create sustainable solutions to the challenges facing our communities. United Way partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith-based organizations, along with educators, labor leaders, health providers, senior citizens, students and more. For more information about United Way, please visit UnitedWay.org. Follow us on Twitter: @UnitedWay and #LiveUnited.

This infographic is titled "Modern Wellbeing" was  created by Jeremiah Owyang and his business partner Jessica Groopman from Kaleido Insights. The infographic synthesizes an extensive research project to look at the intersection of health, wellbeing, and technology.

I first met Jeremiah in 2005 through the blogosphere and the early days of social media.  We have followed parallel paths and interests of technology and wellbeing, but I've been focused on the nonprofit community and Jeremiah in the for-profit sector.  (Also, his fitness journey is way more impressive than mine and having walked the Stanford Dish with him a number of times, I know from personal experience!)

I'm sharing this infographic because it is the best synthesis I've seen on the trends of technology wellness and malaise, intersection of machines and humans, and the duality of technology as an agent of fitness and calm, but also of distraction and distress.

Here's Jeremiah's back story about this the research and thinking that produced this awesome infographic:

_"We’ve interviewed several dozen start-ups, large companies, and individuals to find out how they’re integrating. We track how multiple technologies are converging and influencing behaviors, such as personal devices using gamification and social media tactics to drive community support. Rising healthcare costs, increased screen time, the ‘consumerization of the enterprise’ have all been accompanied by a parallel explosion in corporate wellness programs._

_Indeed integrating technology into all aspects of our wellbeing has concerning implications too. We’re using technology to combat issues that have, in part, been brought on by technology. From our smartphone “addictions” to the very metrics and business models designed to grab our attention every day, the consequences (health, ethical political, and otherwise) are just starting to become clear._

_As the boundaries between human and machine only continue to blur, our wellbeing (whether eroded or enhanced by technology) becomes a central focus."_

Thank you Jeremiah and Jessica for this impressive piece of research.

Allison Fine and I have been actively researching and writing about AI for Social Good and Nonprofits with an eye towards our next book. Most recently, we co-wrote an  op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the age of automation and it implications for fundraisers.  We are tracking the conversation and resources about AI and Nonprofits and social good. Here's this month's roundup.

ALGORITHMIC BIAS: BETTER POLICY AND PRACTICE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY:    This podcast about #datadiscrimination and algorithmic bias was hosted by Digital Impact, an initiative of the Digital Civil Society Lab at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society(Stanford PACS). Facilitated by Lucy Bernholz, the panelists discussed how data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models affect poor and working-class people in America.  The point is that algorithms are scaling inherent bias - and should not be used as crystal balls to predict what civil society needs, but be a mirror of civil society. The panelists included, Virginia Eubanks, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY and author of _Automating Inequality_; Rashida Richardson, Director of Policy Research for the AI Now Institute; and Di Luong, Research and Policy Organizer at Media Mobilizing Project. You can find the recording here as well as an extensive list of resources and tools to better understand algorithmic bias and the implications for policy change.



SALESFORCE: DREAMFORCE KEYNOTE ON THE FUTURE OF AI:  Salesforce's Chief Scientist Dr. Richard Socher and his team of researchers introduced new AI functionality features (called Einstein) integrated with the Salesforce platform). In this entertaining video of the keynote, they explained these complicated technologies in simple, easy to understand language.  The opening video sequence shows how AI will impact the everyday work flow of business professionals. You can watch the keynote on YouTube. (Hat Tip to Tal Frankfurt)



MACHINE LEARNING EXPLAINED:  Risto Siilasmaa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nokia Corporation studied Machine Learning so he could answer the following questions:

* Why is machine learning so topical right now? * How does machine learning actually work? * Why is it dangerous to ignore machine learning? * What should governments, universities and companies do? You can watch the YouTube presentation or read the takeaways here.

CALIFORNIA PASSES NEW LAW THAT BANS BOTS FROM PRETENDING TO REAL PEOPLE:  California Gov. Jerry Brown  signed a bill last week bans bots from pretending to be real people in pursuit of selling products or influencing elections. Automated accounts can still interact with Californians, according to the law, but they will need to disclose that they are bots.The law comes as concerns about social media manipulation remain high and bots continue to spread misinformation and divisive political rhetoric. Bots are also not limited to social media. Google caught the attention of the tech industry in May when it rolled out Google Duplex, a new voice assistant that could talk over the phone with humans to schedule appointments or make restaurant reservations — complete with "ums," "ahs" and pauses just like a human. The demonstration sparked a discussion around the ethical issues of having people unknowingly interact with bots.  More on the new law here.

TWITTERBOTS: MAKING MACHINES THAT MAKE MEANING: A new book by Tony Veale and Mike Cook from MIT Press that examines the world of Twitterbots, from the funny to dangerous as well as to the hows and whys creating bots as well as the place of bots in the social media landscape. It includes a guided tour of some of Twitter's most entertaining and harmless bots, from the @big_ben_clock, which tweets every hour to mark the time, to the @pentametron, that tweets in iambic pentameter, to more nefarious bots such as  @TayAndYou (which “learned” conspiracy theories, racism, and extreme politics from other twitter accounts).  You can grab your copy here.

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CHATBOTS IN 2018:  This guide comes to you from social media platform SproutSocial. It covers the basics for social media managers about the different types of bots and how to build them.

 GMAIL GETS SMARTER:  If you are a gmail user, then you no doubt have noticed the newest feature,  Smart Compose that uses Artificial Intelligence to finish your sentences. This is not an annoying predictive text feature, but is actually quite good. It learns over time your typical style of writing emails. While I have noticed it has saved me some time in my email box, it is a bit creepy. What you think? More here.

In the US,  GivingTuesday is after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday and marks the start of the year-end giving.  But GivingTuesday is not limited to the United States, it has caught fire over the past 7 years to become a global movement, with over 43 countries joining.

GivingTuesday celebrates philanthropy and countries around the world that participate make it their own, unleashing creative and localized strategies to promote a culture of giving.  It is every year on the Tuesday between Oct 2-8, a weeklong festival that starts with Gandhi’s birthday on Oct 2. This year it was on Oct 2, Gandhi’s birthday, next year is on Oct 8. GivingTuesday India is powered by GuideStar India, India’s most reliable NGO information repository with over 8700 NGOs.

This  year #GivingTuesdayIndia, organizers expect over 10 million people in India will celebrate giving by taking part in over a dozen digital fundraising campaigns. With support from philanthropists and  participation from many individuals, NGOs across the country are aiming to raise Rs100 million or $13 Million in US Dollars (if I've done the currency conversion correctly.)

Leading up to the day, organizations provide training in online digital fundraising and giving via mobile apps. The country's restaurant association, AHAR, has organized 300 of its members to include tent cards on dining tables with QR codes to promote GivingTuesday and to make it easy for diners to scan & give. Not limited to restaurants, over 15,000 businesses across Mumbai region, Delhi, and other large urban areas will offer their customers the convenience of making a donation while shopping.

Like in the US, organizations and online platforms, including Global Giving will issue matching challenges to help incentivize giving to NGOs. There are also a number of creative mobile apps to make it easy for people in India from all walks of life to give money, time, and in-kind. For example, SevaKitchen is enrolling NGOs to define “hunger zones”, making it easy for people to share excess food near their homes. With over 7500 verified NGOs across India, IamHere, another app makes it possible for people to discover NGOs near them and donate.

Another creative approach is #MyTuesdayPromise that encourages young people to save up small amounts to donate to a charity.

Of course, social media plays a pivotal role.  GivingTuesday India has localized and adapted ideas like the #unselfie. Since #GivingTuesdayIndia is happening on Gandhiji's birthday, they are encouraging supporters to where "khadi" (clothing items made of cotton) and to share a selfie.The #charkha (spinning wheel for weaving) is a #Gandhian symbol of both independence and interdependence, which embodies spirit of the global giving movement and inspired this Indian version of the #unselfie.

