Keeping members engaged is often considered the hard part. One association CEO outlines key membership engagement points that work no matter what, even in troubled times. The key to it all: value.

“Membership engagement solves everything.”

That’s a pretty bold statement. Tom Morrison, CEO of the Metal Treating Institute, backs it up with impressive numbers: More than 80 percent of MTI members are engaged at some level, and the organization has maintained a 97 percent retention rate for 10 years in a row. He says engaged members lead to fiscal growth, better volunteerism, and program involvement, which is why it’s his number-one priority as an association leader.

Morrison recently cohosted a webinar outlining successful strategies for keeping members engaged, even in a crisis.

KNOW YOUR VALUE

“Members support your mission, but they buy your value,” Morrison said. It is essential, therefore, for associations to know exactly what their value is.

We all know advocacy and meetings are core elements of an association’s value proposition. Without advocacy and meetings, what’s left? Good question.

Several years ago, during a strategic planning session with MTI’s board, as part of an exercise to determine value, they took advocacy and meetings off the table. That forced leadership to look internally at problems and “high pain points” and analyze them. Sales forecasting, financial benchmarking, training, and professional development emerged as important value drivers for members.

Another value proposition that has re-emerged is information. It was a high-value point in the ‘80s, Morrison said, but now with the advent of widespread misinformation distributed across many platforms, “associations are back in the channel of interpretation of information.” Associations need to ask what information they are engaging members with, where it comes from, and how to become the authority on interpreting it, he said.

PERCEIVED VS. ACTUAL VALUE

“Relevance is directly related to your value as an association,” Morrison said. Members engage in what they value. But value can be perceived or actual, and the latter is the one that counts.

Morrison noted, for example, that some associations offer members a discount on car rentals, which he says most people can easily get on the internet for an even lower price so that is not technically an actual member benefit. It is something some associations put out there, but it isn’t really meaningful—so it falls into the perceived value category.

Associations need to drill down on their benefits and determine if their value is actual or perceived. Morrison noted that many members pay for consultants to help with issues that associations could be helping to solve at a fraction of the cost—or at no cost at all. You need to know what members are going to need on any given day that your association can provide, so they don’t go looking for it elsewhere.

Morrison said he keeps hearing people ask, “How do you communicate value during COVID?” Talking about value is not enough right now, he said, “It’s time to do your value.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Lisa Boylan. 

Your association may have weathered the initial disruption of COVID-19. That doesn’t mean you’re prepared for the next calamity. It’s time to review your business continuity plan.

Your 2020 bingo card probably didn’t include spots for last-minute cancellations of annual events or jury-rigging “office furniture” out of what you have at home. But that’s the point behind a business continuity plan, or BCP: anticipating what could go wrong and ensuring that your organization is resilient enough to to get through the worst.

Now that your association has done its best to weather the initial disruption of COVID-19, this is the time to give your BCP a thorough review. That review needs to be forward-looking, beyond the problems currently at hand, to make sure that the plan will stand up to future unexpected crises.

COVID-19 brought a dramatic uptick in BCPs specific to technology and cybersecurity due to the shift to remote work. But those plans may not be adequate, because many mobility infrastructures and cybersecurity measures assume that there’s still some connection to a physical office, according to Praful Krishna, a computing and AI expert, writing for CMSWire.

“Under security policies for most enterprises, remote access is limited in its permissions and bandwidth,” Krishna says. “IT and other support functions are based out of physical locations. In many situations even drive backups occur only over the office Wi-Fi. In other words, the current setup expects everyone to show up to work at least periodically. That’s no longer sustainable.”

Other aspects of BCPs need careful consideration too: leadership, continuity of workforce, financial and other types of risk, communications, and other core functions. As Jim Lippie put it at the Channel Futures blog, “Although it might feel a little late in the game for business continuity planning, the initial shift to remote work is only skimming the surface when it comes to preparing businesses for a variety of disruptions. VPNs and laptops are only one aspect of what’s required for firms to survive and thrive when things get crazy.”

THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Taking an approach that considers all kinds of scenarios provides organizations with the broadest protection. The next threat might not be about a physical workplace; it might be a condition that severely limits remote work instead of supporting it. It could even be something that happens halfway across the world—a possibility that organizations that heavily rely on global supply chains need to factor into their BCP. As an example, Krishna covers Fitbit’s decision to source from four countries instead of just one, anticipating a trade war with China, the primary materials source before the diversification.

