Back In California - Time Zone Readjustment in Progress

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)