Discussion of key things that make an association successful that many overlook or forget about.

1. THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF ASSOCIATIONS
UNCOVERING THE OVERLOOKED

2. INTRODUCTION
 Trevor Mitchell, CAE
 Executive Director of Membership & Technology
 ARMA International
 @trevm22

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Understand what associations are doing to achieve great results
 Why these tactics are important
 See information in action

4. HOW ASSOCIATIONS DEFINE SUCCESS
Traditional
 Revenue Growth - % increase year to year
 Membership Growth
 Total # Increase
 Dues Revenue Increase
 Increase in Retention Rate
 Non-Dues Revenue – diversify revenue sources
 Less Focus on Dues and Conference
 More focus on Publications, Certifications,
Sponsorship
New
 Member Engagement
 Interaction with association
 Volunteering as well as purchasing of
products/services
 Member Participation
 Attendance at events
 Consumption of Products
 Member Value
 Meeting the needs of those that Join and Renew
 Focusing on what you do well

5. WHAT ARE WE MISSING?
 Theses success metrics will continue for years to come.
 Staff & Board need to be asking the following questions:
 What does it take to reach these desired results?
 What should the association focus on to achieve results?
 What current and future needs impact our ability to achieve these success metrics?
 Focus on how to get to the desired results.

6. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO ORGANIZATION SUCCESS
 Focusing solely on the end result can bring minimal results.
 Look at what it take to get there fosters:
 Innovation – looking at streamline, enhancements, new ways of doing things
 Efficiency – in staff time and processes
 Roadblocks – can be identified early on to minimize delays
 Collaboration – increase in cross team collaboration to minimize silos
 Unity – everyone working to a common goal will keep the organization focused

7. HIDDEN KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Operational Efficiency
2. Organization Culture
3. Project Management
4. Communication
5. Customer Support

8. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
 Staff to work smarter, not harder
 Focus Areas:
 Technology
 Processes
 Meetings

9. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - TECHNOLOGY
 Technology
 Leverage for business goals not necessarily key driver
 Utilize it increase staff output/time
 Questions to ask:
 Are you using the system to it’s full potential?
 Are there systems that streamline the process?
 Does the IT team have business solutions for us?
 Example
 Education Database – build on own or 3rd party solution

10. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - PROCESS
 Processes
 How many steps/complex is the process?
 Are we requiring the process to do too much?
 Questions to ask:
 Are we complicating the process with steps?
 What is the end result we are trying to achieve?
 Can this be done better, faster?
 Example
 Conference Registration

11. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY - MEETINGS
 Meetings
 Need to serve a purpose.
 Don’t meet just to meet.
 Questions
 What is the purpose of the meeting?
 Is everyone here that needs to be here?
 Are we representing the member’s view point?
 Example
 Conference Attendee Meeting

12. ORGANIZATION CULTURE
 Culture plays a huge role in achieving results.
 Needs to be addressed at all levels
 Staff
 Board
 Members

13. ORGANIZATION CULTURE - STAFF
 Staff
 How they work together?
 Do they feel that they can try/fail?
 Are they empowered?

14. ORGANIZATION CULTURE – BOARD AND MEMBERS
 Board
 How the board interacts with each other, staff, and membership
 Their comfort level with pushing change
 Members
 How do they embrace change?
 Are their needs in line with direction of association?

15. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 How
 Scope of project will determine level of project management needed
 Formal vs. Informal
 Challenges:
 Spend as much time planning and update as well as doing
 Not enough training on how to actually manage a project
 Keys
 Have clear roles, responsibilities, and point person
 Have timeline and due dates.
 Hold people accountable and minimize changes
 Use easy tolls (Apps Moxtra, /programs Asana, etc.)

16. PROJECT MANAGEMENT - EXAMPLE
Without Project Plan
 No clear vision
 Tasks were not being documented or due
 New tasks continued to be added
 Unsure of status of project
 Result – Project was a year behind
Will Project Plan
 Clear Vision
 Everyone was aware of tasks and deadlines
 New tasks were evaluated before being included
 Clear communication of status
 Result – Project finished on completed deadline

17. PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
 Programs
 Excel – great for small projects to organize information
 Microsoft Project – More complex, detailed projects
 Asana – online collaboration tool for assigning tasks and deadline reminders
 Apps
 Moxtra – Appl Project Management
 Decision App – Creates decision matrix models such as SWOT, Blue Ocean Strategy
 Timeli – Creates visual timelines
 BaiBoard – Collaborative White Board

18. APP EXAMPLES

19. EXCEL PROJECT MANAGEMENT SAMPLE

20. COMMUNICATION
 Lost Art
 Technology
 Schedules
 Need to look at:
 Internal
 External

21. COMMUNICATION
 Internal Communication - Staff
 How are they sharing information with each other to accomplish goals?
 Do they have the right people involved?
 Across organization/teams?

22.  External Communication
 Board
 How are they communicating?
 Members
 Are we talking in their language?
 Are they understanding our message?
 Customers

23. CUSTOMER SUPPORT
 Are their plans for the support and longevity of
the project?
 Who will support the customers, members, and
the enhancements?
 Often focus on rolling items out but not set up
for long term success.

24. HIDDEN KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Operational Efficiency
2. Organization Culture
3. Project Management
4. Communication
5. Customer Support

25. HOW TO IMPLEMENT
 There is a lot here to consider.
 Pick one and start there.
 Then expand on others.
 Try, review, modify, repeat.
 This will take time to change.
 Model top down

26. FINAL THOUGHT

27. QUESTIONS

28. THANK YOU
Trevor Mitchell, CAE
Executive Director of Membership & Technology
ARMA International
@trevm22