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.
We’ve talked before about how volunteers are at the heart of every association, but how do you recruit volunteers and then keep them engaged? The executive directors at IMI Association Executives met together to discuss this very issue and here are 9 ideas they came up with.
Awareness
This may seem like a no brainer, but make sure all your members are aware of the volunteer opportunities available.
Encourage volunteerism on everything you send out. Need help thinking of creative places to ask for volunteers? Here are a few ideas we came up with:
membership application
conference registration forms
membership renewals
link on website home page
make a volunteer page on website
member surveys – you can even use the exit landing page
social media
Don’t forget to credit the committee when work projects are completed. Members will make the connection that not only are there volunteer opportunities available, but they are making a difference in the association.
Connection
The #1 reason why people volunteer is because someone called them personally and asked them to volunteer. Not only is a face to face request more difficult to decline, but if the volunteer has questions moving forward they know they have a personal contact ready to help.
Volunteers make friends in the organization, take advantage of all that your association has to offer, and ultimately you create a member for life.
Clearly ask people what their interests are and how much time they are willing to give. When you connect members with a volunteer position that suits both their interests and their lifestyle they are more likely to be engaged.
Rewards
Remind volunteers that there is a career benefit to volunteering for your organization. Dedication to your industry looks great on a resume.
Ask volunteers why they are interested in volunteering. This will help you plug volunteers in where they will get the most personal satisfaction – and keep contributing. Volunteering really can be its own reward!
Be sure to thank and recognize your volunteers frequently. Whenever possible, make sure to connect with your volunteers through an email, phone call, or in person to show your appreciation.
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
An association is nothing without their members; members need an association to reach their goals efficiently and effectively. Put the two together and you have a dynamic duo! After working in membership for almost a year with IMI, I have learned a few things.
1. Make Members Happy
While working with our Assistant Executive Director, who has many years of experience with membership, I have learned that caring for members and making sure they are happy is very important.
A few examples of what that practically would look like is, if our quarterly magazine didn’t arrive to their house for some reason, we make sure to re-send it again, just in case the postal service lost it. If a previous member didn’t renew due to major difficulties that arose during their membership year, it is a good idea to compensate them for another membership year. It is up to you to show the association values them as an individual member and to prove how valuable your association can be to them.
2. Retention, Recruitment, Engagement
Retention, recruitment, and engagement are the three words that establish the foundation of membership. Retentionis getting members to return as member again the next year. We want to keep members coming back and sharing about the value of the association to non-members.
Recruitingmembers allows the association to grow and thrive off of more skills and talents to live out their mission and reach new goals. Whether it is through the testimony of current members or by providing incentives, such as free webinars, you need to draw people in to see what else you have to offer. Monthly tracking of your members by category type and where they are located are great ways of determining where you need to improve recruitment and how you can draw those members in.
Engagingmembers through the association benefits will circle back to retention. The more that members feel engaged and active in the association, the more likely they will renew when their membership expires. Some ways to inspire engagement:
– Start discussions on social media about current topics in the field
– Highlight membership benefits weekly/monthly as a reminder
– Conduct surveys to see what benefits interest your members the most
3. Growth & Change
Growth and change are two words that can either strike fear into the hearts or bring pure excitement to the minds of members. I admit that I can get stuck in my old ways and think they are the best and most efficient way of going about life. This can be the case for long standing members of an association, too. Change causes fear of the unknown and uncertainty of how things will work out. For new or potential members, change means more information or tools that are applicable to them.
During my time with this association, our new membership year in 2014 made a huge impact. We revamped the benefits and the look of our membership retention and recruitment pieces. New members and individuals were full of praise for the new “more professional” look. However, with new things comes some resistance. Some were hesitant to the new ideas coming about in the association. This is to be expected and is to be handled with care. When members resist changes, we have an excellent opportunity to reach out and build a relationship by sharing an explanation of why the association made these changes. I believe by responding that way, with care and transparency, we gained trust with our members.
Volunteers are at the heart of every association’s mission. It’s volunteers that serve on the Board of Directors and lead strategic initiatives. It’s volunteers that donate time to the committees that drive strategic plan deliverables. It’s frequently volunteers who deliver educational content to an association in the form of webinars, as conference session leaders and producing work products and papers. And it’s volunteers that provide support to both small and large staffs in high volume situations like annual conferences, workshops and seminars.
So how does an association ensure the continued commitment of volunteers? Some members will step up to volunteer with little or no enticement. Other members will never volunteer no matter what the incentive. And, then, there are the “other ones.”
Every association has a pool of untapped volunteers. They are the “other ones.” Let’s focus efforts on how to reach that audience of potential volunteers with so much to offer to the association.
There are some simple steps to take to keep volunteer opportunities in the forefront with all members.
