#fmyi

Katrina Yuen, FMYI’s Director of HR, explains our commitment to workplace flexibility during her speech about FMYI’s trusting culture at the When Work Works Awards Ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on June 6th, 2016:

FMYI is a collaboration software company headquartered in North Portland. We were founded 12 years ago and hired our first employee a year later. We had a paid time off policy that was a little better than usual but nothing out of the ordinary. We wanted to do right by our employees. We wanted to set policies that we would want working somewhere else. We wanted to treat people the way we would want to be treated. So we just kept going on our way. 

We implemented a generous maternity plan even though as a small company we weren’t regulated by any of the FMLA laws. And then we started to have people ask us questions like, “Can I follow my husband who has to move to another state?” “My girlfriend wants to finish her schooling in Ashland.” And we said, yes! Why not? 

We have created this software product so that people can work efficiently and productively from all over the place. Yes! We can do this! So we just evolved to becoming a flexible company without labeling ourselves as such quite yet. And it just kept going. 

Our family at FMYI started to grow families of their own. Our founder brought his little daughter to the office and let her sit in a little swing for about 4 months. You know what? It worked. 

Fast forward to 2011, when we were introduced to Family Forward Oregon and they said, “Why don’t you apply for this award? Are you a flexible company?” We said, “Sure. What’s it called? The Alfred P. Sloan…very long name award.” 

And guess what? We won. 

And then we went to this awards ceremony, similar to what it is today and we heard from a woman named Renee Spears from Rose City Mortgage. She came up and spoke about an unlimited time off policy and we thought, “Huh. We can do that too. Why don’t we do that too?” As Andrea mentioned, we kept winning. Thank you! And we learned from the other recipients about cool things they were doing. 

We were inspired by your movement and by all of you and we became an organization for workplace flexibility. Not just for families but for yourselves. We have single employees who need time off because they’re sick, have pets, need to travel. 

Our unlimited time off policy has driven our culture now of trust. So much of our work revolves around trusting each other. We trust our employees are going to get the job done for FMYI. We want to pay you! So we need you to work hard for us but we trust that they’re going to take the time that they need to care for themselves, sick kids, to coach their kids at baseball, to take care of their parents, to take care of their dogs! We have a lot of dog owners at the moment. 

A personalized hand crafted gift from Seth to Justin commemorating 12+ years of FMYI! What a great creation incorporating our famous Kronan bike in the office with the FMYI and Grouptrail logos. Just in time for the Bikemore Challenge. Thanks Seth - onward and upward!

So you’re tracking your day to day operations by using a spreadsheet. But you have the nagging feeling there’s a better way that’ll save you time and take things to the next level with achieving goals. We’ve got your back. Here’s the top ten reasons how moving from a spreadsheet to a system will help improve your tracking:

1. Retain information over time

Spreadsheet: When tracking notes over time, you either overwrite history or make the spreadsheet wide and unmanageable to capture the details. 

System: Keep a history of all interactions, easily scaling as you add information over time, and still be able to generate a spreadsheet on demand.

2. Provide accountability

Spreadsheet: Once details are added, you don’t know who did what and when.

System: Create great documentation with time and date stamped notes show who did what.

3. Send communication

Spreadsheet: No emails are sent from a spreadsheet and the only way to communicate is send the whole document.

System: Alert the right people instantly and to take action as needed for specific items.

4. Control access

Spreadsheet: Everyone can see everything in a spreadsheet and it’s critical for each person to update the most recent version. 

System: Control who sees what, automatically assigned during import of accounts and updated individually or in bulk.

5. Keep data safe

Spreadsheet: The sort function can also destroy the data, which can be impossible to repair. The file can also become corrupt or lost.

System: Only select people can change the structure of the site and safeguards protect and prevent deletion of data.

6. Include all data types

Spreadsheet: Only simple data containing words and numbers are stored, requiring a separate task calendar, file sharing site, etc. 

