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Top Tech Tools for Associations

Image Credit: William Iven
Image Credit: William Iven

By Anna Morris, account associate

The Apple-invented adage “There’s an app for that” has never rung truer than in 2015 where there are apps, websites, and tools to assist any process or task imaginable. But sorting through all of the available “tech tools” out there can get just as overwhelming as managing your work day itself. To get you started, we polled our staff to pick their favorite tools that help in various areas of their day.

If you want to improve your organization, check out…

  • Basecamp – Working in association management often means you will have multiple clients with multiple upcoming events and multiple pressing deadlines. Multiply the multiples and you are left with a lot of to-do items to keep track of! Basecamp is a great project management tool that lets you create different “project buckets,” each with its own set of categories and to-do items with attached deadlines. Managers can create items and assign them to specific team members. Team members can comment on existing to-do items to ask questions or mark them as completed. You can even choose to view your outstanding action items for all projects at one—or just focus in on a specific section. This tool is a must-have for staying organized on a daily basis.
  • Google Calendar – Many other calendar tools and apps exist, but the tried-and-true Google Calendar platform is still one of our favorites. It allows you to make multiple calendars—each color-coded differently—and share each calendar with specified people. If you work with multiple clients, having one calendar for each client and adding the appropriate team members is a great way to keep people in the loop without cluttering their calendars with events that don’t apply to them. Add in the fact that Google Calendar seamlessly integrates with most smartphone calendars and you’re good to go. Think you’re a G-Cal pro? Check out these tips for more ways to maximize your calendar efficiency.

If you want to enhance team collaboration, use…

  • Dropbox – Dropbox became known as a tool to easily create shared folders and allow users to access large files from multiple computers. Recently, however, Dropbox changed the game by adding the Dropbox Badge that lets users edit Microsoft Office documents without leaving the Dropbox platform. This way, instead of having to download a file, edit it, and re-upload it, team members will always have access to the most recent version of a file and can see if someone on their team is currently editing it. This is a great resource for committee work projects.
  • Google Docs – Google has integrated their document-editing platform with Google Drive to let you store, share, and edit documents all from the same place. While these capabilities are similar to those of Dropbox, one of Google’s coolest features is Google Forms—with Forms you can quickly create easy-to-format surveys and have results automatically collected in a spreadsheet. This tool is great for quick surveys like collecting t-shirt sizes for conference attendees or collecting updated credentials for their name badges, where organizing the results is important but it would be too time consuming to set up a survey on a more extensive platform. If you are new to Google Docs, check out Google’s support page here for some handy overviews.

If you pull your hair out while scheduling meetings, try…

  • Meeting Wizard – Have you ever tried to schedule a board meeting with 20 people and tried to keep track of the best time in your head as multiple responses and conflicts come pouring in? Meeting Wizard eliminates the need for that mental strain by providing an interface for you to propose times, review responses, and then confirm the appointment with all attendees. Check out the Quick Start tool to take the stress out of planning your next meeting.

If all of your social media accounts are making you crazy, check out…

  • HootSuite – HootSuite lets you combine your social media profiles including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ into one place. The free version allows for just 3 accounts, but the Pro subscription includes 50 social profiles for $9.99/month which should cover the needs of at least 10 association clients, meaning you could budget it in for just $1 per month per client. There are countless documented benefits to integrating social media into your marketing plan—here are 10—and employing a quality tool to help keep track of the various platforms is a great way to keep your head on straight.
  • TweetDeck – TweetDeck is similar to HootSuite but focuses just on Twitter, as the name implies. You can create columns for different handles, hashtags, or trending topics in order to stay on top of the approximately 500 million Tweets sent per day. This tool is especially useful on-site at a conference, where you can keep track of your event hashtag and respond to various threads of conversation in different columns.

If your daily work could use a design makeover, use…

  • Canva – Many design experts swear by Photoshop with its multitude of features and edit options, but it has a steep learning curve and the interface can be overwhelming for the casual user. Alternatively, Canva is a user-friendly tool that offers a platform to quickly design and export eye-catching graphics for things like social media posts or membership newsletters. It also hosts a Design School with tutorials to actually walk you through design fundamentals. If you’ve ever been super impressed by the branding of a conference or social media site, this is your chance to produce something equally impressive on your own. (Hint: The graphic for this post was made with Canva!)

