Fall into Autumn - Our Membership Update 2020

Welcome Everyone,

I am delighted to start this update by stating that we had a whopping quarter with several stand-out moments. In the month of September, we saw our member community grow in excess of 100k members, and we have also been named ‘Membership Organization of the Year’ at the 2020 Memcom excellence awards: an award that celebrates innovation, best practice, achievement, and dedication. 

I urge you to check out our podcast ‘Ahead of the Game’ which now has 5 stars on iTunes. Our podcast host, Will Francis also gave us a perfect podcast plan in our recent webinar. Missed it? You can catch it here.

This quarter we released two new member-focused initiatives. 

The first I am going to draw your attention to is The Member Showcase Series. This segment is where DMI Members get to #showcaseyou. To tell your story, share your voice, and make an impact. We recently met with DMI Certified Member Royce Johnson who tells us that the advice to "just keep pushing" became his personal creed and motto and explains how he has transitioned from failing English to becoming a blog writer. Meet Royce, your fellow DMI Member.

The second initiative started in our general forum. The forum has been utilized to seek and find job opportunities. This is a great use of the community and to support this we have created dedicated threads. If you have a job vacancy that you would like to share with the community, post it here.

If you are seeking a new career opportunity, then join your fellow members and let the community know. 

International Day of the Girl

We said goodbye to one of the world's leading feminist icons in September: pioneer of women’s rights, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States inspired generations of girls. Tributes poured in from across the globe with mourners holding a vigil on the steps of the Supreme Court, with celebrities, politicians, and activists adding moving tributes across social media and of course the image of the famous ‘fearless girl’ wearing an RBG inspired lace-collar has been recognized the world over as a fitting and poignant tribute to a woman who even in death continued to pioneer, becoming the first Jewish American to ever lie in state at the US Congress.

She empowered girls the world over. On the 11th of October, the International Day of the Girl is celebrated. To mark this we will have an article celebrating sports campaigns, from around the globe that champion strong girls who are knocking it out of the park in different sports. Campaigns to commemorate this date can be informative, inspiring, geographic, and/or industry-specific and even become enterprise-led projects championing change.

In my own youth, I was a big fan of Barbie, which might explain why a personal favorite of mine is the Barbie-led campaign. ‘Close The Dream Gap’ is an oldie but a goodie and includes the Barbie vlogs that introduce us to some inspiring role models and remind us that the only limitations are the ones of our own choosing. A message that even adults might need as the occasional reminder.

Essential Skills - To Keep You Balanced

Often referred to as ‘Life Skills’ - these are the skills you utilize to cope with the challenges of life: both at work and at home. In 2020, the critical importance of these ‘essential skills’ has never been more apparent. The lines between work and home life have all but dissolved and our ability to muddle along has been truly tested.

Our routines, structures, processes, and motivators have all been disrupted - and topping up our knowledge and skill in areas like time management, productivity, communication, and collaboration is more important than ever.  In the last few months, we have been introducing you to an essential skills series in our membership library. Check them out here:

1. Project Management
2. Creativity Skills
3. Persuading and Influencing
4. Successful Collaboration
5. Time Management
6. Crisis Management

Time Management seems to be a common challenge, so here are a few of my own top tips:

1. Your To-Do List - Don’t let it Become Your Task Graveyard.

A to-do list can bring structure and organization back to your work and life. But if not utilized properly it can be where tasks are buried, never to see the light of day again. To manage your time best, it’s important to put all the essential and non-flexible items first. That means - prioritize! 

There are a plenty of task-orientated platforms out there to help you manage, often offering free versions, such as Todoist, Asana, and Trello.

2. Remember, Time is Finite

Whether we like it or not, there are only so many hours in the day, so it's important to be realistic when setting out tasks. Don’t underestimate, and make a clear distinction between tasks that are quick and easy to accomplish versus items that require more time. 

Make sure you have a manageable mix of essential tasks and the quick wins - this will mean that whilst you’re progressing your important tasks, you still get that sense of accomplishment.

3, Leave room for flexibility

Things pop up - urgent tasks that need to be addressed straight away. Build-in some wiggle room when setting out your schedule of tasks. To-do lists should be stress relievers not a cause of stress. So building in time to take breaks or having ‘hold slots’ to permit for flexibility are important. Check out these 9 tips for working and studying at home

4. The Stress Factor

Don’t underestimate the strain that being stressed can have on you managing your time effectively. Being stressed can inhibit your ability to concentrate. Creating a structure can help. Making you feel like you are taking control and cleansing your mind. Getting your tasks set out in a list should give you a singular task-orientated focus - where you can take one thing at a time. 

It’s important to mark the small wins - even if that is the simple act of crossing items off as you have completed them and reward yourself for a job well done - even if it's five minutes with a cup of coffee or tea. 

5. Bouncebackability

This is really about resilience. It might take a few goes to set realistic goals and schedules. Don’t be afraid of going back to the drawing board. 

Rounding back to my earlier point around flexibility - if you're stuck or can’t progress things - switch things up!. That old adage - ‘a change is as good as a rest’ - is really true. Moving onto another task - taking a quick and easy win - can give you the reboot you need to close out an item you're struggling with. 

6. A to-do list might not be for everyone 

If you’re not the type of person who likes to-do lists, then some other structures or techniques might be useful in managing your time. These might be a well managed shared calendar or using methods such as the ‘Eat the Frog’ technique which our own SME Joe Williams advocates in this episode of our Ahead of the Game podcast, listen here

Your Watch List

We’ve got some brilliant new things happening in membership in the coming weeks. Here are a few to watch out for. 

• Five more member showcases. We will be hearing from Omar El Sabh, Managing Director and Founder of RippleMark who is championing change and a move to a digital-first mentality in Egypt. We’ll be speaking with Sorcha Fenlon a singer with Irish group ANÚNA, telling us why she’s chosen to spend her time getting a digital marketing certification. And we also speak with Beverly Moore, Rod Strother, and Olivia Hughes.
• Your Member Profile Section is getting an upgrade. I am delighted to say that you will be able to create your own professional biography and profile within this member community. Use it to build your personal brand, connect and network with your fellow DMI Members, or to help you progress your career. This will go live in the next few weeks and we are excited to bring this new feature to you. 
• We have some wonderful new webinars going live shortly including a look at how you can use SEO and Social Media to Build Your Brand and another session on Tips and Techniques to help you manage your time and productivity. Keep an eye on our Events page.
• Tune into our upcoming podcasts where we’ll be talking about podcasting, social media strategy, and some key tips for collaboration. 

Looking forward to having you join us and tune in across the coming weeks and months. If you have any feedback or questions, reach out to us at [email protected]

Related

• September Update: RBG, Uber Eats, KFC, & Instagram Heroes
• Summer Membership Update 2020