In my new position with Marketing General, Inc., I am going to be traveling more as well as trying to connect with colleagues in different time zones. I totally understand the reason for time zones, but with the advent of all this social media and 24/7 availability, I have to determine the best way to handle time zones. I scheduled several meetings while I was in DC last week, and my "calendar" did not always adjust to the time changes. This, of course, created a few hiccups in my meetings. But everyone was understanding. So now, when I place a meeting on my calendar - I place in the title what time and time zone for the meeting. And if I use my calendar program to invite someone, hopefully this will help them as well.
I began thinking about how this affects associations and their members. Do we consider where the committee members are when we schedule a meeting? How about the staff - especially if there are remote staff members as part of the meeting. This can also be impacted by their travel since members also travel. Using doodle.com or another scheduling program can help determine the best time for the meeting.
Beyond just the scheduling of the meetings, when we send materials to the attendees, do we consider when they will receive it? Does that matter? If I am on a committee and there is something that I need to review for the meeting, and it comes into my inbox at 8 pm at night in my time zone for a meeting at 9 am the next morning, I doubt that I will be able to review it. Do we give our meeting attendees sufficient time for review? I realize that there are issues that come up and that, sometimes, late delivery of material is inevitable - but if it becomes routine, aren't we sending a message to the volunteers that we don't care about them? Volunteers are a precious commodity for any association or nonprofit - we need to consider their needs and best interests as we engage them in the work of the association.
PS If you need a copy of the 2011 MGI Benchmarking Report, click here. And let me know if you have any questions - or if you have questions you want included in future surveys! Just send them to me at Linda (lchreno@marketinggeneral.com)
All good points, Linda.
ReplyDeleteI think that we need to continually be mindful of how we connect with our volunteers and volunteer leaders. Part of this comes from knowing the culture of the profession or industry your association represents.
For my association (early childhood educators), I know that mid day committee meetings are the exception and that evening meetings are the rule. Doodle and similar tools are a fantastic way to schedule.
The Golden Rule goes a long way towards avoiding potential issues. Being respectful (and mindful) of our volunteers time and workload goes a long way.
For instance, we are very clear in our office that agenda packets for meetings (board and committee) are to be sent one week prior. Last minute document agenda dumps are incredibly disrespectful. Sure, emergencies happen but let's be real as to what is a true emergency vs. someone didn't have their stuff together.
Volunteer leaders are exactly that...volunteers. The work they do for the association is important but let's not kid ourselves that we come first. Work, family, other obligations usually are placed ahead of their association work and forgetting that fact is usually where many problems start.
Looking forward to other posts, Linda!
This a good reminder about meetings involving people who travel or live in different time zones.
ReplyDeleteBeing considerate of everyone is important if you want their full participation. Taking care to send review materials well enough in advance gives people the message that you value their time and effort.
As an active volunteer in the International organization of Rotary, these are things that are very important to remember.
I've long had a 24-hour rule: no agenda, no Jeffrey. If I don't have the appropriate background materials at least 24 hours in advance, I won't participate. It's simply not fair to expect volunteers to scramble around at the last minute, and I don't want to be on a call or in a meeting and be less than 100% prepared.
ReplyDelete1) congratulations on the fancy new blog #loves it
ReplyDelete2) I totally use doodle to set up and schedule conference calls. works well and eliminates 100's of extra emails.
From a volunteer perspective, Jeffrey's rule is great. Hold your staff accountable. From my perspective as association staff, I strive for one week or at least the Friday preceeding.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to timezones, for those with an international membership it's even more complicated - especially when the US goes on and off of daylight savings on a completely different schedule than the rest of the world!
Great post! As liaison to several volunteer groups I ensure that teleconferences are no earlier than 11AM ET and no later than 4PM ET to give the west coast folks a chance to participate.
ReplyDeleteMeetingwizard.com is another free scheduling site for gathering availability of volunteers for calls/meetings.
And Jeff Cufaude is absolutely correct; there is zero excuse for staff to send volunteers meeting materials less than 24 hours prior to the meeting, unless the phone number's changed or something urgent along those lines.