If you want help keeping sight of the bigger picture, check out…

  • Grid Diary – Grid Diary is “the simplest way to get started with keeping a diary,” and overall is a user-friendly interface for keeping track of the little things throughout your day or week. With prompts for entering time with family, friends, and exercise in addition to work accomplishments, it’s a great way to remind us of the things we do outside of the work day to help make sure we are balancing our schedules appropriately. Unlike many of the other tech tools we have listed, Grid Diary is exclusively a smartphone app, so if you keep your phone nearby you will have easy access to keeping track of progress big or small throughout the day.

Those are our top tips for maximizing efficiency and productivity every day! What are you favorite tech tools we may have missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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Strategies for Responding to Criticism

Image Credit: Håkon Sataøen
Image Credit: Håkon Sataøen

 By Rachel Owen, communications manager

It’s going to happen. There’s just no way of getting around it. No matter how skilled you are, or how careful you are, eventually someone will come to you with negative feedback. Although the conversation may be uncomfortable, with the right response you can emerge looking like a gem.

Strategies for responding to criticism

Be prepared with a response.

Create a “go-to” phrase to use. Having a response ready to go adds a layer of calm and reduces the chance of saying something you will regret. Here are just a couple of examples:

  • “Thank you very much for your feedback.”
  • “I appreciate you taking the time to share that with me, thank you.”
  • “Thanks for sharing that feedback with me. I’ll keep that in mind if this situation happens again.”
  • “I appreciate that insight into your perspective. That feedback is helpful, thank you.”

Ask for more information.

If you don’t understand the feedback, be sure to ask for clarification. If you believe the feedback to be based on incorrect information, be sure to ask for more information before you respond. Examples:

  • “That’s really interesting. I’d never thought of it that way. Can you tell me a little more about [topic]?”
  • “I want to make sure I have all the information when I bring this concern back to my team. Can you explain a little more about [topic]?”
  • “That [term/concept] isn’t familiar to me. Can you explain what that means so I can make sure I understand correctly?”

Ask for more time to respond.

Sometimes it’s best to let an issue cool off a little. This is especially the case if you will need to refute some of the criticism, such as if there’s a misunderstanding about a contract or service. A little bit of distance will help you stay calm and will help the critic know you carefully considered their issue rather than rejecting it out of hand.

  • “Thank you for letting us know about the issue. We are sorry about the frustration. I’m going to check with my team to see if they have any insight into what happened. I will be in touch soon.”
  • “I would like to talk about this more but I need a little bit of time to process this information. Can we schedule a time to discuss this on Thursday?”
  • “This feedback is very important to me and you’ve given me a lot to think about. Can we set an appointment to discuss this again in a couple days?”

It’s okay to be wrong.

We all make mistakes. What you do in response to the mistake will set you apart from the others. If you made a mistake, simply apologize and offer solutions. Refusing to admit you made a mistake will only dig the hole deeper. A little bit of humility will go a long way.

Be humble.

No matter how high you climb, there is always room for improvement. Everyone can benefit from feedback. Stay humble and issue a simple, sincere “thank you” to show the best version of you.

Don’t argue.

It’s okay to clear up misinformation by sharing about the experience from your perspective, but don’t be confrontational. Don’t spend a lot of time picking apart the misunderstanding. When the situation dissolves into arguing, no one wins. The end goal of the discussion always should be resolving the conflict, not blame casting. Briefly share your perspective and then move on to solutions.

Say thanks.

My rule of thumb is always say thanks. Not sure what to say? Say thanks. You disagree with the feedback? Say thanks. The critic is being a jerk? Say thanks. The feedback really helped? Say thanks. “Thanks” is the best way to help the critic walk away feeling like you handle feedback well.

Do you have other strategies for responding well to criticism? Let us know in the comments!

Related posts:

The Other First Impression

The Gift You’re Probably Rejecting

How to Say No

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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5 Steps to an Awesome Onboarding Experience

Image Credit: Canva
Image Credit: Canva

Anna Morris, administrative manager

When a new staff member joins your team, it can be a challenge to find a balance between providing a welcoming environment while bringing them up to speed as quickly as possible. Here are a few tips to ensure a seamless onboarding process for new hires.

