Question: We’ve transitioned to a remote-first workforce. How can we keep our employees and managers engaged with video meetings and messaging apps—especially those employees that are missing the social aspects of working together physically?

Answer: Even with video conferencing and messaging apps, fully involving remote employees in team and company meetings remains a challenge. There may be no replacing the experience of being physically in the room, but you can take steps to make these meetings more productive and inclusive. 

The most important thing to remember when “meeting” with remote employees is that you can’t conduct the meeting in the same way as you normally do when everyone is physically present. You have to find a way to replace the advantages that close proximity has, especially the ease of reading body language and picking up social cues. These, unfortunately, do not translate well over the screen or the phone. So, what can you do? 

What remote employees need to fully participate in meetings is space and time to speak. You can provide this space and time in a few ways. First, if there are some physically present participants, ask them to pause for a second before jumping into the conversation. This gives remote employees time to get a word in, plus it helps counter any time delays caused by the conferencing technology. Second, whoever is leading the meeting should regularly invite remote employees to add anything if they have something to say, preferably before moving on in the agenda. Third, when possible, have a remote employee lead the meeting or a section on the agenda. This focuses attention on the remote speakers and can help remind everyone that the meeting isn’t just happening in the physical room. Finally, if a group of remote employees are located in the same workspace, occasionally setting their site as the physical meeting space can help your non-remote employees get a feel for the challenges of being remote during a meeting.

Some preliminary work before the meeting can also help make the meeting itself more efficient. First, test any systems ahead of time so that they’re working for everyone when the meeting starts. Second, email the agenda out so everyone knows what to expect. Third, assign someone in the meeting room to be the contact person that remote employees can email or message if they have questions, concerns, or issues. 

After the meeting, check in with any remote employees and ask them to be candid about their experience. What worked well and what could be improved? See what you can do to accommodate them in the next meeting. 

You may not be able to fully replicate the experience of physically being in the room, but taking these steps can enable remote employees to feel more involved and make the meeting itself run more smoothly.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

Nonprofit Burnout

Did you know that nearly a quarter of U.S. workers experience burnout? Nonprofit burnout numbers are even higher, with 50% of nonprofits experiencing high burnout levels.

The impact of burnout can lead to low employee morale and high turnover rates for nonprofit employees. Without identifying burnout and helping nonprofit employees manage it, your employees may decide to leave, or may have trouble accomplishing everyday tasks. These conditions could lead to limited results for the community your organization intends to serve.

Have you noticed burnout symptoms among your nonprofit employees and volunteers? Do you know the symptoms?

In this blog post, we’ll answer these questions and discuss what you can do to preserve good work- life balance, while prioritizing mental health and well-being to prevent nonprofit burnout.

What Is Nonprofit Burnout?

Burnout is a phenomenon that has become all too common in the workplace. It is typically the result of chronic workplace stress without proper attention and management.

There isn’t necessarily a medical diagnosis for this condition, but it is a mental health concern that can lead to deceased physical and mental health when it goes without recognition and correction.

Your employees likely love what they do for your nonprofit organization, but that doesn’t mean they are immune to the effects of prolonged stress that frequently leads to burnout.

While nonprofit work is meaningful and rewarding, it can also become emotionally draining for nonprofit staff due to the sense of urgency to improve the community. It isn’t unusual for nonprofit team members to work to the point of overworking themselves, and neglect self-care and their own mental well-being.

What Does Employee Nonprofit Burnout Look Like?

You probably know when you are asking more of your nonprofit employees. However, you may not be able to detect precisely when they are taking their duties and efforts beyond reasonable limits. Nonprofit burnout typically happens when employees are overloaded with work for a long period of time or lack adequate resources and time to do the necessary tasks.

If you know how to identify burnout among your nonprofit workers, it’s the first step in helping them.

As a nonprofit leader, note that these characteristics include:

• Energy depletion and exhaustion.
• Depersonalization and mental detachment, resulting in negative feelings and frustration or a lost sense of purpose.
• A reduction in productivity and effectiveness at work.
• Increased absenteeism.
• Physical issues such as headaches, gastrointestinal issues, difficulty sleeping and a drastic change in eating habits.
• Lack of creativity.
• Memory problems.

