Deleting drama from my inbox with emotional intel

Have you been in this situation?

An email sent to the board of directors or colleagues at your association sparks controversy. An argument ensues and the email trail grows rapidly. Emotions flare. Side conversations erupt and blind copy is used. Before you know it, the point of the original email is totally lost.

Some days it seems the "e" in email stands for "emotional."  Wouldn’t it be easier to cut through that drama and discuss the association’s strategic direction, membership retention or marketing initiatives? After all, isn’t that why we are associating in the first place?

Association professionals know the importance of effective communication and since email is an integral part of our daily lives, being good at email communication means being an effective association professional.

When I participated in a tweet chat on emotional intelligence (EI) via #assnchat on Twitter, I couldn’t help but wonder how EI can be used to avoid email disasters like the scenario above. Working with volunteer leaders at various trade associations, some of my relationships are exclusively based on email. Using a bit of EI in my email correspondence goes a long way in getting my messages across and increasing productivity.

So, what’s Emotional Intelligence?
During an ASAE CareerHQ event this week, executive coach, trainer, and facilitator Tom Pierce shared how EI can be used as career insurance. People are hired for their IQ, he said, and fired for their personality, or low EQ (emotional intelligence). This makes EI pretty important!

So what is emotional intelligence? EI is the ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and in others. Emotional Intelligence 2.0, a book by TalentSmart, describes the building blocks of EI as:

• self-awareness,
• self-management,
• social awareness and
• relationship management.

A basic component of EI is awareness of your own feelings and mood as well as those of others. The book also includes a test to measure your EI and gives tips on how to boost your emotional intelligence.

In an interview with Kiki L’Italien on EI, Jamie Notter noted management of emotions--of self and others-- are more important aspects of EI than the way one expresses emotions. Having a sense of empathy, or the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, also improves your EI.

How to use EI in email communication
Miscommunication involving emotional breakdowns is breeding ground for major problems with governance groups. Intentional sarcasm, condescension or anger in an email message only makes matters worse. Emotion portrayed in an email can be interpreted differently when being read by different people in the same way that a story or poem will have various interpretations. This makes awareness of emotions over email very tricky, even for those with the most advanced EI.

I employ these tactics to delete the emotional drama that is taking up so much of my "soft drive:"

• Be brief and be clear. – Write short email with a crystal clear point. Use facts and avoid being too opinionated. It leaves room for misinterpretation.

• Wait. – Write your email, proofread it, and take care of some other business before you have second look at it. When you read it a second or third time, did it convey the tone you intended? If you were emotional when you wrote it, a little time can settle you down, allowing you to communicate your message in a much better way. Obviously, not every email can be treated this way, but pick out the important ones.

• Pick up the phone! – While email can be quick and convenient, certain discussions need to be handled over the phone, or in person. It is easier to gauge emotions when you can pick up on cues like tone and body language when you are speaking over the phone or face to face.

Emotion is a natural part of any communication and shouldn’t be avoided completely. The challenge is to avoid turning conflicting emotions into drama. Engaging your EI, managing your emotions and those around you while communicating via email will make your job a lot easier.

Is Technology impairing the EI of young professionals?

As part of his presentation, Tom showed us some interesting data on age and EI trends. The older you are the more EI you possess. Does this mean young professionals have less EI because there is more technology out there (social media, texting, email) that virtually eliminates the need to interact with human beings? Or, does the data indicate that it takes time and experience to cultivate and nurture your emotional intelligence?

I like to think that the latter is true. Research has demonstrated that EI is crucial in relationship management at any age, but if you are aware of EI and build that relationship capital as a young professional, you will be ahead of the curve. I don' think technology impairs EI, but rather helps to flourish it. As Daniel Goleman noted in his pioneer 1995 New York Times bestseller Emotional Intelligence, the practical lesson for us all comes down to: Nourish your social connections.