1)  Have a designated Welcome Committee
While your first thought might be “How am I going to teach this person all this information?” keep in mind the way your new employee may be feeling. The first few days or weeks can be overwhelming for new staff members. They are trying to learn new names, processes, procedures, new everything! Through it all, you want new employees to feel welcome and valued by their new team. One way to ensure your employee feels welcome is to have a designated “Welcome Committee” or even just a “Welcome Person” that is accessible to answer any random questions the new person has. Other simple gestures like personally introducing the new hire to other staff members and making sure they have plans for lunch the first few days can go a long way to determining the tone of an employee’s time with an organization.

2) Provide an itinerary for the first few days or weeks
A detailed schedule broken down by day and time can help keep everyone on the same page by letting both the new employee and other staff members know where to be and when. If the employee will have important deadlines to meet right off the bat, providing a detailed “What is Due When and to Whom” document can help everyone keep their heads on straight. If you have a complicated building structure or specific parking instructions, make sure to help navigate those areas within the first few days as well.

3) Present new information in multiple forms of representation
Any new job comes with an overabundance of new information. Keep in mind that people process information in different ways, so being able to verbally explain a task in addition to having a written explanation of a policy can be a great way to help your new employee retain everything being thrown their way. Additionally, make sure to allow some down time for things like “office set-up” so they can process everything they have learned so far and see if they have any outstanding questions.

4) Provide documented processes and procedures for complex tasks
Depending on the type of tasks your new employee will be working on, providing step-by-step instructions or videos can be helpful in ensuring your employee has an ongoing resource to refer to. With membership entry into a database, for example, there are often many different buttons or items that may or may not need to be used for a certain task. While an experienced staff member may train the new employee on a task initially, if that person has questions the next time they do the same task, they can refer back to the written instructions or the video before going to the staff person. This type of documented procedure can help everyone save time in the long run.

5) Solicit feedback
In addition to implementing these tips, the best way to improve your onboarding process is to get feedback from someone who just went through it! Make sure to ask the  employee if they have any thoughts on how their experience went that you can incorporate to improve the process for the next new hire. This is also a great way to continue building a relationship so the new employee knows their voice is valued by the organization.

What other tips and tricks do you have for a great onboarding process? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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The Other “First Impression”

Image Credit: Ben Rosett

By Rachel Owen, communications manager

We hear a lot about how first impressions are one of the most important moments in any relationship. When we think of first impressions we primarily think of the first meeting, the first proposal to a new client or the first project after you join a new team. Instinctively, we understand that in that moment how we present ourselves can make or break a relationship.

How you respond to negative feedback creates a supercharged “first impression.”

Negative feedback is inevitable and how you respond can be a turning point in a relationship whether the feedback comes from a client, coworker or friend.

While we put a lot of time and effort into first impressions, we often overlook this important moment of receiving criticism. Here are a few reasons why your response to negative feedback is a critical “first impression.”

How you respond to feedback shows your character.

If you reject feedback by saying you are so successful that you don’t need feedback (as someone said to me recently) you will say a lot about yourself – and it may not be the story you want to tell. Think about how you want others to see you: Do you want to be known as someone who is willing to learn, who is able to change and who listens carefully? Or do you want to be seen as someone who always needs to be right? Be prepared so that you will always show the best version of yourself.

You can build bridges or you can burn them.

When you respond well to feedback you build bridges of communication. You teach your client, coworker, boss or friend that they can come to you with issues and you will make it right without a hassle. You show that it doesn’t take a sledgehammer to get through to you – and that’s a good thing. Also, when others see that you are easy to work with they are more likely to stay in connection with you – whether that means renewing contracts, selecting you for other projects, or otherwise maintaining the relationship.

You can turn the tide.

A frustrated caller once launched into our conversation by expressing that he was very angry. Despite his obvious frustration, I kept things casual and asked for more information “so we can make this right.” I’ll never forget how his voice and behavior immediately changed – he was pleasantly surprised! He expected defensiveness and an argument, but I let him know right away that we’d help. In the end, we had a great conversation, were able to resolve his issue and he learned firsthand how we respond to conflict.

Feedback is a gift.

We’ve talked before about how feedback is a gift. Just like receiving physical presents, how you receive their feedback is important. Remember, there is always a piece of the giver in the gift. If you reject the gift harshly you may create a breach in the relationship. Always be prepared to accept the gift with grace.

