It’s time for national and local organizations to co-engage with members
For very many association members, ”engagement” includes experiences at the local level (frequently through a chapter/component), and at the national level, through the national association. There are obviously a lot of issues wrapped up in the national/component relationship, and I’m not attempting to address them all here. But I want to pull out an important […]
What it means to be an association member is changing
In my post earlier this week, I pushed the issue of defining engagement. But the first half of the phrase “member engagement” could also use a little attention. We throw around the word “member” a lot, not acknowledging we have a lot of baggage that goes with it. Granted, we are membership organizations, so I […]
How does your association define engagement?
Everyone in the association world cares about member engagement (or should, anyway). And a lot of people in the association world are actively trying to measure engagement and improve engagement. Which is fine, except for one problem: Very few people have actually defined engagement. Maddie and I have done some long-term work with a couple […]
Aligning individual employees with your culture
I have written a lot about the need to design our organizations around the needs of the employees. I see this as part of a digital mindset that we need to be adopting if we want our associations to thrive in the 21st century. The world has changed (permanently) and individuals expect us to run […]
Why an experienced professional should think like a beginner
One of the fundamental truths in the business world is that experience is a good thing. When we want to hire someone for a job, we demand it. When we look back at our own careers, we realize that once we have it, we are better at many things than we were before we had […]
Does your association’s culture support job rotations?
I’ve been in the association world for a long time, and I hear a lot of complaints about silos. The different departments, while necessary, also cause a lot of problems because they don’t collaborate well. The “culprit” will vary by organization — member services, education, meetings — but at some point one or more ends […]
Why you should customize your staff’s development
We’ve all heard the cliches, like “our people are our greatest asset,” but when push comes to shove, with budgets for professional development internally, I’m not sure that’s always the case. It’s expensive to develop your people. It takes them away from the jobs they need to do, and there are frequently fees involved for […]
Do boards destroy more value than they create?
We’ve been talking about the connection between association boards and culture, and most posts have been organized around concrete tips: The first set the stage on defining and maintaining a board culture, and then we got right into tips on orienting your board. Maddie interviewed AGU CEO Chris McEntee on some cool stuff she’s done with her […]
3 conflict resolution tools for your board
In case you didn’t know, I got my Master’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution 20-odd years ago from George Mason University. I studied conflict from all angles with some of the leaders in the field, and I can tell you, from the theory side, there is absolute clarity that: Conflict is a good thing. […]
3 reasons your volunteer ladder may be flawed
There is, of course, logic to this assumption. By requiring prior service, you provide an opportunity for the volunteer to learn how the system works and what it takes to be an effective board member. You also get a chance to evaluate their effectiveness as a board member; it’s a “minor league” of sorts. That […]