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For over seven years during the 1990s, I was involved with the Total Quality Management Institute, formed by leaders of some of Australia's major corporations. This organisation's members embraced a corporate philosophy of continuous improvement, which was all about meeting and exceeding customers' needs. Meeting and exceeding those needs would ensure customers remained with you, creating market share. The core of this was the development of systems that met the customers' needs. If we replace the term customers with members, the same process applies.
Here are some ideas to help you develop, review or update your systems.
😎 Identify the Essential Services Provided to Members by the Association: Purpose: Understand and outline the association's core services to its members. These could include membership management, event organisation, advocacy, educational programs, networking opportunities, or other member-focused activities. Action: Review existing member feedback and analyse current services, including the value proposition position, to identify how they impact member satisfaction.
😎 Ensure Documentation of How Services are Delivered to Members: Purpose: Create a clear and detailed description of the service delivery processes to ensure consistency and quality. Action: Develop written procedures, flowcharts, or manuals describing each service delivery step. This documentation should cover all relevant aspects, including timelines and the persons responsible.
😎 Regularly Update Documented Processes to Reflect Current Practices: Purpose: Keep the documentation accurate and relevant as processes evolve over time. Action: Establish a routine schedule for reviewing and updating the documented procedures. This could involve quarterly reviews or updates from those referring to the documentation.
😎 Store Processes in Electronic Format for Accessibility and Ease of Updates: Purpose: Make the documentation accessible to all relevant parties and simplify the update process. Action: Store all documented processes on a secure digital platform (like a shared drive, document management system, or intranet). Ensure the platform is user-friendly and searchable, allowing version control to track changes over time.
😎 Determine Who Within the Association Needs Training in these Documented Procedures:
Purpose: Ensure that all relevant staff and volunteers know the procedures they must follow.
Action: Identify which roles or individuals are responsible for delivering the services and provide them with the necessary training on the
documented processes. Tailor the training to each group's specific responsibilities and ensure everyone understands their role in
maintaining service quality. Regularly assess training needs, significantly when processes are updated.
Need assistance with systems? Contact us today.
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Risk management is one of those areas that every association and not-for-profit Board knows is important - but it can sometimes become
little more than a risk register reviewed once or twice a year.
Insurance can be treated in much the same way.
The organisation receives its annual insurance renewal, the premium is approved, the policy is renewed and everyone assumes the organisation
is covered.
A practical look at volunteer governance, operational decision-making and what the events industry needs to understand about associations.
Nick Koerbin has spent many years working with professional and industry associations, and he has developed a simple habit: whenever he
meets a professional, he often asks whether they belong to their association — and whether they believe the membership is worth it.
A recent conversation with a young allied health professional raised some important questions about membership value, relevance and the
expectations of the next generation.
In this article, Nick shares that conversation and challenges association leaders to consider a simple but confronting question:
Would the next generation of professionals in your sector believe your association is worth joining?
How we help membership based, not-for-profit associations now and into the future.
