“Keeping Your YE Committee Engaged and Involved”

Pauline Perreault/Dave McRaeDistrict 5370 Youth Exchange Committee

AB/BC/SK/NT Canada

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Outline

• District 5370 - Some Facts and Figures• Our Committee Structure• What our Committee Told Us

(The view from the trenches)

• Our Engagement Strategy(Using the “6 Be’s”)

• Key Engagement Drivers

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

District 5370 – Some Facts and Figures

• 520K sq.m. (1.347M sq. km) - #3 in the world!• 62 Rotary Clubs; 9 Rotaract Clubs; 36 (+4)

Interact Clubs• 2300 total members• Involved in RYE since incorporation in 1999 as

5370; prior as part of 5360• Award-winning program from RI• 16-30 exchange students annually

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Our Committee Structure

• District Chair• OB/IB Coordinators• Regional District Advisors (RDAs)• ROTEX support• Rene Cavanaugh (administrative support)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

What our Committee Told Us

• Give meaningful jobs• Share the workload • Make them feel appreciated• Have retreats (get to know each other)• Share successes• Don’t get too many people involved• Keep actively engaged with the students

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Our Engagement Strategy

The 6 “Be’s”•Be First•Be Curious•Be On Purpose•Be Grateful•Be of Service•Be Here Now

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Be First

• Engaging RYE committee members– Inviting them to District RYE events to spark

interest (prior to joining committee)– Make them feel welcomed at District events

(greet them, find out about them)– Be the first to ask how they are doing in their role;

Do they need help? Are they struggling? How are relationships with their counterparts?

– Don't wait for the team to ask questions on student/program updates - be the first to share it

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Be Curious

• Be curious regarding skill sets of committee members– Match skill and passion in the RYE world

• Get to know members as people– We spend so much time together - we might as well

like each other!?!

• Bring "retired" members back– Be curious if they are free for your training weekends

and have them play a role (they’ll love it)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Get to know each other

Most of all, have fun with your committee

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013

Be On Purpose• Getting your Committee

members onboard– Complete a strategic plan

• SWOT analysis

– District philosophy• Approach to the D’s• Student misconduct• Travel policy• Parent visitation policy • Your District’s student “brand”

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Working with the BEST

Having fun

Transforming Lives

Be On Purpose

• Annual strategic planning retreat • Balance team size with responsibilities

– Don't over staff - it will lead to committee boredom

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Be On Purpose

• Strategic Planning Retreat– First weekend in November– Bonding opportunity (No TV or internet - but lots

of wine!)– Strategic Planning – review goals, set new ones– Succession planning– Debrief Fall Orientation (September)– Plan for Spring Orientation (March)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Be Grateful

• You can't thank volunteers enough– Committee members put in long hours and need

to hear about the good work they're doing– Share volunteer hours and depth with clubs.

(Honour a RYE committee member with a Paul Harris?)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

A tribute to Kris Price

• Our District Committee shared the exemplary service of Kris Price with her club– And she received the honourable Paul Harris

award as a result– Sometimes our clubs don’t even know how many

HOURS we pour into RYE

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013

Be of Service

• Know what is going on with your team members– Do they need some help? – Do they need to take a step back? Take a rest?

• Provide information– Share what is happening with the students and

clubs (this always leads to higher engagement!)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Clearly our current chairman Wayne needs a break (congrats on your 5 year term as Chair)

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Be Here Now

• Work with the strengths and passions of current team– Not the wonder team from days gone by

• Your team might feel solid and well-staffed, but things can change in a heart beat– Develop ongoing recruitment efforts and events

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Engagement of a District RYE team

District PhilosophyTeam Members

Role/Tasks

Support from Chair

Appreciation/ Celebrations

Communication

District Philosophy• Do you even have one?

– Having fun, working with the best, transforming lives

• Approach to dealing with:– Struggling students, counsellors and clubs– D’s – Travel and parent visitation etc

• You NEED a foundation from which to make your decisions

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

District Philosophy

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Team Members

• Do you respect each other? • Do you like each other?• Do you have fun together?• Do you trust each other?• Do you look forward to being in each other’s

company?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013

NAYEN – Orlando February, 2013

Team Members

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Roles/Tasks

• Are you passionate about the role you are doing?

• Do you get access to your favorite part of RYE? (whether it’s the trips, the students, the counsellors, NAYEN conferences etc)

• Are your team members in roles they are best suited for?

• Are tasks evenly divided amongst the team?– Avoiding over work and under work?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Roles/Tasks

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Support from the Chair

• Do you respect your Chair person?• Do they back the committee decisions?• Do they act fairly in student/counsellor

concerns?• Do you admire their leadership of your

committee?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Support from the Chair

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Appreciation/Celebration

• How do you celebrate each other?• Do you offer feedback to each other after

student weekends/programs?• Do you take time to reflect on your successes? • How do you share “good news” and wins from

the program? • How do you honour parting committee

members?NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Appreciation/Celebration

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Communication• Do often does your committee connect?• How effective are your meetings?• Are you informed to program/student changes

in a timely manner?• Do you understand why key decisions are

made? Do you get a chance to participate in them?

• Are you often unaware of decisions made by the team or chair?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Communication

• Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10, where 1=very poor10=excellent

How are you doing in this area?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

What’s your score?• Total possible score 60• If you scored:

– 50-60, congratulations you have a strongly engaged team

– 40-49, you have many wonderful pieces in place for an engaged team. Keep stretching!

– 30-39, some things are working great, some aren’t. Keep working!

– Below 29 – some improvements could be beneficial to your team.

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013

Questions?

NAYEN – OrlandoFebruary, 2013