There is an explosion of philanthropic and online giving creativity happening on Giving Tuesday in India today. There is so much learn from looking at how GivingTuesday is celebrated in different contexts.

Happy Giving Tuesday in India!   And a reminder that Giving Tuesday here in the US is just a few weeks away.

My Networked Nonprofit co-author Allison Fine and I have been actively researching and writing about the Age of Automation with an eye towards our next book. This past year wrote an  op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the age of automation and it implications for fundraisers as well as other articles, including Leveraging the Power of Bots for Civil Society on SSIR Blog and The Robots Have Arrived: How Nonprofits Can Put Them To Work on Guidestar Blog.   As part of our ongoing research,  we are tracking the conversation about AI and Nonprofits,here is a recent roundup of articles, blog posts, and research on the Age of Automation and Nonprofits.

MACHINE MADE GOODS: CHARITIES, PHILANTHROPY & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT:   The Charities Aid Foundation (GivingTuesday UK partner) has recently released a report that discusses the profound implications Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have for civil society and the work of charities. The report provides an overview of the technology in easy to understand language. There is also a section that points out the benefits as well as examples of UK charities using the technology, including WaterAid's Bot and an AI-powered virtual assistant for people living with arthritis. The report also looks at the challenges for nonprofits, which are common in the nonprofit sector when adopting new technologies. This includes: skills, leadership, and risk appetite. A section of the report is devoted to how AI and automation might impact communications with donors. One unique idea is in the area of donor advice, for example developing a personal assistant for donors to help them decide where to donate.

The report also suggests that a more sophisticated way to offer philanthropy advice would be to use machine learning with social and environmental needs and data on the social impact of CSOs and interventions. This would enable identification of where the most pressing needs were at any given time, as well as the most effective ways of addressing those needs through philanthropy, and thus allow a rational matching of supply and demand. CAF has coined the term “philgorithms” for algorithms of this kind.The report ends with a summary of high level trends that might impact civil society organizations, including a discussion on inequality, algorithmic bias and the future of work.

ARE SMALL CHARITIES BEING LEFT OUT?  This Foundation Center blog post  by Social Impact Exchange is based on a  global scan highlighting how data and algorithms are being used in different ways for social good, emerging challenges in the field, and how philanthropy can be and is engaged in this work.  It highlights different initiatives on the AI for social good area, for example this Machine Learning for Good program that provides access for nonprofits to technical experts, that can help small nonprofits.

CAN MACHINE LEARNING PREDICT SOCIAL IMPACT?   This webinar on Sept. 12 hosted by Data Analysts for Social Good features Peter York, an evaluation expert.   In today’s big data world, more and more social programs are using database technologies to track, monitor and manage cases. This database proliferation is resulting in the rapid growth of participant, program delivery and outcome data. Alongside these data advances have arisen the development, refinement and advancement of cutting-edge analytics, including machine learning algorithms, that can produce remarkably accurate predictive and prescriptive insights. This session will present an overview of how machine learning can be trained to evaluate causality of social programs, including sharing case studies where machine-guided causal modeling has been applied to program data from child welfare, workforce development, mental health and juvenile justice agencies.

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS TRANSFORMING THE WORLD:   This report from Brookings Institute discusses AI's application across a variety of sectors, address issues in its development, and offer recommendations for getting the most out of AI while still protecting important human values.  The report explore ethical issues such as:  _How do we guard against biased or unfair data used in algorithms? What types of ethical principles are introduced through software programming, and how transparent should designers be about their choices? What about questions of legal liability in cases where algorithms cause harm? _

THE TWO SIDES OF THE AI AND HUMANITY DEBATE:  I've been following Shel Israel for over ten years, since he interviewed for a chapter about nonprofits and Twitter in  his 2009 book, Twitterville.  In the last five years, he has been researching and writing about AI.  He announced on his blog that he working on another book, _Augmenting People: Why AI Should Back Us Up, Not Push Us Out._ He points out in this post that there are two views to the Robot VS Human debate that can be characterized as Autonomy versus Augmentation. The autonomy viewpoint paints a bleak future of robots taking over human jobs. The augmentation argument is more optimistic and suggests that AI will help human augment their work. Shel has been a champion of new technologies and he will take a deep dive into how AI is being used enhance human work, not replace the humans who do it, although he will also look at the dark side potential of lost jobs and disrupting humanity.  As he notes in the blog post, his book will be prescriptive arguing that in many cases where humans can be totally replaced, they should not be replaced.

DESIGNING A FUTURE FOR AI & AUTOMATION THAT WE CAN LIVE WITH:   Amber Case is another technology voice that I have been following for about ten years. She is a tech design advocate, speaker, tech founder, and research fellow.  She recently published a three-part series on her medium blog that looks at the question: How will artificial intelligence and automation change the way we live and work? Or has she restates it: How can we design automated systems that help us become heroic, elevated centaurs, rather than demoralized, disposable gnomes working within the gears of an automated but inefficient machine?  She makes the case that if we understand the power of technology and the unique character of humanity, we can work to build systems that amplify each. Through carefully considering which systems we automate and which systems we keep human, we can design an approach that amplifies the best of automation _and_ the best of humanity.

In the part 3 of her essay, she focuses on design principles. These are:

* Use the least amount of automation to get the job done * Improve efficiency before introduction automation * Avoid imposing automation on the wrong people * Recognize That Automation Can Never Account for Every Real World Scenario * Amplify What Humans Do Best — and Amplify What Machines Do Best You can read her essay here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN ALGORITHM LABELS YOU MENTALLY ILL?  This article from the Washington Post discusses the ethical issues of AI and Algorithms in the mental health field.  In more mature fields of medical research, such as pharmacology and therapeutics, physicians and other health professionals know that prior to unleashing any new drugs or devices to the public, whether curative or diagnostic, they must test them extensively to prove that they demonstrate significant benefits and minimize the likelihood of harm. The medical field is also subject to strict health and privacy laws for safeguarding patient data. Medical fields involving artificial intelligence and algorithm-based diagnostic tools are not subject to this level of scrutiny and regulation, even when it affects a person’s well-being.

AI TO ANALYZE EMPLOYEE EMAILS:  This article looks at the potential application of using AI to scan employee emails to better understand morale. The technology of text-analytics has been around for a while, for example it powers the spam filter you rely on to tame your inbox manageable.  However, as the tools have grown in sophistication, so have their uses.  They can be used to monitor brand reputation on social media, in online reviews, and elsewhere on the web.  Is the next frontier mining internal emails? One obvious application of language analysis is as a tool for human-resources departments. HR teams have their own, old-fashioned ways of keeping tabs on employee morale, but people aren’t necessarily honest when asked about their work, even in anonymous surveys. Our grammar, syntax, and word choices might betray more about how we really feel.

BOT FUNNELS: Now for some practical advice on using bots strategically in your digital marketing communications strategy.  Designing a bot can be a lot of fun and we can forget that we need to have a measurable objective. So, if your nonprofit has decided to deploy a Facebook Messenger bot, think about where in the funnel your bot will deliver results.  This podcast and article with Mary Kathryn Johnson, a Messenger bot expert who advises and helps businesses build bots.

How is your nonprofit preparing itself for the age of automation?

As part of the workshops that I deliver based on the Happy Healthy Nonprofit, one of my most popular is how to avoid collaborative overload in the nonprofit workplace. Collaborative overload results from too many pointless meetings, a tsunami of emails, and a drumbeat of constant interruptions.

These three things not only cause a lot of stress and can lead to burnout, but also end up costing a lot of money in wasted time and lost productivity.   This infographic offers a great summary and breaks it down in dollars how much these time wasters cost us.