Whatever needs your organization has, regular reassessment, reviewing, and testing will help ensure a thorough response to changing conditions, as Seth Siegel points out at Information Week. This diligence will also help you prioritize when plans are translated into action.

People need to be at the top of the priority list, according to Siegel: “Keeping them working, safe, productive, and engaged should be a top priority.” That goes for your own employees, but your members and the broader community your association supports need to be considered as well.

At Special Events, Patrick Hardy shares the story of an RV tradeshow that took a now-familiar digital pivot because of COVID-19. On a technical level, everything went smoothly. “What they did not anticipate, however, was that many of the vendors no longer wished to participate, as their customers preferred a kinesthetic experience and one-on-one interpersonal interaction with sales representatives. The value, for them, then, diminished, even when a virtual platform was deployed seamlessly.”

Even the most robust plans will need adjustments once they become reality. But by keeping resilience through disaster top of mind, association leaders can use this moment as a springboard into the future, however uncertain it may be.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Autumn Whitefield-Madrano. 

Hallway conversations and chance meetings are staples of in-person events but can be hard to re-create in the virtual space. A look at three ideas for making it happen.

A few weeks ago, I came across this article on Wired.com about virtual tech conferences. The piece not only dove into some of the pluses of virtual events (e.g., lowered barriers to entry, reduced travel costs) but also highlighted what a lot of virtual attendees were missing, which it appropriately titled “the hang.”

Those are the chance meetings or hallway conversations that attendees have while in line at registration, as they grab a coffee, or when they are seated next to each other waiting for a session to start.

“Conferences aren’t just about what’s on the schedule, but the side conversations and the other social aspects,” said Christina Warren, a former tech journalist and current podcast host who now works as senior cloud developer advocate at Microsoft, to Wired. “I don’t think we’ve quite figured out as an entire industry what the best way is to bring in some of those social interactions when an event is virtual.”

Replicating “the hang” in a virtual space is definitely a difficult task. Here are three ideas I’ve come across in recent weeks that may be food for thought as your association goes about planning online events.

Daily concert. In late June, the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science and the Association of Genetic Technologists held their 2020 Joint Annual Meeting online. Ahead of the event, organizers sent swag boxes to attendees—called JAM Packs—that included a kazoo. During each day of the event, there was a Kazoom session, where participants could join a Zoom room and kazoo a song together. “[Attendees] called it ‘The Daily Kazoom,’” said Michael Cubbage, CMP, CGMP, who served as an independent planner for the event, to Convene magazine.

Casual connections. VidCon—YouTube’s event for social media influencers, execs, fans, and the brands that want to reach them—also moved online for the first time in late June. “We really wanted to try and as much as possible replicate the interactive experience of an event, both the connections that you can get to speakers and creators and other things in sessions, but also the casual connections that you make with people in the hallways, in the lounges,” said VidCon General Manager Jim Louderback to Forbes last month. One way his team did this was to offer a variety of online interactions. Among them: one-minute direct conversations between a fan and a creator—what Louderback called “a video selfie”—and “ask me anything” sessions with well-known industry professionals.

Virtual shuttle ride. When the Institute of Food Technologists transitioned its Annual Meeting and Food Expo to SHIFT20 Virtual Event and Expo, organizers didn’t want to lose all of the networking opportunities that participants had grown accustomed to. Since shuttle rides often lead to spontaneous conversations and connections (you never know who’ll you’ll sit next to on the ride to the convention center or evening reception), IFT hosted a 15-minute virtual shuttle ride before every evening event. Each night, two IFT members moderated a live shuttle-bus-themed discussion with a trend-watching guest to chat about the ideas emerging at SHIFT20.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Samantha Whitehorne. 

The pandemic may make it tempting to retool your strategic plan. But if your plan is aligned with your goals, one association learned, you needn’t rush to revise.

Every association leader faced a reckoning as COVID-19 took hold in early 2020, whether that meant helping members access government assistance or deciding what to do with the upcoming conference. Automotive Recyclers Association Executive Director Sandy Blalock was no different, but she also had another consideration: What to do with the strategic plan that ARA’s board had drafted in January, but which still hadn’t been formally approved?