Stay tuned! Soon we’ll share some strategies on how to respond to criticism and come out better on the other side.

Related posts:

The Gift You’re Probably Rejecting

5 Ways to Save a Bad Day

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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Simple Tips to Complete Your To-Do List

Image Credit: Canva
Image Credit: Canva

By Adrian Emerson, Association Accounting Specialist

Recently, I attended an interesting class presented by Emily Parks with Organize for Success, LLC, called, “Moving From To-Do to Done: Task & Project Management Tools.” The class was a combination of tips to get things done more efficiently and suggestions of software that can help. Did you know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different technology options to help with your to-do list? Of course, everyone has their personal preferences. Here is a brief overview of what I found to be the best tips to help get things done.

Decisions, Decisions.

With every task you must first decide what to do with it. Parks suggests four main options: Discard, Delegate, Delay, or Do. Making this decision should be done as soon as you get the task and update your task list as necessary as part of regular daily/weekly planning. Parks recommends the following four questions to help you determine what to do with a task:

  • Does this task move you or your company towards achieving goals? Or are you passionate about the task? If not, is its completion legally required?
  • Does the task require skills that you are exclusively qualified for or can others complete the task in an acceptable manner?
  • Could another person gain useful experience by completing the task?
  • Does this task really need to be done immediately?

To automate is to delegate.

Delegating does not always mean assigning the task to another person. You can also use technology to automate some tasks, like scheduling social media or blog posts and email filters to automatically move certain emails to different folders for later viewing or automatic filing. There are even some online services that use the simple format that if a certain action happens then you can have the service automate another action. For example, if you’re tagged in a photo on one website then you can have the same photo posted to another website.

Make it manageable.

Now that you are left with only the necessary items on your to-do list, here are some tips Parks gives to make the list easier to manage. First, break larger projects into smaller tasks and always give a task a due date even if it’s a month into the future. Next, group similar items together, like blocking off a section of time to make all of your phone calls for the day or clean up and respond to emails instead of going back and forth between tasks. She also proposes have a list of small action items that only take a few minutes, like making a phone call or reviewing an invoice, to be completed during small time blocks, like waiting in carpool or waiting for a meeting to start. Lastly, be realistic about what you can complete in a day. Parks says that on average you should only schedule to complete 3-5 tasks each day depending on your meeting schedule for the day.

Prioritize to stay focused.

Next you have to prioritize your task list, which for me is one of the more difficult things to do. Sometimes we are faced with emergencies and last minute requests, but Parks has strategies for those unexpected tasks, too. She advises two concepts for prioritizing tasks. The first is the Urgent & Important Matrix:

Image Source: Karthik Gurumurthy

It is suggested that Urgent and Important items be completed first, followed by Not Urgent but Important items, then Urgent but Not Important, and finally Not Urgent and Not Important items.

Another concept which can be applied in conjunction with the Urgent & Important Matrix is the Rock vs. Pebbles vs. Grains of Sand. The idea is that tasks that are Urgent and Important are Rocks, Urgent but Not Important and Not Urgent but Important tasks are Pebbles, and Not Urgent and Not Important tasks are Grains of Sand. Each day’s tasks should be a good mix of all three items. Think about it like this: A Rock can be something big and important like spending time with your family, then a Pebble can be something like finishing the laundry, which you would like to do today but ultimately can wait until tomorrow, and then Grains of Sand can be watching the newest episode of your favorite show.

Schedule for success.

Finally, you should plan your schedule of tasks weekly and revisit the schedule daily. Parks suggests that once a week you should create a schedule of 3-5 tasks for each day of the following week. Start with any tasks that were not completed this week and coordinate around meetings or other projects due in the coming week. Remember to plan out your Rocks, Pebbles, and Grains of Sand evenly. Parks goes on to recommend doing a daily wrap up at the end of each day. She suggests you take 10-15 minutes to review completed tasks and tasks that need to be rescheduled. Make sure you are prepared for the tasks scheduled for the next day, and request updates from team members as needed. She also advises tiding up your work space for fewer distractions the following morning.

Forward movement!

Finally, she says to celebrate the work that you were able to accomplish, even if you didn’t actually “finish” anything. Remember, they say starting a project is often harder than completing it.