* EXCESSIVE EMAIL:   Whether you try to get to inbox zero or have 257,768 unanswered emails in your inbox, using email as a collaboration tool is not efficient.  On average, according to research employees check their email 36 times per hour!  It also takes 16 minutes to refocus after handling email. A constant flood of emails can lower your IQ by 10 points!  The calculating the costs of this lost time can be more than $5,000 per employee. * MEETINGS AS MURDER:   Meetings that are not well designed or pointless are also huge productivity drains.  According to research, 31 hours per week is spent on average in meetings per week and many of those meetings are considered unnecessary or pointless.  $37 billion per year is wasted in unproductive meetings. * INTERRUPTIONS:   Interruptions and distractions in the workplace can be major productivity bandits.  According to research,  there are 56 interruptions a day on average for employees. Even worse, 80% of interruptions are considered trivial.  However, there is a counter argument (and research) that says in some cases distractions can increase creativity. Sometimes, these time wasters are baked in the organizational culture and it becomes the norm.  So, making change requires a dedicated focus on culture change,  making small changes and doing it consistently.  Here are some useful tips and processes to test to stop wasting time and a loss of productivity.  

TIPS

* Establish Stop Days or Blocking Out Solo Time for Focused Tasks * Create Work Norms for Using Online Collaboration Tools * Use Look Ahead Rituals To Anticipate Work Flow * Create An Email Charter for Using Email Effectively * Write Precise Emails * Use Best Practices for Virtual Meetings * Shift Fire Drill Culture * Replace Status Update Meetings with Standing Meetings * Schedule 30 minute meetings vs 60 minute meetings * Create A Culture of Mindfulness * Designate Quiet Spaces/Distraction Free Zones in Your Office * Try a Walking Meeting * Stop Using Email As A Collaboration Platform What could your organization accomplish if that time was recovered and spent on mission-focused activities?

While writing The Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout in 2015, we did a scan of what was available in the nonprofit.  Ever since, I've been keeping an eye out for new resources for nonprofit professionals about avoiding burnout and self-care.

One best practice is to take breaks during throughout your work day, even a mini-break will help reboot your focus and energy.

What do you do during a mini-break?  Well, doing nothing but deep breathing is one option, but there are many more ways.  One caveat according to research is that for the break to be restorative, it needs to help the person mentally detach from work and boost positive emotions. Here are some ways to weave self-care into your workday by taking a break:

BE RIGHT BACK (BRB)

BRB! is a digital card deck from the Center for Storybased Strategy, an organization that offers tools, training, and strategy support to organizations and movements working for justice, ecological sanity and transformative social change. There are 52 different ideas on how to take a restorative break from the hard work of social change. If you are feeling stressed, click on a card and do a mini-break activity.

NO BURNOUT BINGO

No Burnout Bingo - This is a fun icebreaker also developed by the Center for Storybased Strategy.   You can download a couple of Bingo Cards and use the exercise as an icebreaker as well as open up the conversation about self-care.

INFOGRAPHIC: 50 WAYS TO TAKE A BREAK

50 Ways To Take A Break: I'm a visual learner and I always appreciate seeing infographics of visually summarized information.  This infographic gives you a bunch of different ideas about how to take a break. This infographic is by Karen Horneffer-Ginter and is a free digital download or you can purchase a hard copy of the poster.  Why not print it out and keep on your desk as  reminder?

What do you do for a break during the work day to keep your energy and focus?

Here is a recent roundup of articles, blog posts, and research on the "Age of Automation" and what it means for nonprofits.

SPECIAL REPORT:  AI FOR GOOD:  Earlier this month, Allison Fine and I wrote an op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the age of automation and it implications for fundraisers. It is part of a special report on AI for Good.  While it is behind the paywall, we looked at some early adopters and how they use ChatBots for fundraising, identified specific challenges, and lay out steps to get started.   Allison Fine and I have been actively researching and writing about the Age of Automation.  Other recent articles include: Leveraging the Power of Bots for Civil Society on SSIR Blog and The Robots Have Arrived: How Nonprofits Can Put Them To Work on Guidestar Blog.

HIV.GOV LAUNCHES CHATBOT:    HIV.gov recently launched a pilot chatbot on Facebook Messenger  The bot is designed to share information from AIDS Society Conference taking place July 23 -July 27 in Amsterdam. The agency used bot authoring platform ManyChat for this pilot. HIV.gov has written about the use of ChatBots in healthcare on its blog that offers best practices uses for healthcare, identifies current research, and suggestions for getting started.

AI AT WORK STUDY: Future Workplace, partnered with Oracle to interview 1,320 U.S. HR leaders and employees to better understand how companies are adopting AI in the workplace. The study examined HR leader and employee perceptions of the benefits of AI, the obstacles preventing AI adoption and the business consequences of not embracing AI. The study found that 71 percent believe AI skills and knowledge will be important in the next three years, 72 percent of HR leaders noted that their organization does not provide any form of AI training program.  

AI AND IMPLICIT BIAS:  CNN/Money reports that AI is hurting people of color and the poor. Researchers say that artificial intelligence, which could fundamentally change the world while contributing to greater racial bias and exclusion."Every time humanity goes through a new wave of innovation and technological transformation, there are people who are hurt and there are issues as large as geopolitical conflict," said Fei Fei Li, the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. "AI is no exception."  Experts attending the AI Summit - Designing a Future for All, said new industry standards, a code of conduct, greater diversity among the engineers and computer scientists developing AI, and even regulation would go a long way toward minimizing these biases.

AI CAN BE SEXIST AND RACIST — IT’S TIME TO MAKE IT FAIR: In this article in the Journal of Nature, the authors argue that we must identify sources of bias, de-bias training data and develop artificial-intelligence algorithms that are robust to skews in the data. The articles shows some examples and how biases in the data often reflect deep and hidden imbalances in institutional infrastructures and social power relations. The authors suggest what is needed to change this.

AI4ALL -  AI4ALL is a nonprofit working to increase diversity and inclusion in artificial intelligence. They create pipelines for underrepresented talent through education and mentorship programs around the U.S. and Canada that give high school students early exposure to AI for social good. Their vision is for AI to be developed by a broad group of thinkers and doers advancing AI for humanity’s benefit.

HUMAN-CENTERED AI -  Term coined by AI researcher Fei Fei Li, the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, that says that the development of AI technology must be guided, at each step, by concern for its effect on humans.  More in this Op-Ed in the NY Times, "How To Make AI That's Good for People."

AI AS PRODUCTIVITY BOOSTER:   This HBR article discusses why and how IA (Intelligent Assistants) can reduce techno stress and boost productivity, but unfortunately most people are not using them.

Mobile phones and 24/7 connectivity blur the lines between personal and work time, especially during summer break or vacation.  And according to recent polls, some 62% of people check their work email while on vacation. And that can ruin your time at the beach and more importantly prevent you from reaping the full benefits of taking break.

In the Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout, Aliza Sherman and I did a deep dive into the research literature about the proven links between vacation time, employee resilience and productivity, and how it contributes to the organization’s goals.  We learned that taking a technology break during this time can help accelerate the benefits of time off.

One reason that people don’t take completely disconnected vacations is that they are afraid they will miss too much work and get too far behind.  Others fear they will have millions of emails piling up and find themselves compulsively reading and responding to email during a holiday break, ironically to reduce stress.  It is hard for many of us not to check our work email once we put that out of office message on.