6 Tips to Prevent Nonprofit Burnout

Fortunately, there are ways to help your valued nonprofit employees avoid or recover from nonprofit burnout.

1. Create a Checklist of Nonprofit Burnout Indicators

Detecting signs of burnout is a crucial first step in preventing or halting this damaging condition. You can start by using the above-noted characteristics of burnout to better ensure you notice the signals as early as possible.

2. Connect with Your Nonprofit Team Members Regularly

Whether your team members work on-site or in a remote or hybrid model, conduct regular meetings in-person or via a video conference platform. Ask your team members how things are going to make sure everyone’s has a balanced workload.

Let everyone know that you want them to speak up if they feel overwhelmed, and that you want to find a way to offer support if they do. It is also important to ask your nonprofit team members to offer support to one another when possible.

3. Promote Work-Life Balance

No matter how important your nonprofit’s mission, your employees’ health is vital. If they can’t work effectively, your nonprofit and the community you serve will suffer. Model healthy workplace behaviors that focus on work-life balance. Encourage employees to practice and prioritize self-care and setting boundaries.

4. Establish and Foster a Healthy Workplace Culture

Much of what we propose serves as establishing a good workplace culture, but there are some intentional steps to accomplish this, including the following:

• Recognize employee “wins” to keep morale and engagement high.
• Promote regular exercise, including lunchtime group walks or on-site yoga classes.
• Sponsor employee activities such as participating in book clubs, trivia contests or board games at lunch.

5. Address Changes in Attitude and Behavior Among Employees

With the list of indicators in mind, if you detect drastic changes in a nonprofit employee’s attitude or behavior, it’s best to address this as soon as possible. Take a gentle approach and start by sending an email asking if everything is OK.

If you don’t find this strategy helpful, ask the employee to join you for a private meeting in your office. Let him or her know that it is OK to discuss problems, concerns and stressors — and that you are there to serve as support.

6. Remind and Encourage Employees to Take Time Off

It’s important for employees to use their PTO to maintain good mental, physical and emotional health — especially when working hard in the nonprofit sector. Many workers find it easy to skip days off to finish a project, but the potential for stress and burnout are too great. Remind employees that their project will be ready for them when they return and that, if necessary, other employees can help.

We hope you can help your dedicated employees avoid nonprofit burnout with these ideas. If you need more help, UST offers many solutions that help identify issues in your nonprofit organization.

Contact us if you need additional help to reduce nonprofit unemployment and HR liability.

Sources

https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/addressing-employee-burnout-are-you-solving-the-right-problem

https://www.goodera.com/blog/coping-with-nonprofit-burnout

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/addressing-burnout-critical-social-sectors-success

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/avoiding-burnout-and-preserving-movement-leadership/

https://www.thehortongroup.com/resources/11-tips-for-nonprofits-to-prevent-employee-burnout/

https://www.funraise.org/blog/mental-health-matters-when-the-goalposts-are-always-moving-nonprofit-burnout-is-a-given

As a leader of a nonprofit organization, it is imperative to ensure that your clients are getting the customer service they desire. Even with a well-trained and dependable staff, unforeseen circumstances can arise, leading to your staff having to effectively de-escalate situations with irate or upset clients. By training your employees in these de-escalation techniques, you can create a more relaxed atmosphere and facilitate productive communication, ultimately leading to better outcomes for both parties involved.

Here are some useful tips that employees of nonprofits can use to de-escalate situations with upset clients:

1. Listen attentively and remain calm: The first step to diffusing a situation is to listen intently to the concerned party and remain calm. Avoid getting defensive or argumentative, as this will only worsen the situation.

2. Show empathy and understanding: It’s vital to acknowledge the client’s grievances and show that you understand their frustrations. Use statements such as “I appreciate your concerns” or “I can understand how you feel” to let them know that you’re listening.

