Planning Successful Activities

American Chemical Society

Planning Successful ActivitiesLucy Eubanks, Councilor from the Western Carolinas Local Section, serves as LSAC’s Chair of the Tools, Technology, and Operations (TTO) Subcommittee. She also represents LSAC on the Leadership Advisory Board (LAB), chairing LAB’s Learning Assets Subcommittee (LAS). She had chaired both her local section and The Division of Chemical Education. Her teaching career spanned the globe from Frankfurt, Germany, to Seattle, WA; to San Diego, CA; and to Clemson, SC. She has participated in several ACS curriculum projects, and was Editor-in-Chief for two editions of Chemistry in Context.

Alexa Serfis is a Councilor from the St. Louis local section, and has served on LSAC for three years. She is the Chair of the Local Section Assistance and Development subcommittee. This group of LSAC members works with sections who may have struggles and need some help and advice to be “all they want to be”.

David W. Ball is Professor of Chemistry at Cleveland State University. As Councilor for the Cleveland Section ACS since 2001, he currently serves on the LSAC and the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology, and Standards (NTS). He has been chair of Cleveland Section ACS twice, in 1998 and 2009. He has also been active with local section activities involving the National Chemistry Olympiad and National Chemistry Week.

Activities with Impact

Opening activity


Planning Successful Activities: Agenda

• Setting the Targets

• Planning the Activity

• Measuring and Consolidating the Gains


Participant Introductions




Establishing the goal

Selecting the type of activity

Describe the audience




Factors That Determine Goals


Setting the Goal: Typical Goals

• Increase membership

• Engage current membership

• Raise funds

• Find jobs for unemployed members

• Increase chemical literacy among general public

• Increase interest in chemistry among students

• What else?


Selecting the Type of Activity

• Awards meeting

• Technical symposium

• Jobs fair/career day

• Social event

• Outreach

• Education

• Advocacy

• What else?


Planning Activities: The Time/Place Matrix


Place

Time

Same

Different

Same Different

Describing the Audience

• Current members

Highly successful and engaged

Less engaged

Unemployed

• Prospective members

• Public officials and policy makers

• Teachers and students (including science museum staff and customers)

• General public


Setting the Target: Scenario

Small group activity


Setting the Target: My Activity

Individual application activity





The project management dimension of activity planning

Using FORMS as a planning tool

The people dimension of activity planning



The Activity as a Project: Factors to Consider

• Schedule and timeline

• Venue/logistics

• Budget

• Invitations and communications with audience

• What else?


Schedule and Timeline

Scheduling Considerations

•Other ACS activities (especially national meetings)

•Holidays (pluses and minuses)

•What else?

Timeline and Sequencing

•Decide on activity type and date

•Get support from Executive Committee

•Secure venue

•Enlist volunteer support

•Get commitment from guest speakers (as needed)

•Issue invitations

•Arrange logistics and room set


Budgeting

• Cost to members (hard and soft dollar costs)

• Joint funding possibilities (agree on splits in advance!)

• Funding “in kind” options

• What else?


Invitations and Communicating with the Audience

• How much lead time? (too much versus too little)

• Can we use multiple media to communicate?

• Should we ask for an RSVP?

• What else?


FORMS as a Planning Tool

• FORMS: Forms Online Report Management System

• Web-enabled database application available to multiple users

• Used to plan, add, access information about events and activities through 2020

• Single registry for information and supporting material (flyers, agendas, lists, volunteers)

• Copy function can simplify planning process (just copy and modify a similar previous event)

• url: www.acs.org/forms (then login with ACS ID)


FORMS: Upcoming Events and Activities


FORMS: Overview Tab





The project management dimension of event planning

Using FORMS as a planning tool

The people dimension of activity planning



Finding the Magic Match

Talent

Motivation

Organization’sneeds

Volunteer Motivation: Five Factors

Factor Definition

Social Enhancing relationships with other people

Values Expressing what is important to the person

Job Advancement Enhancing job and career prospects

Knowledge/Experience Developing experience or knowledge in areas important to the person

Fulfillment Seeking personal growth

Components of a Task “Spec”

• Description of responsibility (“What would this person do?”)

• Deliverables (“What will I need to produce?”)

• Time commitment and deadline (“How much time will this take, and when will I need to be finished?”)

• Resources that are available (“What will I have to work with?”)

• Capabilities (“What kinds of things should this person be good at doing?”)

Providing Appropriate Support

• General principle: Control as little as the situation will allow.

• Milestones provide a subtle but effective form of monitoring (the greater the risks, the more frequent the reporting).

• People have different styles.

Time

Effort

10%

20%

50%

70%

Accept Deadline

Optimal

Average

Procrastinator

Last-minute syndrome

Planning the Activity: Scenario



Planning the Activity: My Activity







Measuring success

Consolidating the gains


Measuring Success: The Four Levels of Evaluation

• Level 1, Reaction: How well did the learners like the learning process?

• Level 2, Learning: What did they learn? Can they translate learning to performance in learning setting?

• Level 3, Behavior: Are they applying the new learning on the job?

• Level 4, Results: What are the tangible results of the learning process in terms of reduced cost, improved quality, increased production, efficiency, etc.?


Adapted from Donald Kirkpatrick (1975)

Strategies for Evaluation

• Post-event survey (Levels 1 and 3)

• Building activities into the event to demonstrate Level 2 mastery

• Benchmarking key variable before the event

• Return on investment analysis (can be as expensive as the investment itself, however)


Remember to use FORMS (Evaluation tab) to record the results of your evaluation.

Measuring Success

Large group activity


Consolidating the Gains: Strategies for Reinforcement and Followup

• Expand the scope

• Build momentum by publishing the results and acknowledging contributors

• Conceptualize as part of a larger whole (“elephants on parade”)

• Use evaluation to identify advocates and future volunteers

• What else?


Measuring and Consolidating the Gains: Scenario



Measuring and Consolidating the Gains: My Activity



Planning Successful Activities: Review





American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical Society

ACS Leadership Development System

Documents

Planning Successful Activities