GRS Group Newsletter_May 2017

Update
ISSUE .002 2017 Q2 E DITION

Full Steam Ahead!

Welcome to our 2nd issue of the GRS Group Update! As we roll th ough Spring, we’re
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GRS Group Celebrates its
Eighth Anniversary!

ongratulations eveyone

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work with so many great people over the past
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what it means for the people that work here to
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e pp e ep s se In April 2009, GRS Group was founded in this
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t e ve come a lon wa to ether!

& FP News “ The simple act of paying positive
attention to people has a great deal
”to do with productivity.

F P F EEEDB ACK !

Q 1 2 0 1 7 PR O J ECTS - 1 , 6 1 3 Why “almost”? The Service t e e e s ps t
G-Net Start Date 1/1/17 - 3/31/17 Coordinators were called upon,
Active/Draft/Completed only usually in a matter of urgency, to e pe s e e st e t e p t e e
re-send canisters. They’re on a
R EPO R TS DEL IV ER ED: Q 1 2 0 1 7 first-name basis with everyone at e s ess e s tt e
Drafts Issued: Approx 1,424 the Lab since they spend quite a bit
(a small increase from Q1 2016!) of time tracking results. They ee t t e
Finals Issued: Approx 1,755 always keep a cheery attitude even
(another increase from Q1 2016!) when the Lab tells them someone ee t e t e s e ee
returned a canister early to a
The Production team has stepped Property office via the Rental slot or tse t s ee t
up to help with two very special someone thought it really WOULD
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the first quarter of 2017, 101 ee t e te
projects included the ‘Radon
Testing’ service for a total of esp ses s t t s e t
(almost) 885 canisters to ship to the
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- Kevin May - Tony Mueller

ITECH UPDATE

GRS Group Volunteer Spotlight

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GRS Group encourages our employees to give back to their communities through service. Terminal Server Maintenance
Our Volunteer Time program will allow up to 8 hours of volunteer time per half for each
employee (ie. every six months). Employees will not have to use PTO hours for their e e e t t e p ess
volunteer time. If you’re looking for ideas on how to get involved, this is a great website for
finding opportunities for you and your family in your local area pe s e se e
http://www.volunteermatch.org/
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GRS Group Uptime Report

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se t e ts e This note was received in our Dallas office addressed
to FP Manju Ramasamudra... along with a $25
Amazon Gift Card!

WORK HARD | PLAY HARD | SLEEP EASY

GRS Out and About

Kevin and Jeff attended the CBRE
Multifamily Conference in Chicago
last week. It was a great event with
over 700 attendees from all over the
world. There were numerous
sessions covering everything from
construction lending, Trump, Brexit,
and green reports to the overall
state of the market. There were lots
of opportunities to network and
they made some great connections
including numerous people from
London that Kevin and Andrew
Chisholm are following up on. They
even had time to visit the Chicago
office and take in part of a cold and
rainy Cubs game with Tony and Julie!

“It’s really hard to tell which one of the four is from LA!”

- Mark Halloran

We Still Need Your Photos!

You like that shot above from Chicago? We need more employee
photos like that! As we progress through 2017, we’re enjoying
many special moments together, events and memories.
Whenever possible, we’d like to capture quality photos - and not
just cell phone images!
How can you help, you ask?

• A “Resident Photographer” is needed in each office to
capture events, office parties, candids, and good times
(Thanks Toni Robinson for stepping up in Richmond!)

• Try to use a good camera, not just a cell phone
• The more photos, the merrier
• We will create an online album and/or year in photos gallery

for all to enjoy!
* We will also share these photographs in future newsletters
THANK YOU!