3. Clarify the problem: Once you’ve listened to the client’s perspective, clarify the issue to ensure you understand the situation clearly. To do this, repeat what the client has said in your own words or ask a question to clarify any doubts.

4. Offer a solution: Once you understand the problem, offer potential solutions that could help resolve the issue. Ensure the solution is realistic, actionable, and in the best interest of the client.

5. Apologize if necessary: If a mistake has been made, sincerely apologize sincerely and take responsibility for the error. Use the apology as an opportunity to rebuild trust with the client.

Nonprofit leaders play a crucial role in managing challenging situations with upset clients. Successfully navigating these scenarios and building trust in your organization can be achieved through the implementation of effective de-escalation techniques. It is important to actively listen to their concerns, demonstrate empathy, clarify any issues, propose practical solutions, and take responsibility if necessary. By following these straightforward steps, your nonprofit can consistently deliver exceptional service, defuse tense situations, and positively impact your organization’s ratings. Demonstrating exceptional customer service with consistent earning 5-star ratings can help to enhance your reputation and further the mission of your nonprofit organization.

Furthermore, investing in the development of your staff through effective training programs is essential. By ensuring that your team has the necessary knowledge and tools to handle demanding customer interactions, you can foster improved client relationships and create a happier and more efficient workforce.

UST HR Workplace is here to make it easier for nonprofits to get the support they need. Sign up now for a free 60-day trial and enjoy access to our live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses and an extensive compliance library with UST membership. Enjoy the beneficial insights and various resources that help empower you with the right tools and training to take better care of your team while keeping your clients contented. Act fast – join now and watch your nonprofit thrive!

Question: How should employee files be organized?

Answer: We recommend having five separate files for each employee, as outlined below:

• I-9 file: Keep all Form I-9s in a separate master file or three-ring binder.
• Medical file: This file should contain everything related to an employee’s medical history, including health insurance enrollment forms. It’s important to separate this file because you cannot legally base personnel decisions, such as who gets promoted and who doesn’t, on an individual’s medical history. In addition, various privacy laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require that you keep confidential employee medical records separate from basic personnel files. The retention period will depend on the type of record.
• Personnel file: This file should contain items that were a factor in the employee’s hiring and employment in addition to items that will have any impact on their employment in the future. This includes performance reviews and corrective action records.
• Payroll records file: This file should contain the employee’s W-4 and any other payroll-related documents containing the employee’s SSN or other protected information, including garnishments.
• Injury file: Keep a file for any employee who is injured while on the job. This file should contain workers’ compensation claim records and injury reports, and any additional medical records pertaining to the injury. It’s okay to start this file only if an employee suffers an injury on the job.

These files should be kept in a secure location that is only accessible to those in the HR function or with a legitimate need to review the information—for instance, in locked cabinets inside a locked HR office. This information can be stored electronically if that makes more sense for your business. Just ensure that it’s well secured and backed up to prevent data loss.

There are specific requirements for storing I-9s electronically, which are probably good standards for any kind of electronic data storage.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

A well-designed onboarding plan is more than a perfunctory welcome packet with endless bureaucratic documents and a brief meet and greet from days gone by. It provides your nonprofit hiring team and the respective department manager an opportunity to fully integrate new hires into your organization.

Why Does Employee Onboarding for Nonprofits Matter?

An onboarding plan for new hires gives you a window — designated by your leadership and HR teams — to provide an in-depth cultural and productivity-based primer. It serves as a prolonged orientation that focuses on ensuring new employees have all the tools, they need to successfully complete daily tasks.

It’s equally important that new team members feel welcome and included by their peers and managers. Onboarding plans can help with this since they are generally designed with equity, diversity, and fairness in mind.

This focus aids in fostering a much-needed and desirable team-oriented environment. It helps individuals learn, acclimate, engage, improve, and thrive. A robust onboarding strategy helps ensure that everyone works together to fulfill your organization’s mission according to its values.