The temptation to make big changes to an association’s guiding documents can be strong when it’s facing strong headwinds, as ARA has been. Though its industry was considered an essential business, Blalock says, “the impacts were still pretty huge for most of our members. … A lot of them had to lay off or furlough people and make changes to protect not only themselves and their employees, but their customers as well.”

Because ARA has a small staff—five full-time employees—it didn’t have the capacity to make strategic overhauls quickly, and Blalock wanted to take the time to see if it needed to. “In the middle of it, I reviewed it probably once a week to see if there was anything that I needed to bring to the board or bring to our executive committee that we might have to take a different look at,” she says.

Threading the needle of taking action too slowly or too quickly is a challenge for organizations of all stripes. According to a 2015 survey published in Harvard Business Review, nearly a third (29 percent) of corporate managers said they reacted too slowly to threats and opportunities, while nearly a quarter (24 percent) said they reacted too quickly in ways that lost sight of their strategy. Strategic planning documents are designed to be durable—ARA works with three-year plans—but COVID-19 has unquestionably been a black-swan event.

Ultimately, ARA pretty much stood pat when the board finally approved a new strategic plan in late July. Part of what gave Blalock and the board confidence in the document is that its core concerns remained intact during the pandemic. Indeed, two of the four pillars in the document seemed to respond to them directly.

In terms of government relations, ARA has a committee that takes a state-by-state approach to advocacy, and that’s been essential this year. “The federal government has some say (in the industry), but I think we saw that during the COVID crisis more than anything, every state said, ‘We’re doing it our way, that’s our right to do it,’” she says. “That makes it very challenging because we have 50 states that define our industry 50 different ways.”

Another pillar of the new strategic plan, branding, proved just as relevant. Bolstering an industry during a crisis has a lot to do with visibility and image, and ARA has made a decision to invest in addressing misconceptions about what automotive recyclers do. “I don’t think a lot of people understand the high level of professionalism in the industry,” she says. “Most people still think we’re Grandpa’s junkyard.”

None of which is to say that associations shouldn’t shift their strategic direction if they see a good reason to. In April, nonprofit consultant Jarrett Ransom wrote at Bloomerang about how organizations can retool their plans, so long as they keep a few essentials nailed down: keep programs and activities relevant to your overall vision, consider the factors that might keep you from executing, and think through multiple scenarios that might affect your goals.

That same kind of North Star thinking gave Blalock confidence that ARA could stick to its plan without an overhaul. “I think this could have easily rattled everybody, especially when you’re short-staffed,” she says. “But we supported each other and didn’t lose sight of who we were and what our goals are.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Mark Athitakis. 

The fact is, there is more attack surface than ever when employees work remotely en masse, and a basic understanding of cybersecurity issues is essential to helping ensure corporate safety. Here’s why.

When just a handful of workers were doing their jobs remotely, cybersecurity issues were a bit more isolated.

But when everyone is working remotely? Suddenly, those isolated issues become widespread. A recent study from VMWare found that 89 percent of respondents had experienced attacks realted to COVID-19 malware.

And because so many workers now find themselves in environments that aren’t controlled by the IT department, it creates a need for a general understanding of good cybersecurity practices.

A few considerations that associations should be aware of:

Good cybersecurity needs to be as basic as washing your hands. Part of the problem with cybersecurity in remote environments is that people who aren’t personally trained on the process can put such approaches on the back burner, which makes them more susceptible to attack. Jim Alkove, Salesforce’s chief trust officer, recommends getting employees up to speed on the basics. “I think the best thing that any business can do in securing yourself, especially as adapting to … this new work-from-anywhere environment, is to nail the basics,” Alkove explained in an interview with ZDNet. “There are a small number of really important cybersecurity hygiene actions, so think about it in the current climate as washing your hands from a cybersecurity perspective, that businesses can do to really eliminate the risk associated with a lot of common cybersecurity threats.”