System: Organize all notes, data, files, tasks and appointments for each record in one online place

7. Transfer easily

Spreadsheet: The limited amount of information in a spreadsheet makes is hard to hand off a record from one person to another.

System: A details trail in a system make transferring a simple, seamless process.

8. Set reminders

Spreadsheet: Spreadsheets won’t remind people to take actions, nor push appointments to a calendar. 

System: Set one time or repeating tasks to follow-up, and have appointments appear in Google, iPhone or Outlook calendars.

9. Create deliverables

Spreadsheet: The spreadsheet is your only asset.  

System: You can see on-screen dynamic reporting or create spreadsheets for different purposes, from high level to detailed results.

10. Scale your tracking

Spreadsheet: Built for data analysis and calculations at a specific time, managed by very few people.

System: Designed for managing initiatives with many people with powerful searching and generate various spreadsheets as needed.

Kick your spreadsheet to the curb and get an FMYI demo system created based on your existing spreadsheet!

FMYI 2x15

Mindy: So do you want to come inside for a drink?

Danny: I'll come inside, but I don't know about a drink. It's 6:00 A.M. Mindy: Hey, hey, if this is gonna work, Danny, you have to get used to my rock-and-roll lifestyle.

Danny: Oh, yeah? 

Mindy: Mm-hmm. Danny: I think I might be able to get used to it.

*eta.  D&M 2x22

Mindy: Our first date. You're paying. Danny: Yeah, I got to get used to it since I'm gonna be the breadwinner, and you're gonna be the stay-at-home mom. Mindy: I'm not quitting my job.

WACNH 3x01

Danny: But if this is gonna work out, you can't be like that anymore. Mindy: Really? 

Built with a simple user interface and the right mix of productivity tools, Grouptrail is the group messaging service to get things done.

Portland, Ore. – January 12, 2015 – FMYI (For My Innovation), the award winning Portland based social collaboration ­software B Corporation, today announced the release of Grouptrail, a new group messaging service with tools to get things done.

While many group messaging solutions have made an impact in the social sector, the release of Grouptrail fits a timely need for people working in small groups to bring the benefits of group messaging into their working lives, whether it’s their department, community board/committee, student group, or family.

“With our expertise in collaboration software, we recognized that group messaging is a vital tool to help people wearing different hats in their lives get things done,” said Justin Yuen, FMYI’s Founder and President. “The current marketplace has lots of options with a more social focus. What Grouptrail represents is the only solution that combines messaging with integrated tools to get things done, right out of the box.”

With a feature set that includes threaded conversations, user generated polls to help with decision making, to-do lists with claimable items, and Dropbox file integration, Grouptrail has been designed to give small groups with big ideas the tools built in they need to across all the groups in their lives.

“We believe that small groups are the driving force for progress and innovation,” said Yuen. “Everyone is in a small group, whether it’s part of a tiny or massive organization. Grouptrail is a service that empowers those small groups to take their big ideas and put them into action.”

Grouptrail also inherits its parent company’s commitment to the B Corporation triple bottom line mission of people, profit and planet. With every optional upgrade purchase, a portion goes to charity.

“Our commitment to our B Corp roots lie at the center of Grouptrail. It’s a service that helps small groups create a better world. We’ve been involved with many groups working on the triple bottom line, and we designed Grouptrail to help move everyone forward.” Yuen explained.

As part of the public launch, Grouptrail is also announcing that it will be partnering with The National Crittendon Foundation in support of its #BeSomething campaign, which will showcase girls and young women as they celebrate their strength, resilience and achievements.

"We believe in the power of potential in girls and young women. We believe that their future is not dictated or determined by their past but rather by our ability as a society to support their will and determination to transform their lives," said Holly Weems, Director of Resource Development. “That is the driving force behind #BeSomething and we’re excited to have Grouptrail supporting us with this partnership.

Grouptrail is a free service for life, with options to upgrade. For more information, please visit www.grouptrail.com.

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About FMYI