Happy Friday and Welcome to the Weekly Wrap Up brought to you by the team at YourMembership.com! The weekly wrap-ups are a great resource to find industry provoking articles, blog posts, upcoming events, fun facts, and provide up-to-date news and tips found throughout the association and workforce space each week. Please feel free to leave a comment, ask a question or just enjoy the week’s top ten picks!
Top Ten Picks of the Week:
1) For Leaders, Improv Training Is No Laughing Matter by Chief Learning Officer
The idea, Kulhan said, is to slow down leaders’ brains so they are more aware of what the other person is saying and less attached to their own thoughts or opinions.
In essence, it’s an exercise that builds leaders’ ability to be better listeners and influencers — soft skills that Kulhan said leaders benefit from in the current collaboration-driven organizational cultures.
2) Should You Demand Your Employees Fake Happiness? by Jessica Stillman
You go into a fast food shop or a shoe store. What are you expectations for the staff member who serves you? Politeness, sure. Knowledge of the products on offer and efficiency in getting you want you want? Fair enough. But how about a big smile and a sunny disposition?
3) Millennials on the Job: All They Really Want Is a Little Appreciation by Christina Pope
Do Millennials care about “length of service” recognition?
I can hear you saying no. But you’re wrong.
A study conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego found Millennial employees have about the same level of organizational commitment as other generations.
4) What the 2012 Pulse Report Means for Your Association by XYZ University
The 2012 Pulse report by Greenfield Services Inc. is out, a sort of crystal ball for associations. What does the report show and what does it mean for your association? Well, things are changing: the economy, technology, social media tools and paradigms for using them, generation shifts. Your members and stakeholders have new expectations, but your associations aren’t changing fast enough to keep up. We captured a snapshot of the report in the following infographic:
5) Three Guaranteed Ways to Kill Your General Session by Jeff Hurt
Is your general session like bug repellant only repelling attendees and attracting crickets?
Is it a sure-fire way to keep attendees in their hotel beds?
Here are three fail-safe strategies that are guaranteed to kill your general sessions and create the walking dead!
6) Strong Culture Performs Better by Jamie Notter
I like this brief report from some McKinsey consultants (who have written a pretty good book too). The first conclusion in the study is one that is not new, but still bears repeating: culture matters. I love this selection of quotes they choose:
“Fixing culture is the most critical − and the most difficult − part of a corporate transformation… In the end, management doesn’t change culture. Management invites the workforce itself to change the culture.” Lou Gerstner, IBM
7) Membership IS the Value of Membership by Shelly Alcorn
So, I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Dave Grohl’s new documentary “Sound City” last night at the Crest in Sacramento (and yay +Sandra Giarde was with me, Mark and Molly). And I CANNOT stop thinking about it.
Dave expertly tells the story of the Sound City studio in Los Angeles that saw the birth of iconic album after iconic album. But at the end of the day this is a deeply human story about connection, friendship, creativity and the human struggle in the digital age. It offers questions about how we find our communities, express ourselves and honor the past while moving forward into the future.
8 )Words Matter: 7 Steps to Enhance Your Association’s Connection With Members by Steve Drake
If I see one more association website extolling the value of it’s “endless opportunities” for members, I think I’ll puke.
Come on folks. Where is the precision in our writing?
Words matter to your members and prospects!
Your writing goal should be …
Clear, crisp, concise benefit-oriented writing with a member-focused style.
9) The Networked Path to Real Customer Engagement by Anna Caraveli
Many associations, notes economist and colleague Rick O’Sullivan in Associations as Agents of Change in the Collaborative Economy, ”have difficulty to identify how the shift in business relationships from smoke-stacked industry organizations to cross-sector coalitions has fundamentally redefined the demand for association services.” Knowledge alone, of course, is not a motivator. It requires that we clean the slate of habit and denial and make connections between abstract concepts and specific actions and decisions.
10) What Not to Do With Your Online Presence in 2013 by Tara Banda
Now that your business has survived the much-hyped “end of the world,” handling your online marketing should be a piece of cake, right? But just in case you need some help, here’s a list of 10 do’s and 10 don’ts to keep your online presence on the right track in 2013.
Don’t: Use blanket “Like Us” messages to drive people to your social media pages.
Do: Give consumers a reason to like you, follow you, circle you, or whatever other action they need to take when promoting your social pages in emails, blogs, or your website. Highlight unique benefits they get by joining your social community—exclusive offers, contests, entertaining or informative content—to show that you understand what they want.
That’s this week’s weekly wrap-up! Have a great weekend everyone! – Holly
