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A Simple Technique to Make “Hybrid” Facilitation Work

Tom Lenz, Consult HLT

In December of 2021, Consult HLT colleague Mirja Hanson and I facilitated a strategic planning session for the Illinois Housing Council (IHC). While most of their 30 board members were able to attend in person, many could not, due to distance (IHC is a state-wide group) or COVID concerns.

Fortunately, the board member who hosted the retreat had an excellent “Owl” camera to track the discussion at the in-person meeting and a large video monitor to display the faces of the remote participants. The challenge was how to handle the small group discussions which were central to capturing ideas and feedback for the strategic plan.

An obvious solution would be for the remote participants to have their own small group session on Zoom. But not only would this result in a large group, it would also complicate our process for aggregating and analyzing feedback:  Having each small group share their ideas using 4 by 6 inch “Post It” notes.

Fortunately, Mirja had a simple solution. In each of the in-person small group sessions, one or two participants were paired with a remote board member. Remote participants called their in-person “buddy” on their cell phone and joined the small groups on speaker phone. So while they weren’t physically in the room, they could be a part of the conversation and add ideas that were then captured on the “Post it” notes.

While not a perfect solution, it worked remarkably well. Sometimes 1990’s technology can save the day!

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Ensuring a Free Press: Virtual Peer Problem-Solving to Support Local Newspapers

January 09, 2021 

By Mirja Hanson

When the going gets tough, peer interchange offers the best solutions! As the pandemic accelerated the revenue shortfalls threatening the survival of community newspapers, the MN News Media Institute (MNI) of the MN Newspaper Association (MNA)  responded with a virtual networking opportunity for generating action ideas. With sponsorship from The Blandin Foundation, the MNI and Millennia Consulting’s Mirja Hanson facilitated problem-solving huddles for local newspapers for supporting and sustaining their mission to assure essential community information.

From June to October 2020, a lively series of online peer discussions brought together 50+ newspaper staff from communities across Minnesota. The first forums produced an “idea bank” of insights that was shared with 300+ MNA members as resource for navigating key service challenges:

Supporting HEALTHY NEWSPAPERS

  • Negative industry reputation affecting recruitment and advertising perceptio   
  • Community closures/economic challenges with losses in events, ads, distribution points
  • Navigating through unprecedented unknowns without a track record to use as a guide
  • Struggling to address falling revenues while continuing to serve the communi   
  • Launching a new paper amidst social unrest and a tough economy       
  • Adjusting to print vs. digital and reductions in print days            
  • Doing more with even less to continue production and making ends meet   
  • Keeping, managing, motivating and finding staff to get the work done       
  • Supporting HEALTHY COMMUNITY
  • Keeping readers and community interacting and engaged constructively   
  • Providing relevant COVID-related coverage and community support       
  • Gaining citizen and reporter access to public meetings and key stories       
  • By popular demand, MNI convened seven follow-up sessions to allow a deeper dive to identify ideas in priority action areas:
  • Seeking revenue strategies – advertising, subscriptions, memberships
  • Sustaining the business and operations
  • Expanding digital strategies
  • Supporting and recruiting employees
  • Keeping the core product relevant with in-depth, balanced content focused on local news
  • Assuring coverage of all market communities, voices and issues
  • Serving as a constructive forum for community information and dialogue

While participants did not expect any silver bullets for their dilemma, they acknowledged the benefits of keeping in touch with others in all areas of the industry and, as one person put it, “the discussions were valuable from a business perspective, but also valuable for moral support. It is stressful publishing during this pandemic. Peer networking is so necessary or professional and personal health.” The biggest take-way was a re-dedication to keep citizens informed and active in their communities and broaden public support for the newspapers’ role.

The virtual problem-solving effort builds on the Rural Editors and Publishers Community Leadership Program (E&P) that has involved 181 participants from 101 newspapers since 2005. Millennia has served as a trainer in collaboration with MNI staff for the past 16 years. The program is funded and originally developed by the Blandin Foundation to equip community leaders with the core competencies of framing, social capital and mobilization and other tools for supporting healthy community.