The Definition of an Employee Onboarding Process for Nonprofit Organizations

With helpful resources from trusted sources and partners, along with the following tips, you can create a highly effective onboarding program and get the results you want for your nonprofit organization and your valued employees.

Duration — Think Long Term

Onboarding is best when viewed as a long-range strategy. It isn’t a one-off event that takes one day. Instead, think of it as a continuous process that focuses on the employee’s long-term integration within the organization.

Think of timelines such as our 30-60-90-day plan that sets nonprofit employees up for short-term and long-term success that leads to powerful employee retention.

Mapping out a plan for a new hire’s crucial first three months can be instrumental. It provides structure, sets expectations, and ensures that both the organization and employee are aligned in their objectives and expectations.

Create a Nonprofit Employee Onboarding Checklist

Planning and organizing a long-range onboarding process will help ensure you don’t miss anything you want to include. This is true for any business, but for nonprofits, where mission and purpose are at the forefront, it’s vital to create an experience that aligns new employees with the organization’s unique vision and goals from day one.

Here is a sample checklist to ensure that your nonprofit’s onboarding process is comprehensive and effective:

• Job essentials like desk supplies and necessary technology
• Training manuals and sessions
• Welcome package and first agenda sent out via email or text message before or on the first day
• Coworker introduction
• Organizational culture workshop session
• Job description review
• Administrative paperwork

Adaptability and future growth should be at the core, ensuring that the process remains relevant and effective as organizational needs evolve.

Rely on Technology to Streamline the Process

Besides sending out emails and productivity app messages before employees arrive the first day, you can lean on even more technological tools. For example, you can record complex training modules for processes you understand are challenging. This allows new hires to watch your in-depth video as many times as needed to understand a particular job task or operation.

Create an Employee Handbook

A thoughtful and comprehensive handbook communicates rules and policies. It also instills a sense of the organization’s culture, mission, and values. Best of all, it serves as an easily accessible, consistent, and constant companion which is essential for helping new hires navigate their initial days with greater confidence.

Designate a Work Partner or Buddy

Assigning a new hire to an existing employee to act as their work buddy helps to quickly instill and foster a sense of belonging. It’s no secret that starting a new job can be overwhelming in terms of the work itself and relationship-building. This step is your personal touch offering employees a go-to person for information, someone to answer their questions while acclimate to and align them with your mission, and their place in your organization.

Make Personal Introductions for Quick Connections and Long-Term Collaboration

Help new hires get to know as many of their colleagues as possible in the onboarding process. When you take the intentional time and energy to introduce new hires to team members and leadership, it helps to establish immediate connections, encouraging an open and collaborative work environment.

Set Clear Goals

Clear goals provide direction and purpose for your new hires to aspire to. Ensure that goals are aligned with the organizational objectives and tailored to the employee’s role, promoting a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

Establish a Mutual Feedback Loop

Regular constructive feedback reinforces positive behavior and identifies areas for improvement. It’s also a good time to discuss what the employee is doing right and how much you appreciate their efforts. However, feedback should be a two-way conversation, ensuring new hires feel heard and valued. Let them know that their constructive feedback is welcome and helpful to your managers and the organization.

Are You Ready to Launch Your Nonprofit Employee Onboarding Program?

If you are ready to develop, launch, or improve your nonprofit employee onboarding plan, UST stands as a beacon for nonprofit organizations. We offer solutions that simplify your operations so you and your team can focus on your mission.

Contact us here to learn more about our nonprofit onboarding strategies and support.

SOURCES

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2021/06/09/10-keys-for-onboarding-new-nonprofit-team-members/?sh=4cb89e517c3e

The Importance of Mental Health in the Nonprofit Workplace

Mental health is an often overlooked but critically important aspect of workplace wellbeing. Nonprofit organizations are especially susceptible because they are tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues. Organizations prioritizing employee mental health can anticipate improved employee engagement, greater satisfaction, and stronger outcomes. A psychologically safe workplace lays the foundation for such achievements. Statistics reveal that one in six individuals experience mental health issues at work, resulting in the loss of twelve billion workdays annually due to depression and anxiety. Additionally, happy employees are shown to be 13% more productive, according to an article by Spill.

