Nonprofit Resources, LLC is an association management company that operates 100% remotely. Besides our partner organization’s events and industry conferences like AMCI, there are few opportunities where we gather in person (especially after a pandemic).

We are champs at doing our jobs virtually before it became a necessity for almost the entire world and see the immense value of reduced overhead and flexible work schedules. There are things, though, that cannot replace the value of face-to-face connection and team building.

With an onboarding of seven (yes we are growing!) new staff members in the past year, many of our team members have yet to have interaction not filtered by screens. From all over the country, NPR staff members retreated to the beautiful Black Hills in South Dakota last week for our first in-person gathering.

Although some client work and company meetings took place, the majority of our retreat was focused on our cohort process to find our “hole in the bucket”.

Hole in the Bucket Theory

We trenched into an intense cohort process with our facilitator, Chris Malo. It was a process that took us deeper than the surface issues and figures out what is draining our time, energy, and resources most as individuals, which ultimately impacts the company as a whole. We call it the “hole in the bucket”. As easy as it is to patch up the top hole of your bucket (aka, a surface-level issue), you will continue to be drained if you do not patch the bottom hole in your bucket.

An example of this for me personally is my sense of feeling chronically overwhelmed. My “issue” was not having enough time to accomplish everything. As we dug deeper, we realized it my hole in the bucket is tied to a personal belief that my value is determined by how productive and accomplished I am (personally and professionally) therefore I say “yes” to too many things and get stuck in a constant state of fatigue…

…whoa, heavy right?

Being vulnerable with your team (and now, for me, the entire internet) is a scary thing, but we see vulnerability as a strength. Building a culture of trust, compassion, support, and understanding makes a pretty solid foundation for a company.

Along with the cohort process, we enjoyed the sacred Black Hills by “glamping” in beautifully refurbished cabins, exploring Custer state park, and soaking up the scenery at HQ (aka Kris Bennett’s house). You can see all of our photos on our Facebook page.

I left the Black Hills feeling like we built a special, near unbreakable connection with our team from the ground up. The work was emotionally taxing, but after a good recharge, I realize I am re-energized and inspired both in my work and personal life.

Needless to say, I think I can speak for all to say that we are very excited for our next retreat.

If you would like to discuss the process and benefits of our cohort process, learn how Nonprofit Resources can benefit your organization, or just connect feel free to contact us.