1 Million Steps Update

We’ve logged over 11 million steps so far this year and have around 20 people who participate on a regular
basis. Looks like it’s a race between Andy Brownstein, John Koch and Amy Regal to see who hits the individual 1
million mark first. This is awesome but we want to get more of you up out of your seats and moving. We’ve got
three ways to entice you:

· 1GRS Buck for every 4 weeks of consecutive walking
· 1 GRS Buck for every 100,000 steps logged
· 3 GRS Bucks for every walking buddy you get to participate

Remember, the goal is not necessarily to be the first person to get to 1,000,000 steps but to support one another
to help get as many people as possible over the goal. The human body is designed to move, so we should move it.

2nd Annual GRS MADNESS Results THE FINAL RESULTS:
1. @HeatherPryor: 1250 points (UNC)
Congratulations go out to Heather Pryor who won 2. @JeffreyCoyne: 1090 points (UNC)
the pool this year by a large margin. Before we get 3. @RichardMorgan: 1080 points (UNC)
to the final results - want to share that Heather 3. @SteveCanty: 1080 points (UNC)
(like our winner two years ago, Julie) needed to be
berated into joining by me only to win the pool
outright. Her exact quote at the outset was "Do
you have any idea how much I dislike basket-
ball???" This was only topped by the Charlie
Sheen-esqe one from this morning:

"WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
(and yes, that’s the actual number of exclamation
points).

- Jeff Coyne

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STAR Awards

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Late last year, we were all given the opportunity to join a GRS mindfulness group. My first thought – “I don’t have
time for any more groups. I can’t find time to read books, go to a movie, take a nap or do just about anything else I
want to do. There’s not enough time. Why should I add another thing to my plate?”

Then, I began to think about this excuse and the opportunity a bit more.

We all are swamped. Every one of us has too much to do and not enough time. Come to think of it, everyone I
KNOW is in the same boat. We’re all juggling – work, relationships, family, kids, expectations, travel and more.
Under that scenario, none of us have time for anything other than what we MAKE time for.

“What do I have to lose”, I thought. If I could see benefits, perhaps learn something about myself, then why not? If
I could learn to better cope with the many pressures I listed above, even better.

Ultimately, the risk (10 minutes a day, a few times a week) was more than acceptable for the potential reward. So, I
decided to make time to see if there could be benefits, and I joined up.

Now, fast forward to today. What has this mindfulness opportunity taught me?

I am not going to say I am Deepak Chopra yet, I’m not. I’m not even sure I am completely sold yet. But, I am
interested and have found that the time I have put in (during the times I stick to the plan) yields a less stressed,
more patient, and more “present” person.

My work and client interactions have improved. I am taking things less personally (perspective, I guess). My
patience, especially with my kids, is better. My stress level is essentially the same, but I am sleeping better. The
Calm app, which is my go-to, has sleep stories - when you pay for content. These are surprisingly helpful in getting
you to wind down for bed, which comes in handy when you travel and find yourself in various time zones from day
to day.

So, while I am not a true believer yet - I’m not quitting either. I’ll keep this up and as long as I continue to see
positive benefits, I’ll stick to it….

- Jeff Coyne

Live Healthy with Less Stress [Breathe!]

All of us, at some point, have felt the pressure of stress, whether at work or otherwise. Any job can have stressful
elements, even if you love what you do. Research suggests that mindfulness may help people manage stress. It
can also help them cope better with serious illness and reduce anxiety and depression. Here are some tips to
incorporate mindfulness into your day, starting today!

Mindful living is about living in the moment, slowing Let go
down and paying attention to your mind and body. If you feel stressed about things that are out of your
Research suggests that mindful living may help people control, try to let them go. There’s no value in regretting
manage stress, cope better with illness, and reduce the past or worrying before it happens.
anxiety and depression. You can incorporate
mindfulness into your day with these simple tips. Mindful tip: Go for a walk to clear your mind

Breathe Make meaningful connections
Pause a few times during your day to focus on your Meet new people with an open mind. Spend time
breath. Let your shoulders relax. nurturing relationships and listen for wisdom
others may share with you.
Mindful tip: Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Mindful tip: Reconnect with someone you care about by
Hold for one second and then exhale through your
making a call or sending a note today.
mouth. Repeat.