For more tips about organization and information about Emily Parks, visit her company website: www.organizeforsuccess.biz.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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The Gift You’re (Probably) Rejecting

Image Credit: Sebastian Pichler
Image Credit: Sebastian Pichler

By Rachel Owen, communications manager

Nobody enjoys receiving criticism. Whether the “bad news” comes from a client, coworker or a friend, receiving negative feedback is not fun. We instinctively want to defend ourselves and reject the criticism. Unfortunately, that defensive posture often keeps us from gaining value from the experience.

Criticism is an often overlooked way to grow and learn.

One of the best ways that I have found to help learn from criticism is to consciously consider the feedback as a “gift.”

Why Feedback is a Gift

It’s an opportunity to improve.

Now that you know where the hot spots are you can make them better. When you receive feedback, always ask yourself “what can I learn from this?” You can tweak, reformat, regroup and make changes to come out better on the other side.

It shows us our blind spots.

Feedback, whether positive or negative, is an opportunity to see from an outsider’s perspective. If you do any sort of writing you know that typos hide from the writer’s eyes! Only a fresh set of eyes can help us weed out the mistakes. It takes an outsider to make us our best.

It shows a measure of trust.

Negative feedback is hard to receive, but it’s also difficult to give. When someone provides negative feedback it indicates they trust that your relationship is strong enough to handle a little friction. It also shows that they want you to succeed and they care enough to take the time to provide feedback.

It’s not all about you.

Criticism is just as much an insight into the critic as it is about you. Negative feedback is a snapshot of what makes them angry, what’s important to them, their pet peeves and their expectations. You can learn what makes that person “tick.” Listen well and you may be able to avoid future misunderstandings.

The next time you receive negative feedback, I hope you’ll think of it as a gift. Don’t forget to take one small moment to say “thank you.”

Related Posts:

5 Ways to Save a Bad Day

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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How to Say “No”

Image Credit: Padurariu Alexandru
Image Credit: Padurariu Alexandru

By Rachel Owen, communications manager

Let’s face it. The truth of the matter is that we all need to say “no” sometimes. What we may not think about is the very real idea that how you say “no” matters.

It might seem a little counter intuitive, but your “no” doesn’t have to be negative.

Think about how you normally say “no.” Do you focus on what you can’t do? Or do you lead with what you can do?

For example, what do you say when an attendee requests a refund past the deadline? According to your office’s policy, you can’t refund their registration fee but you can offer a credit towards the next conference. When you respond to the attendee, make sure to lead with the good news that their next conference is free!

Focus on the positive and it will help take the sting out of the “no.”

For some quick tips on how to make your “no” more positive, check out our handy infographic below.

2015-5-12 say no

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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Is Your Association Board Nimble?

Image Credit: Alex Jones
Image Credit: Alex Jones

By Jalene Bowersmith, Executive Director

The board for the Widgets of the World Association (WoWA) is having their monthly meeting. During the meeting the president announces that the National Thingamajig Association (NATA), a rival organization, has just released an online certification program. The program will provide NATA with additional revenue for years to come and may pull members from WoWA.

Let’s face it, in today’s fast paced world boards need to make well informed decisions quickly. The above example is fictitious, but the concerns are real. Deliberations that linger on meeting after meeting can be draining and leave your association rehashing the past, focusing on barriers to progress (like WoWA) while more nimble associations (like NATA) are focusing on the future, creating the next big thing. How do you get all your board members on the same page and help them make well informed decisions quickly and concisely?

Effective board members aren’t born, they are developed. Most volunteers don’t join a board knowing the skills needed to be effective, efficient board members. (In fact, a recent Stanford study showed that most nonprofit boards are largely ineffective.) Providing board members with effective tools, an understanding of expectations, and a common vocabulary is crucial to the success of any board. In addition, having difficult conversations about the barriers to success, before they arise, provides board members with a basic understanding and underlying foundation to become effective board members.

In 2014, I attended a session facilitated by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) Center for Leadership Development, at ASAE’s Conference in Nashville. The session presented by Bill Shepherd and Elaine La Chappelle outlined training materials developed by OREA to combat the problems stated above.

At just over two hours in length, the tutorials OREA developed – Nimble Decision Making – provide a basis for board training, a common vocabulary to work more effectively together, tools to communicate and help board members think more strategically, as well as a candid discussion of barriers that can derail a board. The video recorded sessions are divided into three tutorials, which provide flexibility of delivery, and include workbooks with activates, discussion topics, and template tools which keep members engaged.

