"Before I became a microbiologist, I worked for a scientific research nonprofit organization in their development department. We ran our biggest fundraising campaign towards the end of the year, and I was solely in charge of the major donor mailing for the campaign. I was given the general parameters and an excel document of potential recipients as well as a tight deadline. I knew that my whole team was under pressure, so I didn't want to add stress to stress. I distributed a detailed outline of who needed to review what and by when, and I followed up by personally checking in with each stakeholder in a calm, positive way. I requested a team of volunteers from our community coordinator and called them in when all of the components were ready to assemble. Together, the team of volunteers and I prepared over 400 separate mailings that included 5 personalized items in each mailing - and I managed to complete the project from start to finish 2 days prior to the deadline! I believe much of the success of the project can be attributed to being communicative, positive, and seeking external help to alleviate internal pressure. It was a huge success!"