C1C Year in Review – A Look Back at Our 2021 Posts!
And just like that, 2021 is complete! We ended last year saying that 2020 was a year to remember, and 2021 turned out to not be much different… For better or worse, these last couple years will likely be stuck in our memories forever. The world had changed, a “new normal” seems to have arisen. But one thing remains consistent, and that is C1C has continued to share monthly tips and advice for organizations, leaders, and teams (in the form of five tips whenever possible, of course)! Join us as we take a look back at some of our favorite topics from this past year.
We ended last year saying that 2020 was a year to remember, and 2021 turned out to not be much different.
January: C1C Year in Review - A Look Back at Our 2020 Posts!
Check out this post if you want to see what we were talking about in 2020! Topics focus heavily on working from home (remember when that was new?), leading and engaging a virtual team, navigating the Covid-19 pandemic, and much more!
February: 5 Ways to Build an Organizational Culture
An organization’s culture impacts the level of success it has both internally and externally. It establishes the team’s identity, how well coworkers collaborate, and how the team is perceived by clients. Here at C1C, we make use of five key methods to promote and maintain a positive and collaborative culture. Check out this post to see what those five methods are and how they’ve benefited us.
March: Five Years in Business: Reflections on the Advice That Got Us Started
Five years ago, C1C’s first article was posted entitled… We are OPEN for business! Five years to the day of that first article, Sara Roberts (C1C’s cofounder along with Amy McFeely) shares a tribute to the encouraging words that were shared by others and the valuable advice they provided. If you’re considering starting a business of your own, be sure to check out this post for some valuable advice.
April: Three Way Communication Should be Flowing in Your Organization & Touchpoints to Make it Happen
Organizational communication can be a difficult problem to understand and solve. To be effective, communication needs to flow proactively across different channels and reporting lines to ensure people feel in-the-know about decisions that affect them and they have the information they need to do their jobs each day. To help with this, we’ve outlined three ways communication should be flowing in your organization and touchpoints to make it happen.
May: Five Tips to Make Delivering Difficult Feedback Less Difficult
Delivering difficult feedback is a very necessary (although sometimes painful) part of leadership and employee development. It helps individuals identify potential growth opportunities, areas of misunderstanding, and where there may be misalignment between intention and perception. In this post we share five tips for how to deliver difficult feedback well and increase its effectiveness (making the difficulty of having to deliver it and having to hear it all the more worthwhile).
June: Five Steps to Get a Better Handle on Your Data
Organizations collect a lot of data for a variety of purposes—one of which is to show the impact of their work. However, effectively using the data to show impact requires thought, planning, and resources to execute effectively. This planning process is often overlooked which leads to collecting an abundance of data that is difficult to manage. In this post we share five steps to help you get a better handle on your data and ensure they are working for you.
July: Five Tips for Retaining Key Employees
2021 was dubbed the year of “The Great Resignation.” While organizations are often quick to dedicate time and resources to recruiting and hiring new employees, they may neglect to focus on the retention of their existing workforce. This can be a critical mistake, as the loss of key employees with expertise and organization-specific knowledge can severely disrupt and delay the forward progress of an organization. Here, we share five tips for retaining your key employees.
August: Back to School - Conducting Educational Research
Educational institutions have long been leaders in program evaluation and research through robust projects examining curriculum effectiveness, programmatic interventions, and holistic student supports. For those who might be less familiar with what research and evaluation in educational settings looks like, we’ve outlined four key considerations.
September: Three Ways a Learning Culture Can Transform Your Organization
In today’s constantly evolving world of work, investing in learning and development is not only smart but necessary. Without it, organizations risk their employees’ skills, as well as their functions, becoming obsolete and ineffective. In this post we describe three ways organizations can overcome many of today’s workplace challenges by leveraging learning.
October: Five Tips for Managers on Promoting Creativity with Your Employees
Creativity is an integral part of the workplace, be it in business, government, or nonprofit organizations. Creativity ensures organizations stay cutting edge and relevant as new needs arise for the business and their clients or customers. However, it can be difficult to know how to foster creativity amongst employees. Check out this post for tips on facilitating creativity in your teams.
November: Program Theory: What It Is and Why Your Organization Might Need It!
Program theory processes can be very beneficial to organizations looking to create or update programs, products, or other types of initiatives. They can help stakeholders determine and align assumptions, develop a shared understanding of the need, document specifications as a basis for funding, and much more. In this post we share more about the benefits of program theory and the four-step process we use at C1C.
December: Strategic Planning: C1C’s Purposeful & Actionable Process
A strategic plan is a process that documents and communicates an organization’s goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals, and the metrics that will be used to measure progress. It’s an important tool for developing a shared vision and directing actions toward a common goal. Check out our post to see the primary steps we follow at C1C when conducting our inclusive and participatory strategic planning process with our clients.
We hope these articles continue to be of help to you as we move into a new year and begin to share new ideas. Let us know if there are any topics you would like us to cover in 2022! If you have questions or your organization needs support on any of the topics shared above, feel free to reach out!