  • Tutorial 1 – Emerging Trends and making timely decisions
  • Tutorial 2 – Barriers to nimble decision making and Inspiring behaviors
  • Tutorial 3 – Planning, communicating and monitoring decisions to evaluate results

The tutorials come with a facilitator’s guide, so the Executive Director and/or President can lead the sessions without bringing in an outside facilitator.

Through a donation to OREA, our organization received the materials and we implemented Nimble Decision Making last fall. I have found it to be well received and very successful. Since implantation our board meetings have become much more effective. Our board members understand what is expected of them and can now take ownership in meeting since they understand their roles. We have improved communication at meetings by instituting several of the tools provided in the tutorials, such as briefing notes, discussion guides and dashboard. Board members are more engaged and excited about their role in shaping the future of the organization and when the board needs to make a difficult decisions, such as whether to raise membership dues, we can have a candid conversation about the barriers that are holding us back, so we can move forward together as a united board.

We are now incorporating Nimble Decision Making into our new board member training and all board members will review the tutorials at a face-to-face meeting once a year to general discussion and keep their focus on the future of the organization.

For more information on Nimble Decision Making contact Elaine La Chappelle with the Ontario Real Estate Association Center for Leadership Development. Email: ElaineL@orea.com Phone: (416) 445-9910

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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How to Manage Your CEO Performance Evaluation for Best Results

Image Credit: Rob Bye
Image Credit: Rob Bye

By Whitney Bertram, operations manager

These ideas are inspired by the session “How to Manage Your CEO Performance Evaluation for Best Results” at the ASAE Annual Meeting on August 10, 2014, presented by Joel Albizo, FASAE, CAE; Wes Ehrecke, FASAE, CAE; and Nancy Green FASAE, CAE.

As an association management company, IMI Association Executives sends evaluations to our partners’ boards so they can provide feedback on our services. Employee evaluations are performed by the company instead of by the individual boards.

Many associations have CEOs who are hired directly by the association. It is important for all CEOs to have performance reviews. The CEO’s performance is usually evaluated by the board, executive committee or a special task force.

Categories for CEO evaluation can include:

  • leadership
  • financial management
  • communication
  • executive qualities
  • governance
  • volunteer relations
  • management and administrative
  • organization and planning

It is important to note that there is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership involves influence and inspiration. Management consists of controlling a group to accomplish a goal.

There are many challenges when it comes to evaluating the CEO’s performance:

  • Board turnover leads to inconsistency from year to year
  • Board has limited interaction with CEO
  • Board doesn’t provide useful feedback
  • Board wants to avoid criticizing
  • Board provides input on details, not bigger picture such as strategic progress

The CEO and the board must make sure they are in agreement on what is important. The CEO and the board chair/president need to have a discussion about expectations and the assignment of responsibilities.

One way to facilitate the CEO evaluation is to include the evaluation form and/or criteria in the CEO employment agreement. This establishes expectations from the start.

It helps to narrow down the evaluating group to just the executive committee because they are most involved with the day-to-day work of the CEO. The evaluating group needs to know there is value in the evaluation and that they should take the work to complete it. Remind them to keep track of association activities so they are equipped to evaluate. Make sure the process is as easy as possible since the board is made up of volunteers. Use an outside firm if necessary.

When possible, perform the evaluation in person so that there is a captive audience. Often, emailed forms get overlooked. This also allows for more dialogue. Don’t let the form hinder additional discussion. Also, consider allowing the CEO to complete a self-evaluation and include it in the formal evaluation process.

Consider measuring outcomes instead of activities. Evaluate progress of the association against the strategic goals. If using 360° format (where peers or subordinates provide feedback), use them only as a development tool instead of in formal evaluation.

Conducting CEO evaluations with honest conversation and feedback allows for association growth.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

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20 Key Takeaways from the Book: “The Will to Govern Well”

Image Credit: Lou Levit
Image Credit: Lou Levit

Linda Owens, president

Book coverWhile studying for the CAE exam, I read the book, “The Will to Govern Well” by Glenn H. Tecker, Paul D. Meyer, Leigh Wintz, CAE and Bud Crouch. This book is intended as a handbook for developing strategies for change in governance, based on an extensive study of information collected from governance specialists. While analyzing the results of the study, three themes emerged as keys to developing the will to govern well: Knowledge, Trust and Nimbleness.