Prepare an RFP and Get the Services Your Org Needs

You are on the board of a small nonprofit looking for management services or a meeting planner who needs some help promoting/planning your next meeting. How do you get help?
Whether you are seeking greater efficiencies and economies for your independent association or annual conference, a change of your association management company, or have reached the point in the association’s evolution when you need to hire professional staff, the initial step is to develop a request for proposal (RFP). Developing an RFP that will attract just the kind of management your organization needs is critical to accomplishing your strategic goals.
Half the battle is knowing what you want. The other half is communicating it.
These are tips were prepared with association/meeting management services in mind, but can apply to any RFP process to get the services your organization needs.

Who prepares the RFP?
The best way to begin is to form a small task force or search committee of involved members who are knowledgeable about the work of the association. Often, when work is divided among a number of volunteers and committees, or is delegated to staff, it may be difficult to define exactly what’s involved in the management of the association on a day-to-day basis. Ask people who have been recently involved to participate in the task force as well as past and future leaders.

What does the RFP include?
First, association management companies will want a profile of the organization. A good starting point is to obtain the “Request for Association Information” form developed by ASAE. This form asks many of the questions that AMCs need to know about the organization, including:

* Is your organization incorporated? If so, in what state?
* Is your organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt? If so, under what code (i.e. 501 (c)(3), 501 (c)(6))?
* What is the purpose of your organization?
* What type of organization is it?
* Board composition?
* Details on committees.
* Who is currently managing the association?
* How many members do you have? What are the categories of membership?
* What is the potential number of members available in your profession or industry?
* What is your total budget? What is the present dues structure?
* Describe your governance structure. Attach an organizational chart if available.
* How often does your governing body meet?
* Does your organization have a strategic plan? Goals?
* What are your most urgent problems or concerns?
* What are the most significant accomplishments you wish to achieve through a management transition and what do you feel is a reasonable time frame in which you would expect them to be achieved?
* Other profile information that will help the AMC understand the scope of the association’s activities and programs.

Be realistic. Avoid “wish lists.” Rather, describe the essential services your organization requires, areas where volunteer time and talent are not being contributed, and areas where the expertise of a professional in association management is needed.
Be specific. If you ask for a proposal to “manage our annual conference,” AMCs will require a great deal of additional information, such as duration of the conference, format, number of attendees, number of programs, specifics on social events, details on exhibits management services to be provided, and publications associated with the event. A similar level of specification will be required if you request a quotation for “publishing the newsletter.”

Include samples, whenever possible, of your newsletter, convention brochure, membership directory, operating budget, trade show brochure, and bylaws. Remember, you can’t provide too much information.

What is the deadline for responding?
AMCs will want information on process and deadlines. A reasonable amount of time for the AMC to respond to the RFP is typically four to six weeks.

What bidders need to include with the response?
You should request a list of references, a company profile, and background on the staff to be assigned to the association.

How will the selection be made?
Often the search committee will select two or three final candidates to be interviewed by the full board. Give the date of the final interviews, the date the decision will be made, and when prospects will be notified. Include the name of the individual who will respond to questions.

Who should receive the RFP?
Many associations wish to contract with a management company that manages associations similar in size or in industries similar to theirs. The business of managing an association, however, requires a body of knowledge unrelated to the industry or professional practice of the organization’s members. More important than whether the company “speaks your members’ language” is its level of experience in association management—including expertise in nonprofit tax and regulatory issues; governance structure and volunteer relations; and such legal issues as foundations and subsidiary corporations, generation of non dues income, and chapter relations.
Following these tips will lay the groundwork for getting quality proposals and help bidders better understand your organization's needs and wants.
Good luck!

Marketing and Promotion-- Getting It Right

Guest Blogger: Elinor Kinnier, Vice President and General Manager, Communications Marketing Group (CMG)


Marketing should permeate every aspect of association business. The terms marketing and promotion are often used interchangeably; however, there are significant differences. Promotion is part of the marketing mix: an important component, but just one element of the over all marketing strategy nonetheless. Let me explain.