It is time for a shift in perspective.   Tell yourself that taking a vacation is good for your mental health and even better if you disconnect from work. Tell yourself that  you’ll return to work more creative, energized, and resilient. Here are some tips for unplugging from work during a summer vacation:

BEFORE:

* PREP YOUR GETAWAY: Before your beach getaway, let other people know you are leaving. Some people put on a pre-vacation bounce message.  Make sure you remind people to get their requests to you a few days before take off so you can get back to them or get that task done or delegated. Try to clear out your email box as much as possible before you leave so you won't be met with a mess when you return. It'll help you shift out of work mode before you leave for vacation, too. * SCRAMBLE YOUR APPS:   We have something called "Thumb Memory." One way to avoid falling back into work email without knowing it, is to remove your work email or at least put it and other work apps on the last screen of your phone.  (Also a good idea to remove or scramble your social media and other apps.) * REMOVE NOTIFICATIONS:   Also, remove all notifications from your apps - that way you won't be tempted when you notification flash up. * BOUNCE MESSAGE:  Put a bounce message on your email letting people know that you are out and won’t get back to them until after your return from your vacation. While it might be tempting to include a humorous bounce message, let people know you won't be responding. Add a few days to your bounce message, so when you come back, you won’t feel obligated to respond to everything at once. * INCLUDE EMERGENCY CONTACT: Let key people know how to reach you in case of a real emergency which might be calling or texting immediately.  This will help reduce your worries that you’re missing something urgent. * DELEGATE: For specific projects or needs, point people elsewhere during your absence. Be specific in your out-of-office response who should be contracted for what.  DURING

* RESIST THE URGE TO CHECK EMAIL: It is easier to say than do, especially if you are addicted to your email and mobile phone. One option might be to remove your work email entirely, or put all work apps on the last screen buried in a folder. At least your thumbs will have to do a walk of shame before taping your email app. * IF YOU MUST READ EMAIL:  Reading your email is different than responding to email. Try not to engage, just read and focus on deleting and clearing out.  Try to avoid having it ruin your vacation mood too. Also,  answer your email when you are alone, perhaps 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at the end of the day. More tips here. * HAVE AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY:  Make a deal with your family or other travel partners that if they see you on your phone responding to a message it is work-related (yes, they can look at your phone), you owe them $5 or will pay for dinner. AFTER

* RE-ENTRY DAY: When I go on a break, I try to give myself a full day back home before going back to work. I use that day to do laundry and clean up my email. Here are some tips about coming back from break without more stress than before you left. Luckily, early January tends to be slow for most nonprofits and you might return from your holiday with some time to get organized for next year. These tips apply to What's App, Slack and texting for work during your vacation too!   To get the full restorative benefits of a vacation,  take a technology break and set boundaries about responding to work emails and texts.

I will be taking a summer vacation shortly and look forward to using these techniques to help me disconnect and recharge. What are your tips for unplugging during your summer vacation?  Come join me for a free webinar on Wednesday where I will share tips for avoiding nonprofit burnout.

_NOTE FROM BETH:  __Momsrising continues to forge ahead with innovative and effective ways to use social media for engagement and results. Here's a guest post that shares how they are using Facebook Live._

FACEBOOK LIVE: A TOOL FOR PARENT MOBILIZATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN DIVERSE COMMUNITIES Guest Post by Jeannina Perez, Senior Campaign Director MomsRising.Org / MamásConPoder.Org

MomsRising/MamásConPoder is an online and on-the-ground grassroots organization working with over a millions families and communities to increase family economic security, end discrimination against women and mothers and create a nation where both families and our economy can thrive. We’ve successfully done this for over a decade through our unique, powerful parent mobilization strategies - including our ever-evolving innovative use of social media.

This is critical, because according to the Pew Research Center, 75% of parents regularly use social media. As one example, we are increasingly using Facebook Live to provide engaging parent education in multiple languages to diverse audiences, to partner with the media and influencers from communities of color to reach large numbers of diverse parents, and to engage large numbers of parents in our on-the-ground activities who may be unable to attend because of their work and caregiving responsibilities.

The Facebook live filming tool, a free resource provided on your business Facebook page, allows you to do the following with a smart phone, computer, or even an ipad:

● Host easy-to-access public discussions that allow questions to be answered in real time, ● Enables the development of innovative partnerships with media, influencers, and community leaders, and ● Stream events as they happen.

MAKING PARENT EDUCATION FUN AND ACCESSIBLE TO DIVERSE COMMUNITIES

Social media is not an “extra,” but a continuous layer of engagement that is built into MomsRising’s areas of work. As such, Facebook Live is a tool that we have used to share important information with the diverse families in our network, connect families to experts straight from their living room, stream on-the-ground events, open avenues to take action, and provide families with meaningful opportunities to share their experiences.

EXAMPLE: DUAL LANGUAGE PANEL DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK LIVE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

In April 2017, MomsRising hosted a Facebook Live discussion with the award winning author of Arroz con Pollo and Apple Pie: Raising Bicultural Children, Maritere Rodriguez Bellas, and early childhood mental health specialist, Lina Acosta Sandaal, on the social emotional benefits of supporting bilingualism and home language use. The Facebook Live reached an audience of 29,220 and generated 273 comments and questions. In April 2018, we held the same panel discussion again, but on our new Spanish MamasConPoder page. After only a week, the video has already reached an audience of 3,000 of Spanish speakers who otherwise would not have had access to our English video.

Partnering with Media, Influencers, and Community Leaders in Diverse Communities In addition to engaging families already in our network, Facebook Live partnerships with media outlets and influencers from communities of color has been an excellent way to expand our reach to diverse communities across the nation. This has been particularly critical in connecting with high-need populations by working with other trusted messengers.

EXAMPLE: FACEBOOK LIVE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE PANEL WITH THE ROOT

On September 8, 2017, we collaborated on a two-part Facebook Live series with The Root called, How America is Failing Our Children and What We Can Do About It. The panel included MomsRising’s Beatriz Beckford, Kassandra Fredrique of Drug Policy Alliance, Dr. Stacey Patton, author of Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America, Dr. Monique W. Morris, author of PushOut: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, and moderator, asha bandele. The Facebook Live reached an audience of over 53,000 and generated over 600 comments and questions. Since then, we have continued to partner with The Root on topics ranging from education to maternal health.

Making High-Impact On-the-Ground Events Accessible for Busy Parents Who cannot Attend in Person We know as parents ourselves that with the difficulty of accessing childcare, multiple child pickups, inflexible work hours, and more - it can be incredibly difficult for parents to attend on-the-ground activities. To ensure that families who can’t attend an event still have the opportunity to engage, we promote and live stream these events on Facebook Live.

EXAMPLE: TAX BILL IS A LUMP OF COAL PRESS EVENT ON CAPITOL HILL

On December 6, 2017 moms, dads, and MomsRising’s little elves stormed Capitol Hill to tell lawmakers that the GOP Tax Plan is a giant lump of coal for America's families and children. We held a press conference with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Nita Lowey Rosa DeLauro Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Congresswoman Katherine Clark. The Facebook Live stream of this event reached an audience of over 56,000 and generated over 100 comments.

At MomsRising, we know that the more moms, dads, grandmothers, caregivers, and more who raise their voices the more powerful our movement becomes. Tools like Facebook Live help us break down some of the barriers of engagement and ensure that whether it’s online or in person - the voices of families in our communities are front and center on the issues that impact them the most. What have been your experiences using Facebook Live in your work?

Jeannina Perez, Senior Campaign Director MomsRising.Org / MamásConPoder.Org

The Pew Research Center has released a research report called "The Future of Digital Life and Well-Being."  Pew interviewed technology experts and scholars (including me) about the benefits and drawbacks of our digital lives.  The expert predictions  about the impact of the internet over the next 10 years came in response to questions asked by Pew Research Center and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center in an online canvassing conducted between Dec. 11, 2017, and Jan. 15, 2018. This is the ninth Future of the Internet study the two organizations have conducted together.

The report, The Future of Well-Being in a Tech-Saturated World, was designed to answer the question: Over the next decade, how will changes in digital life impact people’s overall well-being physically and mentally? Pew surveyed 1,150 experts in a non-scientific canvassing. About 47% of these respondents predict that individuals’ well-being will be more helped than harmed by digital life in the next decade, while 32% say people’s well-being will be more harmed than helped. The remaining 21% predict there will not be much change in people’s well-being compared to now.