The first step to creating a psychologically safe workplace is to understand what it is, and what it is not. A psychologically safe workplace is one where employees feel comfortable, respected, and valued. It is a place where they can express themselves without fear of ridicule, judgment, or discrimination. It is also a workplace where employees can voice their concerns without being punished, and where constructive criticism is encouraged. A psychologically safe workplace is not a place where employees fear retribution for speaking out, where bullying is tolerated, or where mental health concerns are stigmatized.

Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment

To create a psychologically safe workplace, within a nonprofit organization, leaders and managers must prioritize their employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Employees of nonprofit organization often work long hours, and care deeply about the impact they are making. This emotional toll on employees can lead to burnout. By means providing access to mental health resources, including counseling and therapy services, promoting work-life balance, and encouraging self-care, you can help mitigate employee stress. It also means creating clear and fair policies regarding performance evaluation, promotion, and disciplinary action. This way, employees can feel assured that they are being evaluated based on their performance and skills, rather than personal biases or factors outside their control.

Training and education are also crucial to creating a psychologically safe workplace. Leaders and managers should educate themselves on mental health wellness strategies and best practices for supporting employees in this area. They should also provide training to their staff on recognizing and responding to mental health concerns, as well as promoting mental health awareness and reducing stigma. If you want to continue your educational journey, UST’s HR and Compliance partner, Mineral, has a variety of educational resources to help get you started. Read Mineral’s blog, How Employers Can Address Mental Health in the Workplace, by clicking here.

Getting a psychologically safe nonprofit workplace requires continuous dedication, effort, and resources. However, the advantages of a safe and positive work environment for both employees and organizations are worthwhile. By prioritizing mental health and wellbeing, implementing clear policies, and offering resources, nonprofit leaders and managers can establish a supportive, respectful, and inclusive workplace culture for all employees.

Find more resources to navigate your nonprofit’s workplace with UST’s blogs.

Source: https://www.spill.chat/mental-health-statistics/workplace-mental-health-statistics

Question: We have two employees who don’t seem to like each other, and it is starting to affect their work. How do we help employees who don’t get along to work well together?

Answer: Getting employees who don’t like each other to work well together can be challenging, but here are several steps you can take to improve the situation:

• Investigate the cause or causes of the conflict. It’s easy to jump to conclusions about what is happening. Speak to the employees involved and try to understand the tension between them. Is it a personality clash, a misunderstanding, or a difference in working style? Once you understand the cause, you can work to address it and find a solution.
• Encourage the employees to communicate openly with each other. You may need to facilitate a conversation to help them understand what open communication is like. If your employees are struggling to communicate openly, they may benefit from training in effective communication, including active listening and conflict resolution.
• Set clear expectations for behavior and performance, and make sure everyone is on the same page. Create a shared vision for the team and encourage everyone to work towards that common goal. Tell your employees that they don’t need to be friends, but they do need to be able to work together and should be professional in the workplace.
• Lead by example. Model open communication and positive conflict resolution with your teams and peers.
• Follow up to ensure that the solution is working and that your expectations are being met.
• If one or more of your employees continues to not meet your behavioral and performance expectations, it would be appropriate to discipline them, up to and including termination.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

An engaging communication strategy is vital for any business, regardless of the size of the organization or whether it is in the private or nonprofit sector. Good communications enable you to share and clarify your organization’s message, boost visibility and awareness, and generate engagement and support. This key element is involved in every charitable campaign, project, or event, so you need to develop a nonprofit communication strategy your organization can count on.

In this blog post, we’ll share some insights about communication strategies for nonprofits and how you can develop one that gets results for your mission.

What is a Nonprofit Communication Strategy?

A communication strategy for nonprofit organizations is an intentional, custom framework that allows for seamless communication with donors, media, beneficiaries, volunteers, stakeholders, and the public. It’s more than a messaging system or a way to distribute the latest information; a strong communications strategy serves as a roadmap for creating, delivering and managing consistent and meaningful messages with impact—supporting the organization’s goals and mission.