Marketing should be part of your overall organizational or operating plan. It’s the strategy that’s really the foundation for your sales and communication techniques, and it’s the integration of activities that helps your organization create and demonstrate value for your members.

Promotion is telling members and potential members about your services or membership benefits in three primary ways:

• Personal selling: tactics such as phone, email, direct mail, social and digital media, public relations, etc.
• Mass selling: advertising, publicity, etc.
• Sales promotion: contests, coupons, free trial or discounts – things you do to get customers to sample.
  

Promotion stimulates demand for a product and keeps a product top-of-mind for consumers.

Much of the time, when associations ask us for a marketing plan what they really want is a promotion plan. Quite honestly, unless the organization is willing to make significant changes to the strategic positioning of a product or service…it’s just not worth the effort to do a full-blown marketing plan.

An organization must be willing to be open to some major changes such as moving the location of a conference or even consider going virtual; changing the pricing model; or completely revamping the structure of the conference (layout, content, delivery of content, sponsorships, etc.); to effectively implement a marketing plan.

Let’s say you have a conference coming up and you develop and implement a rock solid promotion plan, but after the event you’re scratching your head wondering why you didn’t hit your targets in revenue and attendance. The shortfall likely had nothing to do with the promotion of the event and everything to do with the marketing. No amount of promotion will deliver the results you’re expecting if a product (in this case, the conference) is not marketed-- that is, strategically positioned--appropriately. And in my experience, when products/events/services are marketed appropriately, and the hard work is done up front, clients spend a lot less time and fewer resources on promotion and achieve much greater results for their efforts.

The marketing process usually involves research, SWOT analysis, target audience definition, and often branding, and typically results in a marketing plan that lays out how you intend to execute the strategy and evaluate its success.

So, next time your members suggest marketing, ask yourself these questions:

1. What am I trying to do – sell what I have (promotion) or create something that someone wants (marketing)?
2. Am I willing to make changes to my organization, product, service or event to meet the needs of my target consumer?
3. Do I have the expertise to assess my current marketing or should I engage outside counsel?
4. Do I want the end result to be added value for my consumer/member?

I read somewhere that marketing can be defined as changing someone's mind and promotion goes one step further by changing people's behavior. Don’t be confused by the terms, instead take charge and define your best approach – marketing and/or promotion. Remember; ask an expert if you need help.

As Vice President and General Manager of CMG, Elinor Kinnier has more than fifteen years of experience and expertise in public relations, brand building, strategic planning, product launch/development and business positioning.

Saving for that rainy day: budgeting your association's reserves

Guest Blogger: Denise Clark, Vice President of Finance/Operations, AMG


All non profit organizations should have reserves. But there is not common agreement as to how large a reserve fund should be. Often, there is not a good understanding among board members and officers as to the value or purpose of reserves. Reserves are unrestricted net assets, excluding property. Reserves can be divided into various funds given the needs of the association, such as a general reserve fund, a building reserve fund, and other funds the association needs to earmark for later use.

In my twenty-five years in non profit finance and accounting, the "rule of thumb" I've most often heard tossed about was "keep 50 percent of your annual budget in reserves." Most associations are lucky to reach that goal, given that the pressure to spend money is always greater than the desire to save it. But there's nothing magical about a half year’s worth of cash.
Reserves serve three vital purposes:

1. They enable the association to survive a storm, such as a political schism that splits the association, a disastrous conference, a nasty lawsuit, or a bad policy decision on programming, all of which can happen regardless of your efforts to head it off.

2. They enable the association to take advantage of unique opportunities that arise: launching a new program with high start-up costs and a long-term pay off, filing a lawsuit to defend the industry or profession, or a special lobbying effort requiring outside advocacy.

3. They provide ongoing non-dues, investment income that reduces dependence on dues income and conference income.

If your reserves are under the “half year of your annual budget” level, spending any reserves should be approached with extreme skepticism.

There are two ways to build your reserve funds. Commit each year to an expense line in your G&A budget entitled “Commitment to reserves” or budget each year for excess revenue over expense which then goes to your reserve fund.