Add a checkbox to indicate interest in volunteering on all collateral sent to or available for members – correspondence, membership renewal forms, membership applications, conference and event registrations
Place a link to volunteer opportunities on the homepage of your website
Devote a section of your website to providing information about volunteering
Utilize the association’s Facebook page, Twitter feed and other social media outlets to alert members about a need or when new volunteer opportunities are presented
Engage your members in a dialogue about the volunteer process when you are face-to-face at conferences or special events. Include this as a standing agenda item for the Annual Membership Meeting. In person is an ideal opportunity to promote the association’s activities to the membership and ask for their participation.
Never underestimate the power of the “ask.” Members who won’t reach out and volunteer on their own may willingly respond if an opportunity is presented to them in person. The one-on-one discussion also provides a chance to assess the member’s interests and strengths allowing you to match them with an ideal volunteer position. There are very few who, when asked, will say no.
Try to offer a variety of opportunities to provide volunteer support beyond the traditional committee appointments. A taskforce within a committee or an ad hoc taskforce are traditionally more short-lived than a committee appointment and allows new volunteers to experiment with a short-term project and then, hopefully, take on a more significant role.
Some members may not have the bandwidth to commit to a committee or a taskforce appointment but would willingly proofread newsletter articles or white paper drafts.
It’s important to think beyond the usual volunteer roles and consider different models with which to engage members in volunteer activities.
Remember that not every method will be effective for every organization or for every potential volunteer but with a bit of creativity you can increase the emotional buy-in and participation of your members in the important work of their association.
While 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.
These ideas are inspired by the session “Get Your Governance House in Order” at the ASAE Annual Meeting on August 10, 2014, presented by John Bartoletti, M.Ed.; Michael Butera; Eileen Johnson Esq.; and E. Paul Roetert, Ph.D.
Foundations
If you create a foundation, foundation board members need to be separate from association board members.
The board should be selected for expertise, such as expertise in fundraising, management, finance, public relation and a passion for the foundation mission.
Consider asking foundation board members to pay/raise a certain amount of money to sit on the board.
Association Boards
Association boards should refrain from being involved in operations, but instead be involved in a higher level of policy setting. Ideally, the day to day management of the association should be handled by staff with expertise and specialized training in providing administrative services to trade associations, professional societies and educational foundations.
For every “member benefit” proposed, ask if it is what the members want and if there is a return on investment. A “good idea” isn’t a good idea if it doesn’t connect with members and carry its own weight.
Reduce the size of the board. When an association has a large board, executive committees sometimes become “a board within a board.” Smaller boards are more nimble with decision making.
The board should not have to review and act on any and all governance. Committees should be established that have specific expertise. Watch for duplication of committee efforts and silos. Consider forming task forces instead of committees. Don’t forget, task forces have a beginning and end.
Conduct board orientation and training. Make sure training is held regularly to keep everyone sharp and each member of the board contributing. Ask board members to complete self-evaluation forms periodically. See BoardSource from ASAE for more information on board self-assessment for associations.
Do you have more questions about foundations or association boards? Ask us in the comments below!
Lee Campbell, Executive Director & Director of Conference
These ideas are inspired by the session “Tackling the Turbo Bully on Your Board” at the ASAE Annual Meeting on August 10, 2014, presented by Mark Alcorn, Sandra Giarde, and Jamie Notter.
We all have a pretty good idea of what a bully looks like on the playground, but what does it look like when you have a “bully” on the board?
A bully is not someone who simply asks questions or occasionally offers a “contrary” opinion. (It’s very valuable to have people on the board who have the courage to say “no!”) A board bully uses intimidation to silence ideas, ignores the bylaws and policies, is self-focused rather than keeping the needs of the association in mind, and undermines the board decisions.
So, what do you do when you have a bully on the board?
Help Win the Fight by Offering:
Compelling Vision
Make sure the board is very clear on the mission so it becomes obvious when a bully starts to take everyone off course.
Board Training
Make sure the board volunteers have a strong sense of their voice. Yearly board training is essential for old and new volunteers to be well aware of the bylaws, policies, chain of command, and their legal duties.
Mentors Assigned to New Volunteers
New volunteers will follow the old and experienced board members.
Tools For Your Toolbox:
Establish Policies
Make sure you have job descriptions, conflict of interest policies, and antitrust statements in place. Develop a sample policy of misconduct and how a member of the board of directors can be removed.
Pre-screening of Volunteers during Nomination Process
The nominating committee should identify bullying behaviors before acceptance to the board.
Resolution Skills
Ask the bully questions to understand why the behavior is happening.
Move towards the conflict to achieve greater understanding instead of skirting around the issue.
Early detection and intervention is essential so the issue doesn’t have a chance to grow. Keep behavior observable. Remind the bully about the impact of their behavior on the board and on the association.
Alert the board leaders responsible for discipline.
There are also legal considerations so be sure to keep documentation. Consult legal counsel and other experts such as HR advisers and risk managers.