Why is an Efficient Nonprofit Communication Strategy an Important Organizational Task?

We touched on some reasons that a communication plan is vital for nonprofits, such as communicating a clear and consistent message, boosting visibility and awareness, and facilitating engagement.

Here are some additional reasons to help you understand why a communication strategy is essential.

• Clarity of Messaging: A well-crafted communication strategy helps nonprofits express their values, mission and goals, clearly and consistently.
• Awareness and Visibility: Nonprofits rely on consistent visibility and public awareness for continuous support. The right messaging ensures the nonprofit’s initiatives, achievements and impact are in the public consciousness to help attract more contributions.
• Build Relationships: With stellar messaging, nonprofit organizations can build strong relationships with donors, the public and stakeholders. Strong messaging helps donors stay connected to a cause, volunteers feel engaged, and beneficiaries have a deeper understanding of how their lives are impacted by the organization’s efforts.

5 Steps to Create an Effective Nonprofit Communications Strategy

A high-performing nonprofit communication plan answers the core questions: What? When? Who? Where? How?

We’ve come up with five steps to create an effective nonprofit communication strategy to gain all the benefits needed to run a successful nonprofit company or fundraising event, using the basic questions to guide your nonprofit toward success.

1. Set Goals and Objectives (What?)

Essentially, what do you want your communication strategy to do? There are many different types of goals you might choose. A perennial favorite set of goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resourced and Time-Bound (SMART), which help point you toward the broad outcomes you want to achieve through your communications — but any set of goals that helps you do that will work.

Consider establishing goals such as seeking fundraising from corporate donors, building branding and awareness, and engaging your local community.

Your objectives should always reflect the ways in which you and your team are working on the goals you want to reach for optimal transparency and trust-building.

2. Establish a Timeline and Frequency (When?)

It’s important to determine the overarching timeline for sending out communications from your nonprofit. It’s just as important to determine how much communication your audience wants — you don’t want to flood someone’s inbox, turning him or her off from your messaging completely.

Further, the frequency is different for diverse types of communication. For example, you might publish one or two blog posts per week, several social media post each week and send out one email daily. If you have a fast-approaching event, you might increase the communication frequency for your most effective channels.

3. Know Your Audience (Who?)

Knowing your audience, speaking to them directly, and providing them meaningful information are essential ways to drive engagement with the right donors and stakeholders. For instance, do you want to gain new donors or update long-term existing donors? If you want to send regular emails or newsletters, either separate the different donors manually or find the right donor data segmentation support to make it easier.

4. Clarify Your Message and Create Content with Integrity and Transparency (Where?)

Clarify your brand and message, ensuring it is simple, consistent, and easily understood. Focus on the high-level point you want to make each time, such as your mission, why you need financial support and the donor’s impact. By sharing these things, you are providing effective storytelling, which frequently resonates with donors. You will build trust, transparency and honesty in your messaging that inspires people to support your organization and keep coming back.

Share your messages through the channels listed above and others, including blog posts, social media posts, print media, television advertising, and radio commercials when applicable.

5. Evaluate Your Strategy (How?)

It’s important to regularly check to see how your nonprofit’s communications strategy is doing. At a minimum, take the time and effort to evaluate your strategy and planning process on a monthly basis. Review your past work to see how effective it was, using key performance indicators (KPIs) and choosing the best metrics to determine whether you are on track to meet your communication goals.

Here are some KPIs to consider in your evaluation process:

• Website page views
• Fundraising ROI
• Donor and donation growth
• Donor retention rate
• Email open and click-through rates
• Gifts secured
• Beneficiary satisfaction rate
• Program efficiency

Summing Up

An effective communications strategy will allow your nonprofit organization to reach your audience and create meaningful engagement that satisfies donors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries. Our UST HR Workplace can help you develop, launch and maintain a powerful communications strategy wherein you foster connection through targeted outreach and helpful, timely information and prompts for action.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you serve your population.