No volunteer leader or staff member should have authority to make investment decisions. The executive committee, treasurer, finance committee, and/or board should approve the investment strategy suggested by the organization’s independent investment advisor. The advisor should present the board with a summary of the year’s activities and future projections at least once a year.

Consider these guidelines when ensuring that you have thought through the key elements that are important to include in any well crafted association reserve policy.

As Vice President of Finance, Denise Clark has more then 20 years of finance and accounting experience encompassing both for profit and not for profit organizations. She is responsible for managing the finance and accounting operations of AMG and the accurate and timely delivery of financial information each month to over 18 different corporate entities. Denise works with numerous client association executives and volunteer leaders to develop and implement budgets, investment policies and board financial policies.

Governance vs. Management: Policy Governance® model can help Directors “get out of the weeds.”

For more than two decades now, I have been observing the election, development, conduct, and decision-making processes of nonprofit governing boards. My interest in how boards govern (or don’t) has increased to the point where the characteristics of elected leaders has become more interesting to me than ever before. I share these interests with many senior association professionals. Closely connected are my observations of board-staff relationships, primarily because these are the key success indicators relative to AMG’s successful service to clients.

Recently, at a session of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) annual meeting, we discussed observations on governance versus management among nonprofit organizations. Our discussion on why boards exist did not demean the passion, energy, and commitment of board members. Those of us in the profession know Board members to be very intelligent, experienced people as individuals. Yet as John Carver, author of Boards That Make a Difference states, “sometimes boards tend to be incompetent groups of very competent individuals.”

In our ASAE session, we spent a good amount of time discussing Carver’s Policy Governance® Model (www.carvergovernance.com) and concluded that one central reason a board exists is to be accountable for the efficiency of its association. The board is where all authority and accountability resides. And yet, so many boards do not understand governance and instead involve themselves at various levels in management and operations.

I like Carver’s model because it doesn’t make room for board members to involve themselves in the operations of the organization. Instead, boards should be strategic thinkers with the long term health of the organization in mind. To do this, boards employ a CEO or Executive Director to report on the operations of the organization. Through this executive figure, Carver asserts that boards need (1) to be definite about its performance expectations, (2) to assign these expectations clearly, and then (3) to check to see that the expectations are being met.

To achieve a harmonious board-staff relationship--and ultimately succeed as an organization--boards should demand organizational achievement in a way that empowers the staff, leaving to their creativity and innovation as much freedom as possible. This is a question of what and how to control, but it is equally a question of how much authority can be safely given away. Carver argues that the best guide for the board is to give away as much as possible, short of jeopardizing its own authority.
Board members should no longer be recruited based on their having skills that mirror the skills of staff. Policy Governance® seriously asserts that boards be visionary and provide long term leadership. Boards must persevere in describing purpose and ethics/prudence boundaries. Forming clear policies from those values is far harder than telling the staff how to do its job. Board members must be experts in governance, not management.

Carver’s Policy Governance® model provides an alternative for boards unhappy with the amount of reactivity, trivia, ritual and management they are involved in and are seeking to be truly accountable. But attaining this level of excellence requires that a board breaks with traditions and preference to manage and embrace governance. The model offers a challenge for visionary groups determined to make a real difference in tomorrow's world. That is why those of us in the business of association management believe Carver’s model has much merit.

CAEs More Attractive in Executive Searches

I recently returned from a recruiting trip for an executive director for one of AMG’s association clients. Interviewing potential candidates with a task force comprised of board leaders, I am reminded of the importance of the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation. Participating in many, many executive searches for various clients over the years, I have seen that the success of an association depends on the leadership embodied by a true association professional.

For the few that may be unfamiliar, the Certified Association Executive (CAE™) program is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate association professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to the practice of association management. Earning the CAE credential is the hallmark of a committed association professional.

