b'DAYTODAYTWEAKS TO TAKE YOUR VIDEO MEETINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL Cut background noise. Set an example for your teamuse Bluetooth or noisecanceling headphones to eliminate surrounding chatter, thus encouraging focus. Research resources such as external mics that might improve the audio quality of your meetings.Introduce rituals. Get in the habit of keeping meetings short: 15 minutes for a standup call, 30 minutes for a catchup, and nothing longer than 45 minutes. Make sure to set the purpose and agenda for each call ahead of time. Reassess your physical environment. Evaluate the setup of your work area, and encourage team BEING AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER members to do the same. Clear away clutter and distractionseven when not visible Charisma refers to the ability to connect with people on aonscreenbecause they human level, rooted in shared values and inspiration. can crowd your mind and Communicate using simple, plain language that engages ascontribute to stress. many as possible. Weave questions into your conversation,Encourage others to prompting the listener to think how or why rather than justinvest in healthy athome yes or no. Showing you understand anothers perspective iswork habits by subsidizincredibly powerful for building human connections. ing materials like standing desks or walking Clarity keeps the needs and activities of their teams alignedpads. Take breaks for with those of the broader organization by (1) defining expecta quick reset exercises.tions, (2) rewarding meeting or exceeding those expectations,Embrace the growing pains. and (3) actively managing good and bad behavior. Operating in a remote workplace demands more organization, Adaptability is demonstrated by managers who constantlyadvance planning, creativity, and collaboration. Stay receptive to adjust how they operate to the changing environment andfeedback from participants to increase the chances of creating needs of their team.videomeeting experiences people look forward to. Source: Psychology TodaySource: Smartbrief TURN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS INTO OFFLINE DONORS Philanthropy Daily shares a proven strategy for turning a portion of your social media followers into offline donors. Provide real value on social media. Stay active on each site where you have a presence, and show your followers how compelling and important your work is. Build trust with a twoway conversation with polls and surveys, contests, and inside information. Convert to email. Social media can be a great cultivation tool but isnt great for solicitation. Regularly ask your social media followers to sign up for your email newsletter.Provide real value in your newsletter. Once your social followers sign up for your email newsletter, continue building the relationships by providing real value: Include interesting stories of your work; profiles of your clients, donors, board members, and staff; and features on your events and thought leadership.Email fundraising solicitations. No other online fundraising medium is as effective as email. Consider sending several email fundraising solicitations every year. Focus solely on fundraising, keep your message to 300400 words, and include a true ask. Email solicitations work better when sent in flights. Send a 300 to 400word appeal email, followed by shorter, second and third 100 to 150word reminders, summarizing the first email. These followup emails can boost your solicitation revenue by 1025 percent.48 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG JULY/AUGUST 2023'