Pew Research Center recently released the full collection of anecdotes and stories shared by experts about their personal experiences with digital life.   The following positive and negative themes about the impact of digital life surfaced:

POSITIVES

* Glorious connectedness * Invent, reinvent, innovate * Life-saving advice and assistance * Efficient transactions NEGATIVES

* Connectedness overload * Trust tensions * Personal identity issues * Focus failures The report elaborates on these themes and is organized into three sections:  1) anecdotes and comments about the positives of digital life; 2) anecdotes and comments about potentially harmful aspects of that life; and 3) responses in which people’s statements or anecdotes were fairly evenly split with both pros and cons of digital life.

POSITIVE PERSONAL IMPACT OF DIGITAL

While there are concerns, many experts pointed to the positive impact of a digital life in many areas including:

* Family enrichment and enhancement * Work creation enabler and enhancer * Health and wellness aid * Community lifeline * Knowledge storehouse * Wonder creator and problem solver * Education tool * Travel companion * Safety Enabler Digital technology has a positive impact on aspects of life - family, work, and play.  One way is as a health and wellness aid because patients and their caretakers can easily share information and support one another. As Gina Neff, an associate professor and senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, said in the report, _“Digital technology has been a godsend for care-givers, allowing people to coordinate their efforts to help during cancer treatment, when a newborn arrives, or during a health crisis. Apps and websites cannot replace the communities that have always connected and supported us, but they can help diverse and dispersed groups coordinate care in unprecedented ways.”_

Another positive is the "community lifeline" to other people that connectivity offers. Anne Collier, consultant and executive at The Net Safety Collaborative, said, _“I ‘talk’ with people all over the world on a daily basis on Twitter – seeing, learning from, supporting and spreading what’s meaningful to them in their work and lives. It’s a tremendous source of inspiration for me. Together, we grow intelligence, connect up one another’s work and support positive social change just by doing our work, following one another and sharing what’s meaningful more widely.”_

NEGATIVES

While the study showed that the negatives were not as many as the positives, the stories shared by respondents point to how internet has challenged personal well-being and relationships.  One respondent noted, _"The ritual of a weekly phone call with friends where there seemed like enough ‘space’ to talk about things in a meaningful way has eroded to texting to ‘keep up.’ On the one hand, several of my friends feel more in touch because they are sharing memes, feel they are sharing witty things ‘on the spot,’ but there is less going into depth. We don’t seem to be able to maintain both. That is what is so curious.”_

Other negative themes:

* Alone together * Distractions and addiction * Family and societal challenges * Toxic social media * Never ending work with new demands and expectations * Changing norms about speedy response and engagement * Attention economy and surveillance society * Sleep problems and stirred up woes FUTURE PREDICTIONS

Some respondents stressed that both kinds of futures are possible and can be affected by the choices that are made now.   Amy Webb, futurist, professor of strategic foresight at New York University and founder of the Future Today Institute, said,

_“If our current habits continue unchanged, it’s easiest to map pessimistic and catastrophic scenarios. People will be surrounded by more misleading or false information, not less. We’ll see more YouTube and Twitch stars testing the thresholds of what their audiences are willing to watch, which means ever more salacious, incendiary content, disturbing images and dangerous behaviors. Government officials and political leaders at all levels will add to the vitriol online, posting quick hits that don’t advance democracy in any meaningful way. __Eventually regulators, hoping to safeguard our well-being, will introduce laws and standards that differ from country to country, effectively creating a splintered internet. Regional splinternets will likely cause more harm than good, as the big tech companies will find it impossible to comply with every legal permutation, while our existing filter bubbles will expand to fit our geographic borders. _

_Our well-being is directly tied to our sense of safety and security, which would be upended in these scenarios. But the good news is that these scenarios haven’t happened yet. We can decide that we want a different outcome, but that requires making serious changes in how we use and manage information today. … We can choose to improve the quality of our digital experiences by forcing ourselves to be more critical of the information we consume. … The world we see looking only through the lens of a single post never reveals all of the circumstances, context and detail. Schools must teach digital street smarts … from an early age, kids should learn about bots and automatically-generated content. They should have provocative ethics conversations – with their peers, not just their parents – about online content and about technology in general. Content distributors must stop asserting that they are merely platforms. … As we enter the Artificial Intelligence era we must examine and make transparent how platforms make decisions on our behalf.”_

The report also asked experts about what interventions were needed during the next decade to ease problems.  This is a robust section of report with many ideas. The themes included:

* REIMAGINE SYSTEMS: Societies can revise both tech arrangements and the structure of human institutions – including their composition, design, goals and processes * REINVENT TECH: Things can change by reconfiguring hardware and software to improve their human-centered performance and by exploiting tools like artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) * REGULATE: Governments and/or industries should create reforms through agreement on standards, guidelines, codes of conduct, and passage of laws and rules * REDESIGN MEDIA LITERACY: Formally educate people of all ages about the impacts of digital life on well-being and the way tech systems function, as well as encourage appropriate, healthy uses * RECALIBRATE EXPECTATIONS: Human-technology coevolution comes at a price; digital life in the 2000s is no different. People must gradually evolve and adjust to these changes * FATED TO FAIL: A share of respondents say interventions may help somewhat, but – mostly due to human nature – it is unlikely that these responses will be effective enough What you think?  Over the next decade, how will changes in digital life impact people’s overall well-being physically and mentally?

NYC EVENT:_ On Thursday, July 12th, Allison Fine and I will be leading an event at the NYC Tech Club on Bots, AI, and Nonprofits.  If you are in NYC, you are invited to join us!  We will be talking about emerging best practices for using bots and artificial intelligence for nonprofits for fundraising, marketing, program delivery, advocacy, and internal management.  We'll cover different examples, discuss how nonprofits can be prepared, and cover the challenges and cautions as we enter a new age of technological disruption by robots!_

Allison Fine and I have been researching and writing about the age of automation and nonprofits.  The age of automation, a term coined by Jeremiah Owyang, refers to a family of technologies such as bots, robots, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart devices.  We've written about some early adopter nonprofits are harnessing the power of these tools for fundraising and marketing (published on Guidestar blog) and the larger issues for program delivery and civil society (published on the SSIR blog).

This post looks at how some nonprofits are using bots and artificial intelligence for internal management and administration to work smarter.

Ask anyone who works in the nonprofit industry what one of their biggest challenges is and they will most likely say something like "lack of time to implement everything that needs to be done."  (That is usually second after money.) The Age of Automation technology tools will offer nonprofits a gift: the give of more time to get more work done and an easy way to delegate boring administrative tasks, known as "grunt work," to an algorithm or a bot. (I can hear nonprofit interns all over the world applauding)   

One of my favorite examples is how international development agency OxFam is using bots internally as part of using Facebook's "Workplace for Good" platform, a free version of Facebook's internal collaboration tool and a competitor to platforms such as Slack, Hipchat, and Microsoft’s Teams.

Facebook Workplace allows users within an organization (and across multiple organizations) to communicate, connect, coordinate, and collaborate across desktop and mobile versions, using familiar Facebook interfaces such as Facebook groups, Messenger and Live Streaming.  It has the ability to integrate with a variety of tools, including commonly used video conferencing tools as well as those powered by bots and artificial intelligence.

Facebook's Workplace has the ability to unleash virtual assistants or internal bots to help staff get stuff done.  Workplace for good users can @mention a bot to initiate a task or workflow, similar to Slack. As you might expect, when tasked with something, the bot will take action and reply back with relevant information. Bots can also be used to deliver important notifications and reminders.

Oxfam, an international nonprofit with 20 affiliates that work with organizations in 90 countries. With over 10,000 employees, Oxfam faced the challenge of balancing separate hierarchies and encouraging innovation while at the same time providing central leadership and decision making.  Oxfam  uses an internal  suite of internal bots and automation tools that help alleviate boring and time-consuming tasks.  Oxfam created the OxBot is a jargon-busting bot.  