One of the great things about working for an AMC (association management company) is the ability to draw from other association management professionals within the company. At IMI, we take advantage of this benefit by intentionally scheduling brainstorming meetings to share ideas across the different account teams.
The theme for one of our recent meetings was Board Meeting Tips, Questions and Concerns. I walked away with this list of 21 Board Meetings Tips:
Board Agendas & Packets
Align the agenda with the strategic plan.
Review the strategic plan and outstanding board deliverables at the beginning of meeting rather than the end.
Include an ongoing and regularly updated Excel spreadsheet of deliverables (what needs to be done, who needs to do it and projected completion date) to be addressed at the end of each meeting.
Combine all documents into an Adobe binder and then use the bookmarks on the side for easy navigation during the meeting. Note: some board members may prefer to have original Word, Excel, etc. documents instead so they can edit them throughout the board meeting.
Consider adding supplemental documents to a central repository area such as Central Desktop instead of including them in the conference binder.
Work with board members, staff, etc., to create issue papers and discussion guides before bringing an idea or recommendation to the board. An issue paper should provide background on the issue, a list of pros and cons to be considered along with a recommendation for the board’s consideration.
Minutes
Create a cheat-sheet about when a motion is required and when it is not. This is especially helpful to share with new board members or can also be included in the board packet for easy reference throughout a meeting.
Practice “documentation, not elaboration” when drafting minutes. Remember there are legal reasons for not including too much detail, so leave out the conversation and names.
Use the line number feature in Word when drafting minutes for easier proofing and corrections.
Webinar vs. Teleconference Meetings
Research the pros and cons of teleconferences vs. Webinars. More and more boards are moving away from teleconferences in favor of Webinar meetings as it allows everyone to view the agenda and any supporting documents.
Consider recording the meeting and reviewing it later to take notes as it can be difficult to take notes and show the needed documents.
In-person Meetings
Include a printed agenda packet and also project on the screen. This allows you to create an electronics-free zone so people aren’t distracted checking email, etc.
Allot time at each in-person meeting for training/leadership exercises. Include video clips to highlight the “theme” of the exercise.
Provide fidget toys to help meeting attendees relax, stay focused during long meetings, and think creatively.
Encourage meeting attendees to turn their name tent on end to signal their desire to speak.
Print the association’s mission statement on the back of name tent so it faces the board member.
Include Roberts Rules cheat sheet at back of board binder which shows ways to move discussions along. Note: anyone on the board, not just the president, can help with this. Incorporate indicators such as holding up a red paper or other item to wrap up conversations when off topic.
Use a time-keeper.
Assign seats, strategically setting out board tents ahead of time, as needed.
Other
Staff should excuse themselves from executive sessions whenever staff performance or the AMC’s contract is being discussed. Staff should plan to stay in all other executive sessions to take minutes unless asked by the board to leave. Note: it is generally a recognized practice within the association management industry for executive staff to stay in the meeting when the board moves to an executive session.
Encourage a 48 hour discussion period during online voting to give participants from different parts of the world time to weigh in before a vote is taken.
Do you have any additional tips to add to the list? If so, please share in the comments below!
It happens to all of us. Traffic from a terrible accident on the highway makes you late for an important meeting. You receive a harsh email out of the blue. A conference speaker cancels at the last minute and you’re left scrambling for a replacement. Or, if you’re like me, you release a project you spent weeks working on and then discover there’s a typo on the front page. Sometimes, if you’re really unlucky, it all happens on the same day.
What can you do to get back on track when your day is off the rails?
Take 5.
Take a break. Get a change of space for a change of perspective. Go breathe some fresh air. Grab a cup of coffee. Do what works best for you to untangle your brain from the issues in front of you for 5-10 minutes.
Get it off your chest.
If you enjoy journaling, write down your concerns on paper. If you’re a talker, find a private place, like your car, to call up a friend and spill some feelings. Text a friend. Whatever you do, be discreet. You don’t want a misunderstanding in the office to make a bad day even worse.
Work on the things you can control. Let the rest go.
Mistakes are frustrating but they can be really great opportunities to find the weaknesses in your system. Don’t be afraid to examine where the problems originated from and work out a way to avoid them in the future. It’s only a true “failure” if you don’t learn anything from it. But, don’t kick yourself over something that’s out of your control.
Remember the wins.
Be careful not to let frustrations overshadow the things that are going right today. Take a couple minutes to recognize your accomplishments and wins for the day. I have a “Thanks and Kudos” file where I save kind notes from clients and coworkers. When I’m feeling discouraged, I look back at those notes and see that there have been many, many high points in my journey. It’s a good feeling.
Make a recovery plan.
Missed a meeting or a deadline? Call the person to apologize and reschedule. Too many projects vying for your attention? Make a list of your tasks, prioritize them, and handle the most important tasks first. You may not be able to accomplish everything you hoped to do, but with a little strategizing you can make the best of the rest of your day.
How do you get back on track? Please share your tips in the comments below!
