Communities: Collaborative Technology

for Management and GovernanceMartha Jack, B.J., M.A.Director and Head Consultant,

eConverse Social Media@mdjack

Patrick Vulgamore, MPHManager of Governance,

Society of Hospital Medicine@PatVulgamore

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FLASH POLL!

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Association Volunteerism

Shapers; 17.6%

Teachers; 32.8%

Local Leaders; 22.9%

Writers; 26.7%

Gazley, B and Dignam, M. 2008. The Decision to Volunteer © American Society of Association Executives

• Teachers – sources of professional advice, mentorship and recruitment• Local Leaders – serve governance at the local level (sections/chapters)• Writers – Review and publication of professional papers• Shapers – “super-volunteers” who perform the majority of volunteer work -

mostly academic background and employed at the senior executive level

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What does this mean for the Association Professional?

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FLASH POLL!

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Maximize Volunteer Content Time

• Set clear expectations with Staff Liaisons/Committee Chairs; instituting the following:

• Templates for Minutes/Agendas• File Saving Structures within the Community Library• Keep Community Updates Relevant (dates, materials,

discussion points, reports, rosters, goals, etc.)• Filter all Communications Through the Community – creates

an archive

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Templates for Minutes/Agendas

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Sample File Structure

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Events

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Communications

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How Does this Help?• Helps Volunteers Digest Information More Quickly

• Takes the Guess Work Out (both Staff and Volunteers)• Setting up events when scheduled, providing as much information as possible• Posting relevant documentation in a timely manner• Pointing the volunteer to the same destination every time

• Smoother Staff Turnover Transition• If file structures are in place and adopted company wide, then potentially any

one employee can train any other employee to staff any volunteer group

• Smoother Volunteer Turnover Transition• If a volunteer is familiar with one committee, they’re familiar with every

committee

• Easier transition at end/beginning of board year

• For both integrated and non-integrated communities, access only needs updated once

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Let’s Recap The Plan:• Use the Connected Community platform as a virtual place for Volunteers to:• Easily Connect• Know where to find everything it takes to be a successful volunteer• Troubleshoot Issues as a Group

• Institute a Standardized System for Governance Organization (see file structure and templates)• Filter all Governance Related Communications through the Community Platform

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FLASH POLL!

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Talk Amongst Yourselves:

What do you think would be/has been the biggest obstacle in instituting governance standardization at your organization?

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Let us tell you a story…

It’s June 2013, and Martha and Pat sit in a boardroom in Philadelphia. Pat is a new employee and is looking to mix things up and make his life easier. If governance was standardized and available on a “self-serve” basis, that could free him up for other things. Martha has a solution, the already-existing Connected Community.

They both got super excited about the possibilities because they are big association nerds.

Problem #1: Getting the right people to sign-off on the plan

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Getting Buy In

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Who will Resist?

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Tech Crash Course

• How are you currently managing governance?• Whether integrated with your AMS or not, streamlines process• Are your committees tracked on AMS records?• Do files need migrated?• What will that process entail? How will you

build in standardization?

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Sample File Structure

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Encouraging Adoption

• How do you get people to actually use it

• Start your pilot study with an engaged committee

• Set Subscription Status to Real-Time for Committee/Board

• Make Rules for late adopters (send attachment with a friendly reminder to check the site)

• Be sure to provide a “one-stop shop”• Travel Logistics• COI• Reference Materials• Schedules• Discussion Thread Capabilities

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Work-flow

• Board year begins with training for new board members during the Annual Meeting

• Walk new users through the community

• Set expectations

• Expectations must be placed on Committee staff to post materials within a time frame

• Agenda at least one week before the meeting

• Minutes at most one week after meeting

• Logistical information at least one month before meeting

• One relevant discussion point per month

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By-Products for Your Community

• Highly-engaged/high-profile members become more familiar with the functionality and usage of the site by being forced to use it for their volunteer roles

• History has a home

• Committees and Boards have easy access to continue their internal conversation with their constituent groups

• Many times, our Committees are formed around Special-Interest Forums that have their own “public” community allowing for crowdsourcing

• Recruiting Tool – see who is most active in specific subject communities

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SHM’s Process and Future Plans

1. Finding a staff champion

2. Buy in from Executive Leadership

3. Pilot Study

4. Create a Microsite

• Recruitment Tool

5. Train Committee Staff

6. Company-Wide Adoption

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What to do on Monday

• Audit your current board/committee processes

• Anticipate your org-specific adoption challenges/critics/champions

• Test the waters with the powers that be

• Overcome your fears of standardization in governance

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Questions?

Patrick VulgamoreSociety of Hospital Medicinepvulgamore@hospitalmedicine.org@patvulgamore

Martha JackeConverse Social Mediamartha@econversemedia.com@mdjack