This might not sound like much, but this account by an Oxfam intern shares how difficult it is for a newcomer to the organization, newly hired staff or interns, to master all the inside jargon.   It takes effort such as creating your own glossary, asking other employees, or resorting to googling terms. Imagine trying to decode vocabulary and concepts while trying to complete a task - it slows you down. The Oxbot to the rescue - like other bots you can ask it what an acronym means and the bot also provides links to other internal sources of information.

That is just one example of how bots can help nonprofits free up time, a precious resource in nonprofits, to get work done.

Is your nonprofit using an internal-facing bots for productivity and collaboration?  How?

I'm hearing from many nonprofit folks that they are feeling the exhaustion from a perpetual cycle of outrage.  Many felt stressed and exhausted back in Nov. 2016, and have been fighting for important causes for 18 months now.  The environment nonprofits find themselves operating in is going to last for awhile.  Nonprofits have carefully think about how best to channel their energy while working and living in the midst of an outrage storm that can drain our energy.

Many nonprofit professionals work with organizations that provide programs and services that are under siege. No doubt they will be busy this weekend standing up for what's right. But it is important to remember that we need to take care of ourselves so we are in it for the long haul. My personal mantra for this year has been _Resist, Rest, Revitalize, Repeat._

If you don't take steps to address your stress, it can tear you apart.  In this Psychology Today blog post about stress management, stress can take a toll on your physical and mental health.  The article also suggests that you can steps to turn your stress into meaning and purpose. Here they are:

* _Be aware of your stress_ * _Embrace, don't fear it_ * _Find importance in your stress, it is a sign that something big is at stake_ * _Flip oppression into choice_ How will you turn your stress into meaning?

Last week at the IFC-Asia, I co-designed and facilitated a 90 minute workshop with Marco Kuntze titled "The Digital NGO: The Journey from Paper to Screen." Jo Wolfe, Aseem Thakur, Gillian Tan, Cherisse Beh, Katie Bengaard, and Toral Cowieson joined our session as small group facilitators.

JUST A LITTLE CONTENT TO GET STARTED 

There are different ways to design a participatory workshop. It could be 100% in that participants provide the content by connecting with others and sharing experience and knowledge.  Another option is to briefly share some content or a framework to kick off the participant knowledge sharing.  We opted for the latter.

We focused on digital transformation because incorporating digital has become essential for delivering on all aspects of a nonprofit's mission, not just fundraising and communications but program delivery and governance. We designed a highly interactive workshop based on Jo Wolfe's "NGO Digital Maturity Matrix," an assessment tool that enables nonprofits to codify mindsets and skill sets required for moving along the path of digital transformation. The assessment helps nonprofits look at eight different areas:  Technology, Content, Channels/Devices, Audiences, Analytics, User Experience, and Governance.  Each section lists best practices and processes for being a digital nonprofit.   The matrix enables your organization set a baseline and goals for improvement.

We kicked off the session with a brief overview of the framework by Jo Wolfe, who created it.  Because the taking the assessment in full would require a lot more time than we had for the workshop, Jo prepared a high level summary. Something that you might use to introduce the assessment to the senior leadership team to get buy-in.

OPENING EXERCISE

The session kicked off with a Spectragram exercise involving the full group.     I learned this technique from Allen Gunn from Aspiration over ten years ago at 2007 Penguin Day.  It is also used in education, although it is called something different, “The Human Continuum.”

The spectragram is typically used as a warm up and traditionally the facilitator identified a couple of provocative questions related to the topic being discussed and had people line up as to whether they agree or disagree with the statement.    It is a useful method for getting participants to express a point of view, engage in debate, listen to others and hear another person’s different point of view.   For training where you are focusing on a skill, it allows for folks to express their opinions (negative or positive) and not have debate get in the way of the instructional flow later on.  My colleague, Dirk Slater, has written about how he applies the Spectragram technique in his technology/activist trainings.   Others have also documented and used the technique or taught others how to do it.

A more participatory approach, and one that Allen Gunn uses, is to crowdsource provocative  questions from participants.  Have them self-organize into small groups of three or four people and use sticky notes to come up with some statements.   Participants volunteer their question for the Spectragram.

Another way to use the Spectagram is to help you and participants better understand skill levels in the room.   You ask participants to line according to a pre-determined scale.  We used the digital maturity matrix and created a series of statements related to the small group topics and asked participants line up from 1 to 10, with 10 being completed the digital transformation journey and 1 just starting. This also helped participants think about what small group they wanted to join during the breakout groups.

STATEMENTS:

* User experience: We provide relevant and personalized experiences to our users and optimize this through an ongoing programme of testing. * Fundraising campaigns: We launch and manage the digital aspects of fundraising campaigns, integrated across all relevant staff teams. * Audiences: We have defined and accepted audience segments based on user attributes, behaviors and analytics and tailor our offer to these audiences. * Culture and mindset (governance): We have digital expertise within the senior leadership team and board of trustees. These groups support and understand the strategic importance of digital.

FOUR CORNERS/BRAINSTORM SMALL GROUP FACILITATION

The meat of the session was done in small group work using a technique called “Four Corners” where participants go to four different corners of the room to focus on a specific sub-topic. There are different approaches to assigning people to groups and facilitating small group discussions from assigning to letting participants self-organize. We chose the latter.

It is also important to have an experienced facilitator for the small group.  We recruited people with both subject matter expertise and facilitation experience  and we assigned them a topic and a corner of the room.  It is also important to design a similar process for each small group to work through.   We decided to use an understanding exercise, a SWOT analysis related to the topics.

Each facilitator’s “corner” has two pieces of  flip chart paper on the wall which was divided into a two x two grid and a stack of colored sticky notes.  We were asked to brainstorm ideas in each category, jotting down notes on the post it notes and adding to the wall.

a) Green: Great things you’ve heard of, or done yourself b) Blue: Things you’ve heard of, or done yourself – that failed c) Pink: Name all the things getting in the way of (topic) d) Yellow: Name all the things that you can do to get over those things standing in the way

As with most brainstorming techniques, you get participants to generate as many ideas of possible and categorize the ideas into different clusters or themes.  As a facilitator, there are different ways to do this and they work best depending on the size of the group.  You can have participants work individually, writing down their ideas on sticky notes and putting on the wall and then discuss.  Or discuss and document on the sticky notes as you go.

The final task was to do a synthesis, using this fill-in-the-blanks sentence:

As the facilitator, you have to keep a watch on each group to make sure they are not getting stuck and moving through the exercise. This can be done by "bumble beeing" around to the different groups.  You can give people five minute, three minute, and one minute warning.  As the facilitator, you can help the group move along gently by asking how much more time they need and letting them know how much time is left. You also need a method to get people's attention - ringing chimes, clapping, or talking loudly.

FULL GROUP DISCUSSION

This section consisted of each small group giving a one or two minute summary of their discussion by reading the sentence and highlighting some of the key themes.  We facilitated audience feedback and insights.  Most of the insights and questions had to do less with digital technologies and more with methods of changing culture such as breaking down silos or getting senior leadership buy-in.

REFLECTION AND TAKEAWAYS

The true test of any training is how participants apply it to their work.  I used Thiagi's reflection game, Thirty-Five.  I handed out index cards to participants and asked them to write their name on the index card. Then I asked them to write down an action step that they can do next week to apply what they learned.  We had participants stand in a circle and pass their cards.  Next, participants got to rate a card on a scale of 1 to 7 based on the impact and ability to implement takeaway, with 1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest.  We did four more passes.   The cards that scored the highest the winners received prizes.  Finally, at the end I had each person find the person whose card they were holding and exchange contact information to become accountability buddies. The idea is that they would follow up with each other on whether they implemented their action step.

LEARNING MORE

If you are looking for some simple participatory exercises to make your workshop more interactive, I recommend Thiagi's book, Training Games.   I also has kept a trainer's notebook describing all the various methods I've used over the past 25 years. You'll find those blog posts here.