The networking used an E&P process known as the balcony group that participants have found to be a key tool for translating leadership ideas into tangible action.  Authors Heifetz and Linsky of Leadership on the Line, encourage leaders to periodically “climb to the balcony, above the fray” to gain perspectives for working smarter on the “dance floor” of day-to-day operations.

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The Bad News – and Good News – About the Pandemic and Public Education

September 16, 2020 

By Tom Lenz and Brenda Bannor

Millennia consultants Tom Lenz, and Brenda Bannor have assisted the Partnership for Resilience since its creation five years ago.  The Partnership recently released a report called Rebuilding for a New Normal: A Study of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trauma-Responsive Schools and Key Recommendations for Communities. The report paints an unvarnished picture of the huge educational challenges posed by the pandemic – and offers some hopeful ideas of how to use this crisis to prioritize teacher-student relationships, social emotional learning, and family engagement.  Highlights of the report are below:

WHO WE TALKED WITH

72 administrators, teachers, support staff and parents in south suburban Cook County, Springfield, and far southern Illinois. 15 national experts in the fields of social emotional learning (SEL) and trauma responsive schools.

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF THE PANDEMIC

Families and educators experienced emotional distress, financial instability, and threats to basic needs.  Most harbor fears about what lies ahead in the new school year.

Virtual learning provided more challenges than successes including widespread connectivity and access to technology issues; limited communication between teachers, students, and parents; and confusion over grading.

Educators and administrators had little time to recover from the tumultuous spring and are at risk for burnout in the new school year. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOVING FORWARD

1.    Wrap “safety and care” around students and adults through expanded attention to social and emotional needs of students, parents, teachers, support staff and administrators.

2.    For the 2020-21 school year focus on social emotional learning, universal behavioral supports, restorative practices, cultural relevance, and relationship building.

3.    Help teachers reach their students through training on pedagogies and curriculum that align with virtual or social distanced settings.  This could include inquiry-based learning, community service-based learning, or flipped classroom models.4.    Seize new opportunities to prioritize teacher-student connection/relationships, social-emotional learning, and family engagement.

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This Just In: An Effective and Enjoyable 3-Hour Zoom Webinar!

August 10, 2020

By Tom Lenz

For the past five years I have been assisting the Partnership for Resilience, a cross-sector collaborative of public schools, health care and community organizations in southern Cook County and far southern Illinois. Family and community engagement (FACE) is a huge priority for these schools.  Earlier this year we planned a June workshop at Governors State Community with Eyal Bergman, a FACE expert from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  When the pandemic hit, we reluctantly decided to move the face-to-face workshop to Zoom. Eyal’s good, I thought, but a 3-hour webinar? Would you believe the three hours FLEW by and the evaluation from the 75 participants were almost all “would highly recommend this to a colleague”.  The most-frequent comment: “I wish the workshop had been longer.”  What just happened?  To be sure, Eyal’s core messages on family engagement are terrific.  He’s partnered with the foremost expert on the topic at Harvard, Dr. Karen Mapp.  Her dual capacity framework is a practical and powerful approach that more and more schools are embracing.

But Eyal did two things extremely well that are worth noting:  First, he expertly used Zoom functions to build participant engagement right from the start.  Eyal led with four questions about family and community engagement and used the polling function to share the participant responses in real time.  These four questions previewed key elements of his presentation, and he referred back to them throughout the morning.  He also used the “white board” function to get a range of responses to other questions he posed.  The comments appeared in a quick and dynamic way which created additional engagement with the audience.  Second, he built in large chunks of time for small group work and for breaks.  In fact, his time budget for the three hours looked like this:  •    Presenter talk time – 60 minutes •    Time in breakout groups – 65 minutes •Interactive presenter/participant time – 30 minutes •    Breaks – 25 minutes

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Fundraising in the Time of COVID

March 27, 2020

By Jessica Ticus

As the COVID-19 pandemic is touching everyone, many nonprofits especially health and human services feel the impact acutely. Fundraising ismore critical than ever during this crisis.