It can help ease security complications caused by employee job-hopping. Even before the current crisis, people had a tendency to jump between jobs, and having employees work remotely can exacerbate problems caused by such transitions, writes Bob Evans in a blog post for the security firm RSA. “If WFH becomes our norm, then businesses need to address the ‘mover and leaver’ situation. Job-hopping is more prevalent today, and that trend and will continue into the future,” Evans says. “So, the ‘talent churn’ means companies must impart necessary cybersecurity training and hygiene during onboarding and offboarding.”

Cybersecurity issues can plague even more traditional experiences. If your users are traveling on dangerous parts of the information superhighway, it can put the work network in danger. But the problem is, sometimes the threat comes to you. For example, there was recently a vulnerability with the videoconferencing service Zoom in which the company’s vanity URL feature was used to impersonate business accounts. Properly training employees can help them distinguish threats far easier than they might be able to otherwise.

Using company-approved equipment can help limit problems. If a user is hopping onto the network with a laptop that is loaded with malware, it can cause problems for everyone else on the network. Jarrod Sadulski, a criminal justice professor at American Military University, recommends ensuring that employees are aware of the need to use employer-approved equipment, including laptops and VPNs. “This strategy is helpful because a corporate virtual private network (VPN) can be used, enabling remote employees to access secure end-to-end encrypted cloud resources from the company’s secure network,” Sadulski writes for InCyberDefense. “In addition, using a work-issued computer and VPN allows a company’s IT department to push security updates onto the remote computer and increase cybersecurity on the device. Even if a company computer is not utilized, a private VPN is a good cybersecurity tool.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith. 

Hi, I thought you might find this blog post of interest.

We’ll be posting occasional ideas that might assist industry associations and membership organisations to build better relationships with their members, so keep an eye on theprcompany.co.nz

How effective is your membership engagement?

All associations communicate with their members, but unfortunately that communication can often be ineffective.  Why is that?

And ineffective communication is one of the big reasons that members feel disenfranchised from their association.

That’s because good communication is such an important part of any relationship, be it with your partner at home, or between members and their association.

Here are five sure-fire ways you can improve your communications to members, and enhance their relationship with you.

1.        Don’t ‘broadcast’

Associations assume that all members want the same information all the time.  They don’t.  Members are individuals and will have differing content requirements.  Content must be targeted.  Yes, it takes a bit more time and effort but the alternative is to broadcast information that can be seen as unimportant, irrelevant or inconsequential and if that happens members will switch off.  And nothing will spoil a relationship faster than poor communication.

2.        Fix the ‘newsletter problem’

Some associations publish newsletters that are almost impenetrable.  Some fill the space with whatever is to hand come publication time.  Often the business of producing the newsletter is so all-consuming that little thought goes into it anymore.  However, it’s imperative that real care and attention is paid to newsletter content.  Think about your newsletter and your social media platforms as a subscriber-based media.  Ask yourself “would I pay to read this?”  Because, effectively, your members are paying to read it and they may not always want to pay for it.  This mindset might influence your choice of content.  It might also enhance your member communications and engagement.

3.        Give ‘em news they can use

In line with the above, keep this thought in mind when casting about for content:  Give them ‘news they can use’.  This is how a journalist thinks.  Most members don’t care about the administrivia of their association.  They want content they will find interesting on a personal level or that impacts their business or other aspects of their life.  So ask yourself – is it useful information, is it entertaining, is it meaningful to members in some way?  Or is it space-filler?

4.        Use the RACSS formula

When you construct content, use the RACSS formula.  Write in such a way that your content is:

• Relevant to your audience
• Actionable in that the material motivates action or thought
• Compelling – it is difficult to ignore, forget, overlook
• Sticky – it is memorable
•  Simple to understand

5.       Use the media to engage with members

Use the media whenever you can.  Nearly 80% of NZers get their news from the 6pm news.   Stuff is the most widely read site in NZ, closely followed by the Herald.  Newstalk ZB 7am news rates off the scale.  Your members are listening to, watching and reading those news outlets, among others.  If your message is in the media, your members will get it.  There are three key benefits to using the media to communicate with members.

