Engagement is Measured by the Customer I’ve written a bunch about measuring engagement in the past. (Click here to read one of my favorites.) But one thing that’s critically important to understand is that ultimately, engagement is not measured by the association, but by the member or customer. Click here for an example of what I mean. For some …
I’ve posted a new article on managing volunteer data. Click here to read it. One thing that distinguishes associations from almost all of their for-profit competitors is volunteers. Whether it’s your board of directors, committee members, speakers, or writers, associations have a strategic advantage in that their “customers” are actually developing the products and services …
Over the course of my 20 years of consulting to associations, I’ve run into several situations where the association is moving from a completely custom system (often designed by someone on staff) to an off-the-shelf (OTS) system. (I’ve written before why associations should not build custom systems, but it happens!) While I wholeheartedly support moving …
I’ve posted two new articles to my site. Click the link on each to read the article. What Causes Project Overruns Expressed Interest vs. Implied Interest
I recently read the book Factfulness, which highlights ten things about the world that are better than most people think. (The book is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. In fact, I think it should be required reading for all high school students!) This got me to thinking (naturally) about the things in data management …
I’ve added two new articles to my website: Improvement by Subtraction and Another Missive from the Trenches. To get these articles as soon as they are available, subscribe to my monthly newsletter here.
I’ve written elsewhere about the value of data integrity reports. But one of the most common complaints I hear from my clients is that the actual list of reports within their AMS is so unwieldy, they wind up creating new reports (or queries) because they don’t really know what reports they have or what they do. …
Every AMS vendor will tell you that the toughest part of implementing a new system is getting the association staff to think differently about the new AMS. And this isn’t just limited to changing processes (although that is incredibly important). It’s also about changing mindset. What do I mean by changing mindset? Here are three …
A change of systems requires a change of mindset Read More »
I’m a big fan of the author James Clear (https://jamesclear.com/) who writes about the formation of habits. I believe (good!) habits are an important element of success (I’ve written about it before.) In a recent blog post, Clear wrote: “Just because it’s not optimal, doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial.” Read another way, this is the old …
"Just because it's not optimal, doesn't mean it's not beneficial." Read More »
One of the toughest things about system implementation is simply how long it takes to complete one. And so keeping momentum and staff interest in the project is paramount. By month six of implementation, staff can be pretty burned out. I always recommend to my clients that throughout implementation they look for and celebrate “small wins.” …