Slow down Express gratitude
Listen, feel, smell, taste and see the world around you Acknowledge a few things you’re thankful for – big or
instead of rushing through each moment. small – every day.
Mindful tip: Eat slowly and savor the tastes of the food Mindful tip: Don’t miss the chance to say thank you or
you eat. show affection to someone you care about.

Listen to your body - Chris Dyer
Being mindful means taking care of yourself and
noticing how your body feels today. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE | GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Mindful tip: Stretch out with yoga poses or tai chi

Social Media Boot Camp - Now available to your teens!

We’d like to offer our Social Media Bootcamp to our families’ high school and college students this spring. It’s a
great overview of how Social Media and can be used to network with the right people promote your personal
brand. Your teen will learn the basics of creating their profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter, along with some simple do’s
and don’ts for a positive social media experience. If you are interested in having your teen participate please
contact Mike Gerard.

ecluttering

by Noreen Clindinning

Three ules o or ut o clu er nd
sim licit rom discord nd harmon n
the middle o difficult lies o ortunit
Al ert instein

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ere are five minute decluttering tips to start con uering your mess:

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Decluttering! (cont.)

4. Spend a few minutes visualizing the room. When I’m decluttering, I like to take a moment to take a look at a
room, and think about how I want it to look. What are the most essential pieces of furniture? What doesn’t belong
in the room but has just gravitated there? What is on the floor (hint: only furniture and rugs belong there) and what
is on the other flat surfaces? Once I’ve visualized how the room will look uncluttered, and figured out what is essen-
tial, I get rid of the rest.

5. Put a load in your car for charity. If you’ve decluttered a bunch of stuff, you might have a “to donate” pile
that’s just taking up space in a corner of your room. Take a few minutes to box it up and put it in your trunk. Then
tomorrow, drop it off.

6. Create a 30-day list. The problem with decluttering is that we can declutter our butts off (don’t actually try
that — it’s painful) but it just comes back because we buy more stuff. So fight that tendency by nipping it in the bud:
don’t buy the stuff in the first place. Take a minute to create a 30-day list, and every time you want to buy some-
thing that’s not absolutely necessary, put it on the list with the date it was added to the list. Make a rule never to
buy anything (except necessities) unless they’ve been on the list for 30 days. Often you’ll lose the urge to buy the
stuff and you’ll save yourself a lot of money and clutter.

7. Set up some simple folders. Sometimes our papers pile up high because we don’t have good places to put
them. Create some simple folders with labels for your major bills and similar paperwork. Put them in one spot. Your
system doesn’t have to be complete, but keep some extra folders and labels in case you need to quickly create a
new file.

8. Pull out some clothes you don’t wear. As you’re getting ready for work, and going through your closet for
something to wear, spend a few minutes pulling out ones you haven’t worn in a few months. If they’re seasonal
clothes, store them in a box. Get rid of the rest. Do this a little at a time until your closet (and then your drawers)
only contains stuff you actually wear.

9. Clear out your medicine cabinet. If you don’t have one spot for medicines, create one now. Go through every-
thing for the outdated medicines, the stuff you’ll never use again. Simplify to the essential.

10. Pull everything out of a drawer. Just take the drawer out and empty it on a table. Then sort the drawer into
three piles: 1) stuff that really should go in the drawer; 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere; 3) stuff to get rid of. Clean
the drawer, then put the stuff in the first pile back neatly and orderly. Deal with the other piles immediately.

After spending the last few months decluttering every room, closet, shelf and cupboard in my house, and the
trunk of my car I am now ready to tackle my biggest challenge to date – the G Drive. We’ve already gotten the
Sales Folder in to pretty shape and are currently working on HR, Marketing, SOP’s and Accounting and will send
out updates once each folder is in its final form. We’re striving for a more streamlined and intuitive approach –
ultimately everything should be right where you think it should be.