• The media is distilling messages so they are accessible and digestible.  Not all association newsletters do that.  So using the media to deliver messages means members get relevant information in easy-to-understand chunks. 
• You are being seen to be abreast topical issues.  Members like the fact their association is on top of things and is respected enough by the media to have a voice.  They take pride in that.  It’s also important for stakeholders to see you in the media, for the same reasons.  Being in the media gives you a cachet, some kudos. 
• Members just want to feel that their association ‘matters’.  They are paying you good money for an intangible service and part of keeping members happy is to make them feel they are paying their money to a worthwhile entity.  Being quoted in the media reinforces that perception.

So there you have it.  Five simple ideas to engage more effectively with your members.  Why do you need to engage them as opposed to just communicate with them?  Watch this space.

Written by Daniel Paul, Director, The PR Company , Wellington NZ 

AuSAE recently concluded voting for elections to the AuSAE Board of Directors and we are delighted to introduce you to our new Board who were announced at the AuSAE Annual General Meeting on Thursday 30 July.

There were four available positions for appointment, and we are delighted to welcome back continuing and re-elected Directors, Damian Mitsch, CEO, Australian Dental Association and Holly Morchat Stanko, General Manager, Association of Consultants & Engineers New Zealand. We are thrilled to also introduce and welcome to the AuSAE Board of Directors; Leigh Catley, General Manager Communications, Federated Farmers and Paula Rowntree, Head of Events & Experience, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

We sat down with Leigh this week and in a short interview discussed Leigh’s previous experience and history with associations, her passion for the sector and what she is looking forward to as she starts her term with the AuSAE Board. Read the full interview below.

An overview of current role and previous experience

I am the GM Communications for Federated Farmers of New Zealand, the country’s peak industry body for farmers and growers. My career background is in journalism, sales, business development, communications and marketing.

My governance experience includes holding board member roles for the New Zealand Agricultural Journalists & Communicators Guild, the New South Wales Public Relations Institute and the New Zealand Registered Hairdressers Association.

I have significant experience working for associations, including the Employers Association of New Zealand, and both the Australian and New Zealand Press Associations. My event management experience includes running conferences for Horticulture New Zealand and Federated Farmers, plus the development of the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit in 2019. I founded the New Zealand primary sector Primary Industry Communicators Day and was a committee member for the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Guild Congress held in New Zealand in 2015.

How long have you been a member with AuSAE

About 10 years

How long have you been involved with associations

I have been involved with associations for most of my career, almost 30 years. I fell into the association sector by accident, and in my third role within the sector realised that I had become a career association professional.  

Why associations, what has kept you in the sector

I have always been a believer in the power of a united voice. From very early on in my career I found a passion for advocacy work and ensuring the voice of members is heard, well represented and front and centre. I enjoy working with the facts and information that we collate from members to ensure our industries have a strong voice at the table.

During this time of uncertainty and change, associations and the role we play for industries and communities has never been more important and recognised. The impact and effect that we have to influence and connect to governments has been critical during this crisis, and is vital in delivering member value and providing what members need now.

Three words you would use to describe an Association professional

Flexible
Communicative
Calm

What are you most looking forward to as you start your term on the AuSAE Board

I am looking forward to meeting the members and broader community, learning more and gaining further insight into association management best practice.

This year has presented many challenges and opportunities for us all, I am looking forward to exploring the opportunities that are now available to AuSAE and thrilled to be a part of the Board during this time of change as we pave the way of new direction.

AuSAE recently concluded voting for elections to the AuSAE Board of Directors and we are delighted to introduce you to our new Board who were announced at the AuSAE Annual General Meeting on Thursday 30 July.

There were four available positions for appointment, and we are delighted to welcome back continuing and re-elected Directors, Damian Mitsch, CEO, Australian Dental Association and Holly Morchat Stanko, General Manager, Association of Consultants & Engineers New Zealand. We are thrilled to also introduce and welcome to the AuSAE Board of Directors; Leigh Catley, General Manager Communications, Federated Farmers and Paula Rowntree, Head of Events & Experience, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

We sat down with Paula this week and in a short interview discussed Paula’s previous experience and history with associations, her passion for the sector and what she is looking forward to as she starts her term with the AuSAE Board. Read the full interview below.

An overview of current role and previous experience

I am the Head of Events & Experience at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), and previous to this role I was the National Conference and Events Manager at the RACGP.

