THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF ASSOCIATIONSUNCOVERING THE OVERLOOKED

INTRODUCTION

Trevor Mitchell, CAE

Executive Director of Membership & Technology

ARMA International

@trevm22

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand what associations are doing to achieve great results

Why these tactics are important

See information in action

HOW ASSOCIATIONS DEFINE SUCCESS

Traditional

Revenue Growth - % increase year to year

Membership Growth

Total # Increase

Dues Revenue Increase

Increase in Retention Rate

Non-Dues Revenue – diversify revenue sources

Less Focus on Dues and Conference

More focus on Publications, Certifications, Sponsorship

New

Member Engagement

Interaction with association

Volunteering as well as purchasing of products/services

Member Participation

Attendance at events

Consumption of Products

Member Value

Meeting the needs of those that Join and Renew

Focusing on what you do well

WHAT ARE WE MISSING?

Theses success metrics will continue for years to come.

Staff & Board need to be asking the following questions:

What does it take to reach these desired results?

What should the association focus on to achieve results?

What current and future needs impact our ability to achieve these success metrics?

Focus on how to get to the desired results.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO ORGANIZATION SUCCESS

Focusing solely on the end result can bring minimal results.

Look at what it take to get there fosters:

Innovation – looking at streamline, enhancements, new ways of doing things

Efficiency – in staff time and processes

Roadblocks – can be identified early on to minimize delays

Collaboration – increase in cross team collaboration to minimize silos

Unity – everyone working to a common goal will keep the organization focused

HIDDEN KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Operational Efficiency

2. Organization Culture

3. Project Management

4. Communication

5. Customer Support

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

Staff to work smarter, not harder

Focus Areas:

Technology

Processes

Meetings

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - TECHNOLOGY

Technology

Leverage for business goals not necessarily key driver

Utilize it increase staff output/time

Questions to ask:

Are you using the system to it’s full potential?

Are there systems that streamline the process?

Does the IT team have business solutions for us?

Example

Education Database – build on own or 3rd party solution

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - PROCESS

Processes

How many steps/complex is the process?

Are we requiring the process to do too much?

Questions to ask:

Are we complicating the process with steps?

What is the end result we are trying to achieve?

Can this be done better, faster?

Example

Conference Registration

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - MEETINGS

Meetings

Need to serve a purpose.

Don’t meet just to meet.

Questions

What is the purpose of the meeting?

Is everyone here that needs to be here?

Are we representing the member’s view point?

Example

Conference Attendee Meeting

ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Culture plays a huge role in achieving results.

Needs to be addressed at all levels

Staff

Board

Members

ORGANIZATION CULTURE - STAFF

Staff

How they work together?

Do they feel that they can try/fail?

Are they empowered?

ORGANIZATION CULTURE – BOARD AND MEMBERS

Board

How the board interacts with each other, staff, and membership

Their comfort level with pushing change

Members

How do they embrace change?

Are their needs in line with direction of association?

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

How

Scope of project will determine level of project management needed

Formal vs. Informal

Challenges:

Spend as much time planning and update as well as doing

Not enough training on how to actually manage a project

Keys

Have clear roles, responsibilities, and point person

Have timeline and due dates.

Hold people accountable and minimize changes

Use easy tolls (Apps Moxtra, /programs Asana, etc.)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT - EXAMPLE

Without Project Plan

No clear vision

Tasks were not being documented or due

New tasks continued to be added

Unsure of status of project

Result – Project was a year behind

Will Project Plan

Clear Vision

Everyone was aware of tasks and deadlines

New tasks were evaluated before being included

Clear communication of status

Result – Project finished on completed deadline

PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

Programs

Excel – great for small projects to organize information

Microsoft Project – More complex, detailed projects

Asana – online collaboration tool for assigning tasks and deadline reminders

Apps

Moxtra – Appl Project Management

Decision App – Creates decision matrix models such as SWOT, Blue Ocean Strategy

Timeli – Creates visual timelines

BaiBoard – Collaborative White Board

APP EXAMPLES

EXCEL PROJECT MANAGEMENT SAMPLE

COMMUNICATION

Lost Art

Technology

Schedules

Need to look at:

Internal

External

COMMUNICATION

Internal Communication - Staff

How are they sharing information with each other to accomplish goals?

Do they have the right people involved?

Across organization/teams?

External Communication

Board

How are they communicating?

Members

Are we talking in their language?

Are they understanding our message?

Customers

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Are their plans for the support and longevity of the project?

Who will support the customers, members, and the enhancements?

Often focus on rolling items out but not set up for long term success.

HIDDEN KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Operational Efficiency

2. Organization Culture

3. Project Management

4. Communication

5. Customer Support

HOW TO IMPLEMENT

There is a lot here to consider.

Pick one and start there.

Then expand on others.

Try, review, modify, repeat.

This will take time to change.

Model top down

FINAL THOUGHT

QUESTIONS

THANK YOU

Trevor Mitchell, CAEExecutive Director of Membership & TechnologyARMA International@trevm22