Indeed the successful candidate from this recent search has worked toward the CAE credential. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) maintains recognition among board leaders, members, and those involved in hiring nonprofit professionals including executive recruiters and association HR directors as one benefit of successfully completing the program. I agree that the program makes candidates for executive association positions more competitive. As I assist and lead searches for association leaders, I value resumes that come across my desk with the CAE designation and will continue to do so. True association professionals are ideal candidates for managing associations in my book.

If you are interested in becoming a Certified Association Executive, check out more detailed information from ASAE.

Making Your Organization’s Success Factors Count in 2010

As a volunteer leader of an association, if you were asked what three key success factors will be most important for your organization in 2010, what would your answer be?

In creating a list of activities or deliverables in which an organization needs to excel, leadership teams frequently include a standard group of six or eight. Typically, they'll list, "understanding our member’s needs," "producing desired benefits and services," "managing to the approved operating budget," "developing innovative member marketing programs," or “delivering a great annual conference.”

As you consider and prioritize, I suggest that it is important to limit your list of success factors to two, or at most three. Here's why... While these lists are complete, they can sometimes be so all-inclusive that they're not much more than "mom and apple pie." And the success factors listed by some leaders don't imply a true “focus” for their particular organization.

Yet, a razor sharp focus is exactly what's required for success. Focus on a few activities – on the most important activities – on those two or three key success factors for this year and for this time. In any non profit or business, there are two or three activities which are the primary determinants of success. If your organization is especially good at those activities and just mediocre at everything else, your association can be successful.

Determining Appropriate Key Success Factors
In the for profit world, such as in the computer software market, key success factors go to establishing efficient channels of distribution and providing post-sales support. Too much concern about writing "code" may be a technical nicety, but from a competitive point of view, it's a waste of business resources.

In the non profit world, the measures of success we have traditionally been proudest of include membership growth, new programs, increased revenue, and increased market share—particularly when they were accomplished with leaner budgets and fewer staff. While these measures are still on-target for many associations, some groups are looking at success differently in these difficult economic times. In their book, “7 Measures of Success - What Do Extraordinary Associations Do that Other Don't?,” ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership note that success for extraordinary associations is based on a commitment to purpose and mission, a commitment to continual analysis and feedback and a commitment to action.

Changing Success Factors Caused By a Down Economy
Rather than struggling to maintain traditional offerings and find new sources of revenue to prop them up, some associations are coming to terms with the fact that they simply can’t do it all any more, and they can’t do things the way they always have. These associations are revisiting their essential reasons for being, refocusing, and restructuring their operations and governance to be more relevant to their members and more responsive to the changing environment.

From downsizing or stopping specific programs to restructuring and co-locating events with like-minded groups, associations are exploring a myriad of ways to remain viable and to be successful. Here are examples of success factors that will ensure your organization’s relevance and growth for 2010:

• Making room for programs that produce - Use data to support a call for change. Engage members, provide valuable programming, and connect people to build relationships—this will serve to highlight the need to refocus resources and energies.
• Responding to industry downsizing- Declining revenue, dwindling numbers of core membership in the wake of industry downsizing, cost-cutting…sound familiar? These are the very same hurdles several AMG associations face. In addition, the number of companies willing to pay employees’ membership dues is declining. Association leaders should consider a business plan that details exactly what audiences the association should serve, the market and revenue growth potential, and how the organization would reorganize to take advantage of the opportunities. A board-approved new plan and structure should focus on expanding service to growth markets by shifting resources from the traditional, but shrinking, core membership.
• Developing a strategic, policy-making board which leaves the details to its staff and holds them accountable for outcomes - Many board members and volunteer leaders are seeing their role in this new light, and dropping partnerships and programs that aren’t contributing. The outcome: A strategic, future-focused board that is better able to embrace change. When the board and CEO have clarity of roles, agreement around outcomes, and are focused on the vision of what is going to be different, the politics of organization vanish.

Whatever your top three success factors become for 2010 make sure the are sharply focused on what your organization needs most and on what truly matters most to that group of core members who sustain through dues and involvement in the purpose and mission of your non profit.