I'm just back from spending a week in Bangkok, Thailand at the IFC-ASIA: Ecosystems for Good. I co-lead a workshop on digital transformation, co-facilitated a master class on digital fundraising campaigns, co-hosted a learning breakfast for scholarship participants, co-designed a Big Room session on Technology for Good, and in between attended some amazing sessions.  I also served on the program advisory committee.

It was a lot of learning in a short time-period and I'll be unpacking and sharing it here on this blog over the coming weeks.  Rather than start at the beginning, I'm starting at the end by sharing some tips for a formal reflection process that can lead to improving results of a project or event.

A structured reflection process generates insights about what worked and what could be improved. More importantly, it can avoid replicating mistakes or activities that don't work and are a waste of resources.

One of the simplest ways to practice continuous improvement is to incorporate a process evaluation.  It is important to write down observations as the event or program unfolds because if you wait until the event is over, there is a chance you won’t remember it in vivid detail.  I know this sounds like extra work, especially after an intense event like a conference when everyone is exhausted, but it will pay your organization back by improving results.

It isn’t just about writing it down, it is also reviewing what your captured with your team in an “After Action Review.”  And, of course, your evaluation will also include looking at the data from surveys and interviews with participants after the event.  In short, the process boils down to these steps:

* Capture the lesson learned (big or small) from your own observations or asking for informal feedback from participants during the event * Use a google document (or create a Slack channel or What's App group) so  your team can capture during the event * Ask team members to reflect on their lessons learned * Review it together in a meeting and summarize * Survey participants and incorporate their feedback THE PROCESS STEPS IN DETAIL

Our advisory committee includes Courtney Lawrence from DSIL, a company that focuses on innovation and human centered design practices, who lead us through our reflection process. What I liked best about the process is that was streamlined and simple, yet powerful. It took us approximately 60 minutes.

1) During the event or program, advisory committee members were asked to write down their observations as well as get informal feedback participants. We used a private group on What's App to do this during the event so it was simple to capture. We also met as a group every morning and shared what we were learning over breakfast.

2) Immediately after the event, we did a formal debrief. We had several flip chart pages on the wall that were divided into quarters with the following labels: _KEEP, DELETE, ADJUST, AMPLIFY_. We looked at following areas: content, logistics, social, communication, and pre-planning. We had about 10-15  minutes individually to write down our thoughts on different sticky notes and put them in the appropriate page and section.

3) Next, we divided into small groups that worked on each area to synthesize the notes into key themes and followed by a rapid report out to the full group.

4) The next step is compare these top level themes against the participant evaluation.(We also worked on developing personas and questions for post event interviews - I'll save that reflecting on that process for another blog post.)

This was a simple post event debrief and internal evaluation to look at ways to improve it in the next year.  Does your nonprofit use a formal debrief process after programs, events, or activities?  What is your process? How has it helped your organization get better results.

ADDITIONAL READING

How To Routinize  Reflection - http://www.bethkanter.org/reflection-routine/

Facilitator Guide:  http://www.emergingleader.co/toolkit/routinize-reflection/

Keep Calm and Write It Down - http://www.bethkanter.org/keep-reflect/

After Action Review Guide -  https://www.cebma.org/wp-content/uploads/Guide-to-the-after_action_review.pdf

In light of the recent high profile suicides by Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain,  Vu Le wrote an excellent piece on what nonprofits need to know about mental illness.  One of the points he brings up is the importance of creating an environment where life/work balance flourish.  Overwork and stress can lead to burnout and depression and that can lead to even bigger problems. As a sector, we need to understand that working endlessly long hours is not productive.  And here's a summary of the research that proves it.

Dying for A Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance and What Can We Do About It by Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer is an examination of the sources of workplace stress, its impact on employees, and how to change it before we're all dead or sick from overwork.   One of my motivations for writing "The Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout" was to advocate for healthier and happier nonprofit workplaces and I'm happy to see another book that is tackling the monster that is work related stress.

RESEARCH ON TOXIC WORKPLACES

It is too often written off by leaders as not important and there is significant resistance to change.  After reading this book that examines the research on the negative health and productivity impacts on overworking, one can't help to wonder why we are still doing it.  Pfeffer explains some of the whys, but more importantly how to change.   Here's a summary of the research cited in the book:

* Toxic workplaces are taking a toll on our physical and mental health.  Professional “white collar” jobs are as stressful as manual labor. Stress is considered an inevitable part of the modern workplace, including nonprofits. * Leaders and employees differ on their view of cause of workplace stress according to research.  This disconnect that can undermine the success of any initiatives designed to increase well being the workplace.  Leaders identified big-picture challenges like technology, which makes it harder to separate work and home, and organizational change as top contributors to stress while employees were focused on concerns like low pay, unclear job expectations and company culture. * Stress in the workplace is expensive for organizations according to research. The American Institute of Stress, a nonprofit that aims to educate the public, found that job stress costs U.S. industry more than $300 billion annually in absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity and medical, legal and insurance costs. * Stress is the leading cause of turnover.  Employees feel pressure to accomplish more with less resources and they are not happy. Nearly 50% report having changed jobs to escape stress.  Approximately 61% report that workplace caused them actual physical illness, insomnia, depression, or family issues. LONG HOURS CULTURE IS NOT PRODUCTIVE

The book devotes an entire chapter to the problem of working excessive hours.   The Japanese have a word for it, Karoshi, which means working yourself to death by working long hours. This phenomenon not just a Japanese thing, it is happening all over the world and in the US.  There are many manifestations of overwork and all have negative impact on employee health and the organization's productivity and effectiveness.  Here's a few:

* Working long hours during the day/evening and being sleep deprived which can weaken the immune system and lead to illness or lead to family conflicts * Working excessive hours during the year, but not taking paid time off. It is well documented fact that Americans are taking fewer and shorter vacations or forgoing them all together, despite having paid vacation benefits from work. * Working when sick. Not taking sick days when you are ill because of the belief that your job would be danger or you would get too far behind. This does not allow you to recover and it spreads your germs to other people at work. Why are we doing this?  These instances of overwork are not necessarily needed for the organization to be successful. There is a “work long hours” culture where people work long hours, even if it is not needed. Some employers see this an expression of loyalty.

But it’s not for-profits are alone in the arms race toward constant overwork. Research has even found that people who work at nonprofits tend to put in longer hours–some call them “hero hours”—than others, with higher rates of burnout and turnover, possibly because they’re driven by a higher purpose.  Over the last 25 years, we've shifted from leisure time as status to busy and stressed out as a badge of honor.

HOW TO CHANGE

The book concludes that if anything is going to change to cultivate workplace well being, several things need to happen:

* Employees need to understand the stress-related factors in an organization and make that part of their decision to work there. (Easier said than done)  They also need to take care of themselves and have a self-care plan - even if their workplace does not support or encourage it. (Of course, The Happy Healthy Nonprofit has lots of practical advice for nonprofit professionals on how to practice self-care in and outside of the workplace.) * Employers need to measure and and understand the costs of toxic workplaces - what it is costing in terms of health costs, sick days, and loss of productivity. This is a first step towards change.  Most importantly, it is about workplace culture. Work environments matter for people’s engagement, performance, and satisfaction - but they also matter for physical and mental health. Creating a culture of community and giving more control to staff over their jobs create workplaces are less stressful. When people care and feel connected to each other, there is less toxicity. Creating more opportunities where staff can socialize together - share a meal or celebrate birthdays, program launches, and other milestones and testing initiatives like Google's "Dublin Goes Dark" and other ways to encourage work/life balance. * Governments should address toxic workplaces in policies. This is already happening in Europe (France has a no after hours email law) and many Scandinavian countries focus on work life balance.  Finland ranked first in happiness. * Movements that focus on workplace sustainability just as their movements to protect the environment.  The Center for HumanTech is an example. During the past year, I have been delivering keynotes on this topic as well as workshops and staff retreats on how to activate a culture of well-being.  Here is a simple recipe and tips for getting started.  Don't wait until horrible happens or everyone burns out.