Sources

https://www.networkforgood.com/resource/top-10-reasons-for-creating-a-communications-plan/

https://afpglobal.org/introduction-donor-data-segmentation?gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7GnBhDXARIsAFLvH4lx3Yi9Sgx1Gsu3xA3LhGM3k_Kh1vPC6ERjW8xZcLk6qHugFYiz4lEaAogtEALw_wcB

20 KPIs For Nonprofits to Track Over Time

Running a nonprofit organization requires a tremendous amount of teamwork and collaboration. In today’s digital age, many nonprofits have adapted to remote work models to be more efficient, cost-effective, and flexible. However, when it comes to remote collaboration, challenges such as communication barriers, cultural differences, and time zone disparities can make it difficult to maintain effective collaboration across your workforce.

In this blog, we’ll share effective strategies that can help you enhance remote collaboration throughout your nonprofit organization.

Invest in the Right Collaboration Tools

Your organization needs the right tools to help improve collaboration among remote teams. Some essential tools that can help include cloud-based document sharing platforms like Google Docs and Dropbox, video-conferencing apps like Zoom and Skype, chat and messaging apps like Slack, and project management tools like Trello and Asana.

Establish Clear Guidelines for Effective Communication

Communication is the lifeblood of collaboration. To ensure effective collaboration, it’s important to establish clear communication guidelines and protocols that apply to all members of your organization. These guidelines should include standards for language, tone, response times, and how to handle disagreements.

Foster a Culture of Open Communication

Remote collaboration requires a more inclusive and transparent communication approach. Encourage your team members to be more open and transparent in their communication while ensuring that they are effectively listened to and their opinions noted. This will ensure that every member of your team has an equal chance to share their ideas, which will ultimately lead to more effective collaboration.

Develop Work-Collaboration Schedules

As remote teams can be scattered around the world, it’s essential to have defined collaboration schedules to ensure that all members of the team can contribute. Work-collaboration schedules can cover topics such as project meetings, deadlines, shared work times, etc.

Train your Team in Virtual Collaboration Skills

Provide training and workshops to your team, informing them on best practices in virtual collaboration skills relevant to your workforce. Proper training and education in virtual communication, project management, and teamwork will create well-rounded staff who are more effective in a virtual work environment.

It’s essential to embrace and encourage a healthy culture of remote collaboration. By providing your team with the resources for safe and productive collaboration, you’re helping foster an environment of creativity, connectedness, and efficiency. With the right tools in place, you won’t have to compromise on quality or efficiency as people work from wherever they are most comfortable and productive. A strong foundation made up of communication, trust, transparency, and open-mindedness can help take your nonprofit to another level. Your employees will feel empowered knowing that their work matters and that they are part of an organization with core values that enable greater collaboration across your remote workforce. Don’t hesitate to invest in the tools necessary to support remote collaboration – it could be the keystone for your nonprofit’s success.

Find more resources to help your nonprofit navigate the digital age with UST’s blogs.

Question: What are effective ways to manage remote employees and monitor their work? 

Answer: Managing remote employees can certainly be a challenge. Here are some of the practices we recommend: 

• Set measurable goals around quality of work. Whether employees get their work done to your satisfaction is more important to your bottom line than whether they’re always at their workstation. Make all the resources necessary for employees to do their jobs remotely easily available. These may include phones, computers, extra monitors, video conferencing software, and instant messaging apps. If you need employees to have fast internet speeds, consider subsidizing the necessary costs. 
• Create and communicate a work-from-home policy so everyone knows what’s expected of them.
• Talk regularly with employees about what’s working well and not-so-well. Encourage them to reach out to HR or a manager if remote work is causing any difficulties or challenges.  
• Hold all meetings virtually, even if some people are working in a company office, so everyone is equally able to participate. This means having employees who are in the workplace login from their individual computers and not be in the same room as their other in-office colleagues during the meeting. 
• Promote a good work-life balance by making sure remote employees know when their workday ends. It’s very easy for employees working at home to spend more time working than they would in an office environment.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.