I have worked in a variety of events and membership roles in associations including; Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Urban Development Institute of Australia Queensland, and the Law Society of Queensland. I also spent some time at NSW Trade and Investment in the role of Manager for International Missions and Events which gave me great insight and understanding of small business and challenges small businesses face.

I currently sit on the Board of Directors of PCMA, a global association leading social and economic progress, professional and personal development and business growth and organisational success in the business events industry.

How long have you been a member with AuSAE

I have been a member with AuSAE since 2017. The RACGP currently holds an Organisational membership with AuSAE but I also maintain my Individual membership with the organisation. I choose to keep this membership as a personal statement that I believe in and support AuSAE at an individual level as well as contributing from my own organisation.  

How long have you been involved with associations

I have worked in associations and member-based organisations for more than 18 years.  

Why associations, what has kept you in the sector

I like being a part of an organisation where I feel we are trying to make a difference in the world. Associations touch every aspect of people’s lives and collectively contribute to communities globally. They work towards a common goal of creating better economic, operating, business and financial environments for members. By associations providing this support, members are able to operate successfully, remain financially viable and continue to contribute to the community. I am drawn to associations because I feel like I am contributing to the bigger picture.

Three words you would use to describe an Association professional

Community focused  
Selfless  
Adaptive

What are you most looking forward to as you start your term on the AuSAE Board

What I’m most looking forward to is being a voice for members and being someone who the members feel is truly representative of their voice.

I am looking forward to being a part of the continual financial growth of AuSAE. I would like to be someone who contributes thoughts, ideas and innovations that allows AuSAE to be even more financially sustainable and is able to really focus on member value.

The COVID-19 crisis and the economic shift it has created has put a sharper focus on personal branding as a path for career opportunity. Associations should find ways to leverage this growing trend.

The shaky nature of our economy at the moment has helped to change some of the calculus around what people will do to stand out.

Facing furloughs, layoffs, or just general concerns that their job may no longer be on stable ground, many professionals are turning to new tactics to help maintain a presence or voice in the world, perhaps relying on social media to do so.

This makes sense, and it appears to be part of the driving factor behind a recent trend toward platform customization. Last week, Medium announced a plan to allow its users to use new publishing tools that aim to make it easy to customize a visual design—a road that few social networks have gone down in recent years. As the company’s vice president of product design, Alexis Lloyd, put it:

Our new beta includes tools that enable you to have more control over visual expression. We’re launching with a foundational set of controls around color, headers, type, and branding so that you can make a space on Medium that is uniquely yours. And this is just the beginning: we intend to evolve and build on these features over time, giving you even more flexibility to make Medium your own.

To put this all another way, Medium is creating stronger design controls as a reflection that a good Medium platform can be a key element of a personal brand.

BUILDING MORE THAN A PROFILE

This is a shift that has been a long time coming, to be honest. With the exception of the short-form blogging network Tumblr, few modern social networks have put such an emphasis on personal branding. It was something of a missing piece, actually. Sure, you could update your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter profile page to have its own header, but social media has often favored the organization over the individual in its rigid structure. (You could blame the social network MySpace for this, as it associated customization with a Lisa Frank-style explosion of colors and animated GIFs.)

But we may start seeing a shift in the other direction, as concepts like the résumé, built for a physical world, become increasingly outdated, and talented professionals increasingly look to build not just a single sheet of paper that highlights their talents, but an entire brand.

This trend has probably emerged earliest in the media world, where Substack and similar email platforms (along with the pioneers of this model, Patreon) have become more than just vanity exercises but ways to build a professional brand through personal work. In fact, Substack’s popularity has even created problems in newsrooms, as Digiday reports, as employed writers build out newsletters that compete with their own existing beats.

Now, building a web portfolio has always been possible, but tools like Medium and Substack lower the barrier in ways that allow even those without technical knowledge to do so. And while much of this strategy relates to building a level of influence, which matters more in creative and management fields, it can also be a reflection of skill: In recent years, job sites have even adapted their approach to be less about making introductions and more about testing, to objectively show a person’s talent at a technical skill.

And it makes sense that it’s happening now, really. A lot of work these days is done through the internet, and even if we see a vaccine tomorrow, odds are that a lot of people discovered a comfort level with remote work that will make digital connections like these more important—not just in the form of tweets but also by maintaining active platforms outside of work.