The authors begin by looking at why governance needs to change: to remain relevant and sustainable.

“Absent of a vision—a sense of direction and an understanding of where the industry and its members are going—an association exists in a constantly reactive mode. For a while it may retain its role as a viable information source for its members, but over time it will lose effectiveness as increasingly it learns about changes in the industry, profession, or cause at about the same time that members do.”

I’ve decided to summarize some of the key points I took away below, but recommend you buy the book yourself for the details:

Changing Governance Systems

“Board meetings should be a platform for dialogue and deliberation on issues of strategic importance, rather than an opportunity to review information already provided, redo work already completed by others, or set administrative and/or operational program policy without sufficient study of context, alternatives, consequences, or likely implementation realities.”

1.       Boards are wise to consider how much time they spend in Management, Operations and Activities as this will take time away from Policy and Strategy.

2.       Boards should ask themselves if their decision-making process elicits a continuous stream of information from members, prospective members, customers and stakeholders. They should strive to understand what is important to a broad community of stakeholders.

3.       Boards should evaluate their current governance system (including structure and process) to determine if it enables or hinders them from effectively changing priorities to ensure relevance to their members’ changing marketplaces.

4.       Boards should be able to define what constitutes value to their members. Instead of being power-driven, boards should strive to be value-driven.

5.       Boards who are moving from a constituency-based board to a competency-based board must remember that they still have to have a sufficient connection with their membership.

The Role of Knowledge in Governance

“Knowledge creating is the act of taking relatively random data from a broad spectrum and translating it into a meaningful, insightful context through study, investigation, observation, and experience.”

6.       Successful boards recognize the importance of collecting and using knowledge in their decision-making process. This helps the association establish itself as a knowledge leader which provides value to their members as well as the larger community.

7.       Successful associations must be committed to research. It should be budgeted as an ongoing functional line item.

8.       Successful boards constantly ask the following questions: Whom do we serve? What needs is the association best positioned to meet? How will the association meet those needs?

9.       Successful association staff members know where to find relevant information and know how to transform this knowledge into meaningful information to be shared with board members. Staff should be careful to give the right kind of information and to ask the right kinds of questions of the board—it should revolve around the execution of strategy and not operations.

10.       Successful boards are conscientious of time and therefore are less tolerant of information designed primarily to demonstrate how busy staff or committees have been.

11.       Successful boards are known to make their decisions and the rationale behind those decisions more accessible to their members.

12.       Successful governance is evolving from retreat-driven, product-oriented, traditional strategic planning to a process of ongoing strategic thinking.

The Role of Trust in Governance Systems

“Creating and sustaining a culture of trust becomes imperative for success as an association develops strategies for a more responsive and effective governance structure. Trust can be considered the alignment of what an association has promised with what it ultimately delivers to important stakeholder groups such as members, volunteer leaders, staff, legislators, and the general public.”

13.       Trust allows an association to eliminate needless controls which in turn increases nimbleness and responsiveness.

14.       Trust is strengthened as groups work together and create strategy.

15.       Trust is derived from openness and the communication of ideas. Therefore boards of highly competitive professions or industries are challenged to create a safe haven for those around the board table to dialogue freely about the issues that will mutually benefit the industry, profession, or cause the organization represents.

The Role of Nimbleness in Governance Systems

“Nimble organizations allow thoughtful groups, guided by strategic principles, to determine whether the work they propose to do in support of the organizations’ agreed-upon outcomes fits within the parameters of strategic direction and governance’s intent, without having to seek permission from management or governance before they act.”

16.       Nimble associations have strategic plans that are focused on delivering external value and benefit to members.

17.       Nimble associations have clear focus.

18.       Nimble associations should have a set of boundaries based on values, which then empowers association staff to make decisions at an operational level without direct board involvement.

19.       Nimble associations should have a process for analyzing their portfolio of programs and services and aligning them with its future strategy.

20.       Nimble associations have a commitment to leadership succession so they will be able to pass the baton to future leadership successfully.

That’s it… Check the book out!

Want some more quick tips? Check out 21 Tips for Better Board Meetings.

What type of books are you reading at the moment and are there any you recommend to those involved with governance? Tell us in the comments!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.