GRS Book Group - We’ve got two books on the go right now.

The Order Fulfillment Group at Corteq is reading The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the
Ordinary into the Extraordinary. In his powerful new book The Fred Factor, motivational speaker Mark Sanborn
recounts the true story of Fred, the mail carrier who passionately loves his job and who genuinely cares about the
people he serves. Because of that, he is constantly going the extra mile handling the mail – and sometimes watch-
ing over the houses – of people on his route, treating everyone he meets as a friend. Where others might see
delivering mail as monotonous drudgery, Fred sees opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those he serves.

We’ve all encountered people like Fred in our lives. In The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn illuminates the simple steps
each of us can take to transform our own lives from the ordinary – into the extraordinary. Sanborn, through stories
about Fred and others like him, reveals the four basic principles that will help us bring fresh energy and creativity to
our life and work: how to make a difference every day, how to become more successful by building strong relation-
ships, how to create real value for others without spending a penny, and how to constantly reinvent yourself.

The Sales Team is tackling The Seven Levels of Communication: Go From Relationships to Referrals by Michael
Maher. The Seven Levels of Communication tells the entertaining and educational story of Rick Masters, who is
suffering from a down economy when he meets a mortgage professional who has built a successful business with-
out advertising or personal promotion. Skeptical, he agrees to accompany her to a conference to learn more about
her mysterious methods. Rick soon learns that the rewards for implementing these strategies are far greater than
he had ever imagined. In seeking success, he finds significance. This heartwarming tale of Rick’s trials and triumphs
describes the exact strategies that helped him evolve from the Ego Era to the Generosity Generation. This book is
about much more than referrals. This is about building a business that feeds your soul.

2 Second Lean Ideas
· Modify the subject line of an email to make sure our project
number is included – this makes it much easier for people on the thread
to just jump right to the reports versus having to search for it in GNet
first (Mike Anfuso)
· Download all documents from the FP once a day rather than going
back and forth to the FTP server multiple times a day (John Koch)
· Richard Morgan has developed production shortcuts which are
used by Mark Halloran’s team to help cut down on duplication of effort
between the project manager, reviewers and service coordinator

If you have a 2 Second Lean improvement you would like to share with
the group, please email Mike Gerard.

Productivity Packs CALL FOR ARTICLES!

We put together Productivity Packs for the Corteq If you’d like to contribute to future editions of
Order Fulfillment Team that included the items our newsletter, please contact Mike Gerard.
listed below. We will be working on similar packs We’re looking for articles and updates on a
for other swim lanes throughout the year with each variety of topics including Customer Service,
specifically designed to meet the needs of the Happiness, Productivity, Organization, etc. to
individual group. name a few. This is a great way for you to get
your creative juices flowing!
• 5 Checklists (designed by the team) for Client
Communications, Project Set-up, Phase I
Reviews, PCA Reviews, and CPM Reviews

• GRS Group Values mini card

• GRS Group notepads and pen

• GRS Group travel mug

• A desk caddy to hold everything and keep
everything organized (think 2-Second Lean)

TASK FORCE

We have a new group in place . The Social Media Task Force meets once a month Upcoming Birthdays!
and we are working on some exciting new initiatives--which we will cover in depth Malissa Hernandez - May 17
in the next issue of the newsletter. Stay tuned! In the meantime, we’d like to Joseph Kim - May 23
welcome our new Social Media Task Force Members: Jason Jones - May 25
Rick Levis - June 17
Andy Brownstein, Noreen Clindinning, Matthew McGovern, Amy Regal, Jason Larry Kriz - July 12
Jones, Kevin Baumgartner, Tom Woodard, Mark Halloran, Julie Sorensen and, of Chris Dyer - July 15
course, yours truly! Stephen McNeil - Aug 7
Jerry Staeckeler - Aug 18
- Mike Gerard Linda Morris - August 21