ONE lesson I learned early during this pandemic is the need to plan short term as everything is tentative and fleeting. So I invited Dot Miller, founder and CEO of The Solutions, a management company based in Colorado, United States of America., to speak to our association community on “Sprint Strategies: How to Engage your Members to Move your Organization Forward.”
A sprint strategy session (SSS) is one that is focused (on a specific issue to be tackled, e.g. membership growth); structured (with an organized agenda and decisions made at the end); and short (one hour or so, which can be incorporated during a board meeting). Here are salient points from Dot’s presentation:
1. Why sprint strategies? Associations are not only resource-poor but also time-poor. The need to concentrate on relevant, revenue-producing, problem-solving, and mission-driving items is more imperative than ever.
2. How to prepare for the session? A month before the session, survey your members to do an environmental scan with questions like:
- “Why did you join your association?”
- “What do you find most valuable about the association?”
- “What resources do you need to be successful that your association might not be doing today?”
- “What are your goals of membership?”
- “What are your three biggest pain points going into this year?”
- Survey also those you know as thought leaders and “big idea” people outside of membership to find out the association’s SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) three weeks before the session. Pose questions like:
- “What do you find most valuable about the association?”
- “What are the two biggest weaknesses of the association?”
- “What are the two biggest strengths of the association?”
- “What one goal or task do you think the associationshould focus on in the next 12 to 18 months?”
- One week before the session, survey your board members by asking questions like:
- “How is the association perceived by its members?”
- “How is the association received outside the members, by the community at large and by partner organizations?”
- “What are the two biggest weaknesses of the association?”
- “What are the two biggest strengths of the association?”
- “If your association does not exist today and you were creating it from scratch and you could only do three things, what would those be that would help support and advance the industry?”
- “What strengths to bring to the association’s board of directors?”
- Use all the data gathered during your sprint strategy sessions.
3. Points to consider:
- Keep track of time as it is an essential part of the success.
- Break into small groups (4-5 people per group).
- Make sure that each person in each group has the opportunity to speak.
- Have someone take notes in each group and collect these notes.
- Discuss how a new program or initiative will be funded.
- Leave 45 minutes at the end of the session to formulate the SMART goal, tasks, and timelines.
- The four or five topics that emerged during the session could still change.
- The SSS in sprint strategy session could also be a short, sweet and sharp session. Give it a try!
Octavio Peralta is founder and CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives and concurrently, President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations. The views Peralta expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror. E-mail: obp@adfiap.org