How does you handle workplace stress as a nonprofit professional?  How does your workplace mitigate or contribute to workplace stress?  How has your nonprofit activating a culture of work/life balance?

_NOTE FROM BETH:  Blocking out time for your nonprofit's staff to do planning and work on areas like organizational culture is essential for success.  Designing the meeting so it is effective and encourages team-building can be tricky.  Here's some terrific advice from Sarah Axelson._

HOW TO DESIGN AN EFFECTIVE STAFF RETREAT: A LESSON FROM LIFE - GUEST POST BY SARAH AXELSON FROM ETR

When is the last time your organization held a staff retreat? Did it help you accomplish your organizational goals?

A few weeks ago, ETR held its annual staff retreat. I was genuinely inspired. The planners of this event offered some valuable lessons for any organization on how to design effective and engaging retreats.

I’m a relatively new employee at ETR. This was my first retreat, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. “Staff retreats” can mean all sorts of things: hours-long strategic planning sessions, reviewing annual reports and budgets, feedback sessions where staff are encouraged to ask questions of leadership but no one speaks up because everyone is in the same room. The list goes on.

I was optimistic that ETR’s retreat would be something different—that it would, in fact, exemplify the professional development principles that ETR holds dear.

Knowing those principles, I anticipated that the retreat would be meticulously planned and organized, with clear intent about goals. Pre-work would prime me for the learning objectives. There would be plenty of activities that asked me to think hard, interact with colleagues, move around the room, and spend some time in personal reflection. There would be lots of opportunities for meaningful face-to-face connection with other ETRians. There would be follow-up.

And of course, we’d have fun while we did all of these things. Lucky for us, this retreat delivered!

ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTIVE LEARNING PROCESS

The principles used in ETR’s retreat come from the Distributive Learning Process. Developed by ETR in 2014, this is a research-based approach for designing and delivering skill-building trainings. It reflects best practices in adult learning and provides a framework that results in positive change.

The goal is to ensure that adult learners are _prepared to learn_ new information, and then able to _transfer _that information to_ application_ after the event. Now, our staff retreat was not actually intended as a skill building training. But it turns out that applying the relevant elements from the DLP into retreat designs _is_ an effective way to engage staff and ensure that relevant content “sticks.”

STEP 1: BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT INTENT

The first step in the DLP is identifying projected outcomes: what do you want learners to achieve? What are your goals and objectives? Clarity of intent is key for any learning event.

ETR’s retreat planning team set objectives that Goldilocks herself would have been proud of. They didn’t set the bar too low, aiming only to “network” with colleagues or “learn something new.” They also didn’t overreach, promising to deliver a deep understanding of organizational concepts that would require hours of discussion and reflection.

Instead, the objectives were just right. The day included a healthy mix of connection and social interaction, with appropriate work on key organizational concepts that could be covered sufficiently during the time we had available.

Our Intent: Bringing Together Our Patchwork of Connections

We are a distributed workforce of 90, with folks located all around the country. Staff are in one of three offices in California or are part of the Remote Team (R-team for short—people who work from their home communities, wherever those may be). It’s rare for us to see everyone in the organization, all at one time. That’s why the planners asked everyone to make connections at the retreat with at least 15 people they hadn't known well before. Following up on this intention, the planners presented activities that made this possible.

They also wanted staff to make connections with our newly reworked mission and vision statements, as well as our recently developed organizational norms document. They wanted to strengthen connections with ETR’s Health Equity Framework, an evolving model that is essential to all of the work we do.

Our theme, “A Patchwork of Connections,” brought us back to these goals throughout the day.

Taking Care of the R-Team

In a distributed workforce like ETR’s, one of the keys to building an engaged and energetic culture is making an extra effort to respect and celebrate remote workers. To this end, the day before the all-staff event, the R-Team participated in a half-day retreat of its own. Their retreat helped solidify connections within the team and identified practical steps to enhance their inclusion and leadership throughout the organization.

STEP 2: SET THE STAGE THROUGH PRIMING

The Priming phase of the DLP sets the stage for learning before the event takes place through two processes: pre-assessment and pre-work. Pre-assessment gathers a sense of participants’ current knowledge and skill so that facilitators can tailor training designs to “meet participants where they are.”

Similarly, pre-work gets participants focusing on the content that will be delivered during the event. They complete a few key activities on their own, get thinking about the issues, and then use the meeting time to process and apply the information together.

As ETRians, I think it’s safe to say we knew pre-work was coming. And it did, but not in that way that so often feels like busy work. The pre-assessment asked what we wanted to get out of the retreat. It included items that were fun and made us feel part of something bigger—like adding a song we loved to the “ETR playlist.” (This music was played in the meeting room during transitions and breaks. Copies of the playlist were included in all of the participant folders. Let me tell you, our staff has some great taste in music!)

We also took part in pre-work addressing diversity and inclusion. We engaged in thoughtful dialogue with our colleagues on some pretty difficult issues. This is something we don’t often get to dive into during busy days. This work was connected to an activity in the retreat addressing similar issues.

The priming work didn’t take much time, but the value of the pre-work was equal to the work we did on retreat day. I can’t overstate the importance of this part of a learning event.

STEP 3: TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Learning transfer is the heart of any learning event. Here are some common elements for engagement:

An inclusive, learner-focused environment Group interaction, discussion and sharing Development of concrete action steps Our retreat had all of these elements. I was most impressed by how seamless they were, and how they moved the day forward in an exciting and engaging way.

Over the eight hours we were together, our group participated in more than 15 unique activities, exercises or discussions. The design of those activities reflects two important principles of adult attention: (1) most adults have relatively short attention spans, and (2) attention will be enhanced when people are enjoying themselves, motivated in what they’re doing, and fed (or at least are not hungry, thirsty, stressed, etc.).

Our retreat had plenty of good food. We were never sitting and listening for more than 10-15 minutes. Longer activities were interrupted by physical movement that supported the learning goals (e.g., “Rotate to a new table and discuss this question…”).

Activities were separated by Pop-Ups, delightful little three-minute segments where staff members “popped up” and shared information about something helpful for others to know. Our Pop-Ups covered our active ETR Steppers group, leadership team office hours, and social media strategies within and beyond the organization.

Through it all, what mattered was that we were engaged in the learning, even when it just felt like fun.

STEP 4: IMPLEMENTATION AND BEYOND

The intent of most learning events is to help learners apply the information—to change something for the better when they return to their work settings. The DLP suggests this is best achieved through follow-up support and post-assessment. These steps reinforce the content, skills and information from the learning event. They remind participants of what they learned, and encourage them to apply new skills, even though they are no longer in the learning environment.

Not more than a day or two after our staff retreat, the planning team was operationalizing our follow-up support. They emailed a checklist “so our retreat learnings, connections and commitments stay alive.” It included action steps (literally: “Join the ETR Steppers and thrive!”), key learning, and reminders of where and how to access resources discussed during the retreat.

Don’t Forget the Fun!

We did a lot of work over the course of the day, and we modeled the Distributive Learning Process in a way that I found incredibly valuable. What I loved most about the retreat, though, was that none of that was at the cost of having fun. Julie Dirksen, author of the awesome book Design for How People Learn (2016), makes the point that “a lot of what makes for a great learning experience is not about the content, but about the way the content is taught.”

For ETR, that meant music, games, photos with colleagues and so much more. It was truly a wonderful experience, one that I can’t wait to repeat next year. I can only hope that those of you who don’t work at ETR can take a little bit of our retreat and infuse it into your own, so that your staff retreats can be ever more exciting places of learning and connection.

Sarah Axelson, MSW, is the Director of Training at ETR. She leads the conceptualization, expansion and management of ETR’s training and professional development work. She can be reached at sarah.axelson@etr.org.