Delegating Effectively

MSAE's Young Professionals Networking Group had a lively discussion about Delegating Effectively and why it's an important skill to learn.

Delegating is a skill that takes practice, communication and follow through.  

Here are the top takeaways:

1. Are you delegating or dumping?  If you are delegating that means you are still held responsible for the task to be completed.
2. Delegating is important as it shows your ability to manage people, tasks and using your resources.  It gives practical and professional benefits.

What hinders someone to delegate?

1. Lack of staff/volunteers to delegate to
2. Time
3. Trust
4. Training
5. Work Styles
6. Fear of Letting Go, Control
7. Lack of follow up, checking in or follow through
8. Lack of authority to delegate

Tasks that are good to delegate are those that are reoccurring.  If a task is never going to be repeated, consider if it should just be completed or delegated.

Follow up is one of the most important parts of delegating. Give deadlines. Schedule touch base meetings. Have the person you are delegating to set the touch base agenda so all of their questions, concerns and touch points are covered.

Other delegating points:

• Delegate the objective, not the procedure.
• Give deadlines, simply saying "when you have time to complete" is not going to work.  There are no clear expectations of the task.
• Give credit and be sure to say thank you.
• Communication is key - know the person you are delegating to and properly explain task.
• Allow for a different view, approach and be open to new solutions you may not have thought of.
• Think long term. Training someone now, can save time in the future.

And remember the difference between delegating a task or dumping a task!

Meeting Promotion Ideas

MSAE's Meeting Management & Education Networking Group met to discuss meeting promotions (i.e. discounts, scholarships, BOGO, etc.).  Here are the top takeaways:

1. Host a 5K to raise money for scholarships. Sole Motion is a company that can help you coordinate the event for a fee. Make it a family event and have on a Saturday.
2. Add a line to contribute to the scholarship fund with dues renewals
3. Consider a different pricing model for a conference – one price for an organization versus individual – goal is to build relationships with others in the organization, not just the top contact – don’t offer food or either you will lose money.  Download samples here.

MSAE Marketing & Sales Symposium Roundtable Conversation Takeaways

As part of MSAE's Marketing & Sales Symposium last week, members had "Conversations with Your Peers" - here are the top takeaways from the discussions (technology, membership, branding, mobile, contracts, conflict and more!):

Integrated Marketing: Social, Print, Web, Video

• Consistency
• Simplify messages
• Find time to lay out all types of communications you produce and analyze them for consistency, content, etc.

Responsive Web Design: What is it? Why does it matter to your organization?

• Design with responsive in mind
• Design form mobile first - then build to bigger devices
• Think about the three most important things a user would want to see on your homepage

Brand Management

• Consistency is key
• Defining standards
• Use style sheets

Member Replenishment

• Putting members on committees, board - give them a voice
• Photos - communicating "fun aspect" - ID them
• Cross pollination across associations

Contract Negotiations

• Cancellation by hotel clause in contracts
• Mutual respect between meeting planner and hotel
• Spell everything out in the contract, not vague

 Workplace Conflicts - Strategies for Handling Workplace Tensions

• Think through the first words that will come out of your mouth before you start the tense conversation - start with a positive intention, such as, "I want you to be successful here."
• Find the balance between silence and violence.
• Just because you feel comfortable enough to say something to someone, doesn't mean you should.

Tablets in the Workplace

• There's an app for anything
• Microsoft Office can be accessed on your tablet
• iBooks are coming!

Mobile Technology Decisions

• Make sure your devices are compatible with what you do
• Look at the company making your device to ensure they will be around

So What? How to Communicate Member Benefits - Part I

• Can you deliver what you're saying?
• Customized communications - your member will listen
• Benefits is generic - value is the full package, brings more meaning

So What? How to Communicate Member Benefits - Part II

• Segmentation
• Know how your members want to be communicated with
• Meet your member where they are

For handouts from the day, click here.  Hope to see you at next year's Marketing & Sales Symposium!

Tools to Access Current Education Topics

MSAE's Meeting Management Networking Group met to discuss Tools to Access Current Education Programs.  Here are the top takeaways and tools:

• Education Evaluation Matrix - concept from Mary Byers from Race for Relevance, utilized by Aging Services of Minnesota. Download matrix. Customize each column with measurements important to your organization (use your own!) and rows with current education programs to be evaluated. When evaluating, assign the same number of 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's - mark 5's first, then 1's, 4's, 2's and 3's. Have your staff, board, members or whomever you'd like to complete the evaluation, then compile total rating. This process is great for evaluating current programs, forces you to rank programs and highlights high and low items. Then discuss how you can make 1's into 5's or decide if you keep. How can you make the 5's even better? The group really liked this evaluation but noted that it does not help to generate new education programs. Sample matrix completed. Aging Services of MN Recap with more helpful ideas to get you started.
• Net Promoter Score - another helpful tool, great for evaluating speakers or meetings. Idea is that members/customers are either promoters (9-10), passives(7-8) or detractors(1-6). NPS = % of Promoters - % of Detractors. Article to get you started.
• Thoughtfulness in evaluating education process - will increase response rate!
• Ask forward thinking questions - such as, tell us what you want in the future, rank topics, etc.