Beyond giving them a creative outlet and a megaphone, it also is a passive way of applying for work without having to mail job applications out there first—if your name gets out there enough, the employers may come to you.

A FOUNDATION FOR ASSOCIATION OFFERINGS

This trend, which is still relatively early, is an opportunity for associations, in part because they facilitated many of these actions in a physical world. I remember early in my career as a journalist and graphic designer that I gained connections in my field not just by meeting people at annual meetings, but by bringing my portfolio along and showing examples of my work.

Associations have always been at the center of the universe for many industries, and unlike prior generations where opportunities like that can come up only once in a while, the internet allows these interactions to happen daily. And it’s a role that is growing more in importance as we’re stuck in our homes but looking to maintain our careers.

There are a few ways that I could see this working out for industry groups—maybe they decide to partner with a newsletter or a podcast, something the International Parking and Mobility Institute has done to great effect. Maybe they build their private communities in ways that are more directly promotional of members, allowing them to create something front-facing—think like Squarespace, but simpler—so as to help professionals stand out more.

Associations have been good at building strong content offerings. Imagine what they could do if they put some of that energy toward building platforms that directly allowed members to raise their personal profiles.

If an association can help build a member’s personal brand that gets them a job or helps build a business, odds are good they’ll become a member for life.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith. 

Like it or not, decision-making during a pandemic is complicated, and easy solutions might turn into long-term headaches. Here’s some advice for leaders looking to find a balance.

Association leaders always face difficult decisions, but the ones they’re being asked to make now may be the toughest in a long time. They’re deciding how to make big changes quickly to salvage hard-hit revenue streams from meetings, sponsorships, and member dues. At the same time, they’re considering important operational questions, like whether and when to reopen offices or reduce their workforce through furloughs and layoffs.

Experts in careful decision-making have a few guideposts for leaders to follow as they’re navigating difficult choices brought on by COVID-19.

Agility needs to be balanced with caution. Many leaders are eager to respond on the fly to urgent needs, but acting too quickly can threaten long-term strategic efforts. Decision-making should take into account long-term goals, not just short-term initiatives, write Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott of Harvard Business School. “Strategic planning, converting strategic objectives into activities, is central to most organizations,” Groysberg and Abbott write. “Still, it is not possible to anticipate every event that might impact those plans. Executives need to be agile in order to adapt plans in response to unforeseen problems or opportunities. In doing so, they need to balance flexibility and speedy reaction times with long-term strategic focus. It is difficult to get this balance right!”

Now is a bad time for shortcuts. According to leadership strategist Brett Whysel, many people are tending toward the path of least resistance right now, but shortcuts are a bad idea. “In the absence of reliable information, analysis, and leadership, we are left with our gut feelings and decision-making shortcuts,” Whysel wrote recently in Forbes. “Yet, in a novel pandemic, we lack the experience and expertise to form reliable and unbiased intuitions or know which shortcuts work.” He recommends following the advice of trusted sources and being gracious to others doing their best to make hard decisions.

Clear decisions are critical in a pandemic that doesn’t follow common logic. As University of Pennsylvania law and psychology professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan writes in The Atlantic, the complexity of the problem makes it difficult to resolve. Exploring the human impulse to “shame” other people’s bad decisions, she suggests that mistakes are inevitable when leaders don’t provide clear direction. “Individuals are being asked to decide for themselves what chances they should take, but a century of research on human cognition shows that people are bad at assessing risk in complex situations,” Wilkinson-Ryan writes. “During a disease outbreak, vague guidance and ambivalent behavioral norms will lead to thoroughly flawed thinking.”

The lesson for leaders: Be clear and specific in your decisions and how you communicate them. In the absence of that, the problem gets worse. Consider people’s inconsistent response to social-distancing recommendations.

“Most people congregating in tight spaces are telling themselves a story about why what they are doing is okay. Such stories flourish under confusing or ambivalent norms,” she writes. “People are not irrevocably chaotic decision makers; the level of clarity in human thinking depends on how hard a problem is. I know with certainty whether I’m staying home, but the confidence interval around ‘I am being careful’ is really wide. Concrete guidance makes challenges easier to resolve.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith.