3 tips to managing external collaboration
If you want to build a culture that values collaboration, you can’t only focus on cross-functional teamwork and breaking down silos. You have to take a look at how you collaborate outside your own association, as well. This includes vendors, partners and related organizations, ranging from your foundation that shares your staff, to chapters/components and […]
This lifehack will make you more efficient
The concept of lean has been met with major enthusiasm in the business world. I go into more detail in this article, but it’s about creating more value with fewer resources. So you can see why it’s so popular, right? That’s quite the win/win if it works. My introduction into this world came from reading Paul Akers’ book […]
How to encourage collaboration on your team
As I pointed out in a previous post, collaboration can sometimes be seen as “interference.” It can be perceived as distracting to someone who is already focused on “their” piece of the work. If you’re a leader and you see this happening — but know collaboration is critical to your success — you might consider […]
How to efficiently bring your CEO to sales meetings
I recently had a fantastic conversation with a number of senior sales executives, and the topic of CEOs playing a key role in sales was a big part of the discussion. I mean, what better person to sell your organization than the top boss? Here are some key thoughts on the process: 1. Your entire […]
How to adopt a Lean mindset
The term lean in an organizational context means, “creating more value with fewer resources.” Let that sink in for a second. More value with fewer resources? How does that work? Paul Akers, author of the book “2 Second Lean,” owns a business called Fastcap, which is in the wood-working industry. Several years ago, he brought in a consultant to solve a very […]
The 5 step process to innovation
Ideas are the root of all innovations. Because ideas lead to innovation we want more ideas, better ideas, the idea that will excite members. Many innovative associations use a formal or informal idea process which generally has five steps and goes something like this: Step 1: Allow members’ problems to spark innovative ideas Our members […]
Have you addressed the dark side of collaboration?
If I had to pick one single “core value” I thought would be mostly likely to show up on an association’s core value list, “collaboration” would be towards the top. Who doesn’t like collaboration, right? Well, I led a senior management retreat for a client one time, and in a rare moment of truth-telling, one […]
Are mission-driven associations dying?
There seems to be a continual “old guard/new guard” debate as to the purpose of associations. This might mean paid staff, volunteer leaders, or rank and file members. The old guard position is generally that people in the industry or profession need to join the organization to serve and give back — our job is […]
What does your annual meeting say about your culture?
In the association world, we tend to think of our annual meeting in terms of what it delivers to the members. It is typically a crown jewel type of program — that date on our annual calendar when it’s all hands on deck because a large number of our members get a LOT of their […]
Lean thinking: One size does not fit all
With January right around the corner, it can only mean one thing: Resolutions. You can likely guess what’s frequently atop the list of most popular resolutions — losing weight, or something along the lines of getting fit. This, coupled with a recent conversation with association colleague Arianna Rehak, got me thinking about waistlines. Not mine, but […]