If they can, donors will continue to support you. Consider sending an email appeal for immediate funding needs like prepaid Internet cards or more shelf-stable meals for the homebound. Post a special giving page on your website to encourage support and share stories of the impact of even the smallest donation.

Keep in touch with your key donors so you know how the coronavirus is impacting their families and their business. This may not be the time to ask for a major gift, but this is a relationship business and you want to check-in and see how your supporters are doing. Outreach to your volunteers will also be appreciated.

Seek grant opportunities for emergency relief from local community foundations and other aid organizations. The Chicago Community Trust and the United Way have established a website where donations are being solicited and potential grant recipients can provide information.  Continue to work with your public officials as federal emergency relief funds become available.

Postpone fundraising events or move to a virtual format. Many event venues and caterers are open to rebooking with advance notification. Evaluate your resources and technical capacity to host an

interesting and profitable virtual event. While people are looking for something to do, the production quality needs to be high to keep the “gala” in gala.

Crisis is a precondition of communication, not only with people you serve, but also with those who support your mission. Your donors want to know how you are carrying on in these strange and scary times.

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When Boards Go Bad

September 4, 2018

By Jessica Ticus

While problematic board behavior is all too common, early recognition of issues can help bring a board back on track. Here are a few observations from nonprofit leaders and board members.
Karen Hunt, Managing Director at First Bank & Trust, a division of Byline Bank located in Evanston, has been a member of numerous nonprofits boards over the past twenty years. She describes the early warning signs that a board is wandering, “When I see them talking about operations rather than fundraising and governance… you know they’ve lost focus.” She suggests board members and staff, “Look what’s on the agenda for a board meeting. Here’s where financial information is shared and high-level decisions are being made. Board sub-committees can meet in the off-months and get more into the weeds.”

Marybeth Schroeder, Vice President of Community Program at the Evanston Community Foundation, feels most people aren’t trained for their board responsibilities. “A board member’s job needs to be spelled out in writing.” While board orientations are great, she notices that, “They’re often about the organization’s mission and programs and not your role as a board member.” Bob Thomas, President and CEO of Winnetka Community House, has a particularly challenging time defining board responsibilities since this 107 year-old organization was founded and run by board members. “Changing a board’s culture is hard,” says this experienced businessman turned nonprofit leader. In addition to job descriptions, he’d like board members to evaluate their performance annually. Board self-assessment is seen as best practice for high performance boards, according to BoardSource, the industry leader in nonprofit board management and research.

Rebecca Cacayuran, Program Officer, Evanston Community Foundation, says succession planning is another big issue for boards. They’re often shocked at how much pro-bono time the founder has dedicated to their cause. “Before retiring, I recommend that the founder track actual time allocated to work, and have a robust conversation with the board about the true cost of leadership.” Both leaders and board members cite fundraising as the area in which expectations diverge and boards go bad. Board members may feel their time is their contribution. “One hundred percent of your board should be financially supporting the organization,” Ms. Cacayuran says. “Your organization needs to be in the top three institutions the board member supports. Not all board members need to give the same amount, but their gift needs to be significant to them.” Mr. Thomas notes that while the Winnetka Community House board members are generous as donors as well as with their time and talents, the organization needs to grow their fundraising activities. “Board members can sign letters, open doors or come on calls with me,” coaches Mr. Thomas. Ms. Hunt is a fearless fundraiser. “Because I support an organization, I have no problem asking others to join me. I have people who see me coming and hide under their desk. But, you know what, they can always say no.” Keeping board members focused on serving your organization requires training, coaching and constant vigilance

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