Travis, the newest addition to my family, was learning this weekend to crawl. My wife, my three-year-old and I were a team, trying to figure out how to help him move forward. I put lots of toys all around him so he’d have many options – it lead to a few cute squirms but proved too overwhelming. My wife did the opposite and took away all toys so there were no distractions, but that lead to loud shrieking screams! Finally, our three-year-old put just one object out of his reach so he could focus, and we got to see him make real progress!
We all have individual work styles when it comes to team communication through email. Everyone works differently and the key to reaching goals is to provide each individual the option to select the perfect amount of email. Many people recognize the value of an internal collaboration system to manage their information and send email alerts, using tools such as Basecamp, SharePoint or an alternative, however they struggle with different work styles in a one-size-fits-all solution.
That’s what’s different about the new Stoplight Email approach for internal team communication. It works with your current email and works with each person’s individual style:
1. Some people are on the go and prefer a constant flow of email to keep up with what’s going on - however they want to simply reply to their emails and then delete them, not worrying about staying organized.
2. Others refuse to add a single email to their inbox and instead prefer an activity stream (similar to the newsfeed in Facebook, but for work) to review what’s new.
3. And some want one email a day or a week to keep up with what’s going on. If they need information more frequently, they can look it up within a project or contact management system.
It’s a trifecta that ensures user adoption, reduces email stress and allows people to focus on reaching their goals. The keys to success are to first have a system to securely leave files and details organized for select team members, with the ability to automatically email alert when someone needs to know about new information. Secondly, satisfy mobile users who live and die by email with the ability to reply and not have to sign into any system. Thirdly, there must be options to select how frequently to receive emails (digest options). And, for the emergencies that inevitably pop up, a bonus is an override to send an urgent alert to digest users.
And there’s a business case for making email more efficient - people spend 2.5 hours a day (600 hours a year) on email - wasted time is money out the window. Not only are Stoplight Email features available to anyone, it’s also built into FMYI’s project management and contact tracking collaborative tool. Sure you can upgrade to grab more space and more features, but all elements are in the FMYI Free team collaboration version as well!
My eight-month-old hasn’t given up on crawling, and you shouldn’t give up on striving for perfect team communication. Here’s a way to take your first step: take a break from email madness and join the FMYI crew on Friday, May 4th in not checking email for 1-hour at 1:00 PM local time. Instead, use that hour to simply focus on a project that will make a different in your business day.
-Seth
Want to learn more? Consider a consultation!
Last week, we celebrated FMYI’s eighth anniversary. Let’s take a look back at the beginning of FMYI.
and real time collaboration tools can’t completely replace face to face in terms of building bonds and reducing misunderstandings. To address this, that’s why we have our 
FMYI played a role in several ways. The planning team managed the conference using our 
During the panel I moderated featuring Wanda Gibson (Chief Technology Officer, Fairfax, Virginia County Government), John Tuccillo (Vice President, Global Industry and Government Alliances, Schneider Electric), and Tamim Chowdhury (Realty Specialist, U.S. General Services Administration), everyone focused in on measuring the impact of their efforts. Wanda talked about a “Just Do It” attitude with identifying opportunities to be more efficient and save money. Her efforts won an InfoWorld Green 15 Award for Virtualization and PC power management. John talked about how within a short period of time they were able to save $15,000 annually by cutting energy usage 20% for a 2500 square foot EPA data center. He estimates that there’s $1.1 billion in energy savings opportunities in the U.S. with similarly-sized data centers. And Tamim covered the GSA’s efforts to reduce the footprint of federal office space through space planning and teleworking to achieve 
It was a party for the ages. FMYI President Justin Yuen made a cameo and rapped about change and B Corps. The party and city are constant reminders that we do business in a different way – with a 
(inspiring positive behavior change by asking people to reconsider their consumption), Oregon’s First Lady Cylvia Hayes, Sec. of State Kate Brown, Rep. Tobias Read and Chair Jeff Cogen (who passed the 
Yesterday, I gave an introduction for Hannah Jones’s (Nike VP for Sustainable Business & Innovation) sobering and inspiring keynote at GoGreen Portland 2011. One of the themes during her speech was “Cooperation is the key to sustainability.“ In the face of major global economic challenges, the path to finding solutions and achieving sustainable success in the most resource efficient way is through cooperation and collaboration.
But how do we do this? Here are some ideas given our experience in this area:
In 2010, the Focus the Nation team (pictured left, in our favorite colored hard hats) was looking for tools their small Portland, Oregon based team could use to engage hundreds of students around the country. Such tools needed to be user-friendly and foster collaboration for both the short and long term. At the start of 2011, FTN partnered with FMYI to help redefine collaboration between Focus the Nation and their stakeholders, increasing their ability to do what they love – empower the next generation of clean energy leaders. With the help of FMYI, they were able to more than double the number of student teams they are working with, including teams at University of Hawaii at Manoa, Clemson University, Miami University, and University of Oregon (Go Ducks! Yes, FMYI is an Oregon-based company).