Good luck with the process, let us know how it goes!

Reimbursing Members & Policies

MSAE's Financial Networking Group met today to discuss reimbursement policies and procedures - what works, what doesn't and how we can be more efficient.  Here are the top takeaways:

• Have your cancellation and expense policies in writing - and be specific on what can be expensed and what can not - for example, first class airfare, limo transportation, spouse travel, specific date for cancellation, etc.  
• Sample Expense Reimbursement Policy from the MN Attorney General's Office
• Receipts, Receipts, Receipts - Require Them! 

Health Insurance and Benefits

At the October Financial & Accounting Networking Group meeting, we discussed health insurance and benefits.  Some of the items covered were HSA's, self-insured portion, Obamacare, public/private exchanges, small business health insurance credit, tax provisions for 2014 and more.  Here are the top takeaways:

• Be more aware of what you are offering (programs, etc.) and look at it annually.  Individuals being insured need to be aware of plan - communicate costs to association with your employees.
• There are a wide variety of options out there - not one size fits all, you will pay if not aware. 
• Stay on top of new changes to the law.  

New Trends in Trade Shows/Exhibits/Expo and Sponsorships/UBIT

At our recent Meeting Management Education Council meeting, the group had a lively discussion on sponsorships & UBIT (Unrelated Business Income Tax) and new trends for trade shows. Here are some of the takeaways:

Sponsorship

• First and Foremost - always consult your legal and tax personnel for more details and advice. The information provided below was taken from our meeting and is not meant to be used as tax or legal advice.
  
• Some of the big changes with UBIT relate to ads - the words marketing, advertising, ads, advertisements make the sponsorship dollars taxable, need to acknowledge sponsors instead of advertise for them - use words like sponsorship recognition, alternated recognition (instead of rotating ad), etc. in your sponsorship programs
• Sponsorship Q&A Article from Moore, Costello & Hart
• Create more opportunities for sponsors - conference and association apps are popular right now, some of our members have paid $6,000 and up to have a professional app created, free app builders are available too, like ibuildapp.com and guidebook.com.
  

New Trade Show Trends

• Open format with exhibitors around the perimeter; food, big sponsors and sessions in the middle
  
• Provide a session for exhibitors to train them how to make most of experience (benefit if register early, at event or prior add-on)
• Beer & Wine Tour to check out all areas of the trade show floor (have drawings, tastings, etc.)
  

Tips from CEOS

Panel discussion at MSAE featured three experienced CEOs who shared tips and techniques: Derek Hazeltine, PLUS, Mary Detloff, MN Society of Professional Engineers, and Paul Hanscom, Ewald Consulting:

Listen more. Learn something new or meet someone new everyday. Get your CAE. Tackle challenges head on. Foster teamwork. Empower others. Delegate. Serve on a board to experience being a volunteer. Encourage employees to grow. Focus on solutions.

Health Care Reform

Takeaways from the Financial Networking Group Meeting - 2/3/11

1. Be vigilant and stay informed
   
2. Find good resources, RJF Agencies offers free health care compliance updates
   
3. Right now, there are a lot of questions - there is much more to come!

Resources:

• Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for Employers with fewer than 25 employees
• Form 8941: Credit for Small Employer Health Insurance Premiums
  
• IRS Webinar on Small Business Health Care Tax Credit on 2/16/11
  

Managing Your Time

The Young Professionals Group met for a discussion about Managing Your Time on October 15th. This was a hot topic and apparently we all needed a refresher on some organization tips. Here are the top takeaways from this discussion:

Workspace:
1. Clean off your desk at the end of each day. A clean desk the next day will make you feel ready for the day.
2. Never have more than three files out at a time you are working on...you can't focus on more than that anyways!
3. Understand your workspace and get the necessary tools, equipment and supplies for your day to run smoothly.

Workflow:
1. Bundle your time when working on multiple tasks. For instance, set aside an hour for one project and two hours for another. Then make sure to stick to the allotted times.
2. When working on big projects, use an outline. This will keep you on task and you can see the next steps to come.
3. Consciously don't check your email. Turn off the reminders. Don't let it take your day over!

Planning for the Future:
1. Take 30 minutes at the end of each day to plan for the next. You will feel prepared and know what to expect.
2. Save templated emails in your signatures. Then you don't have to re-type an email you send on a regular basis. Ex: welcome letter, common questions, etc.
3. Don't schedule more than two hours of your time in one day. If you schedule too much of your day, you won't leave any time for what you need to get done.

Here are two resources that help with Time Management: www.tadalist.com and www.viewpath.com.

The key is to actually start using these tips....happy organizing!

Managing Relationships: Clients, Members & Co-Workers

The MSAE Young Professionals group has discovered we can learn a lot from one another. In our monthly learning circles (or discussion circles) we tackle topics relevant to our industry and help one another improve as professionals. However, we don’t want the MSAE community to miss out on the useful things we share.

The following are some relationship building strategies generated during our last meeting:

Co-workers: Sometimes changing yourself is the best solution
Members: Don't forget to add a personal touch
Clients: Under promise and over deliver

These were the top takeaways generated from the YP circle discussion on September 17, 2010.