Flickr Photo: Johan KoolwaaijYesterday, we kicked off our Member Office Hours. If the rest of the office hours go as well as the first one, we're in for a lot of great conversation.
Jeff Forster from the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management expertly led the first chat in the topic of Leadership. I think all participants would agree that it was as much fun to chat with and learn from each other as it was to get Jeff's insight. All around, a great conversation.
One of our biggest takeaways, getting your tech-nervous ED to try something new, may boil down to the oldest tactic of all: peer pressure. Here's an excerpt from that chat:
> Board Engagement: Demonstrating your work by engaging the board with the same tools
- Meg @ CP: So, anyone have experience engaging board members thru survey monkey or org blogs?
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: one thought is that if you're going to use survey monkey, you should enable the feature in which they get to see polling results immediately after they participate
- Meg @ CP: because? we usually compile and then send out
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: I may be making assumptions about how you're thinking about using the tool, but I think it's really good to show people direct and immediate feedback on their participation online. But I guess if the turnaround time on the compilation is fast enough, that could work
- Meg @ CP: yeah, our board is small, and the survey will address what skills/interests they have that we could use. but eloquently, of course. But instant gratification is good.
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: indeed...so, is this in the planning stages, or have you test-driven it?
- Meg @ CP: board-wise, it is in the planning stages. we've done lots of surveys of our members. So, then...my thinking is that we at CP (www.compartners.org) have alot of community engagement, but our board isn't as aware of this work as I'd like
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: ok...and you want to demonstrate how you engage with others in your constituency by using the same tools you use with your "public"?
- Meg @ CP: Yes. And I want to take advantage of what we do well, and acclimate them, so they become advocates.
> Board Management: How do you get your board to use online tools?
- ntenhross: What have your experiences been Thomas?
- thomast: Currently, we just tabled the idea of a board-specific area on our forthcoming site resdeisign.
- Meg @ CP: an area for the board to "chat" in ?
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: the tools are definitely out there for that, and I think they can really help with asynchronous communication
- Meg @ CP: excellent typing, Jeff
- thomast: Asynchronous messaging, non-paper based methods of sending out board mailings.
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: I think many boards would do well to adopt things like that; it can be easy to stop at mass emails or email threads
- thomast: for us, most of our board members are member org CEOs (we're an ass'n of nonprofits), and probably wouldn't engage well.
- Meg @ CP: b/c they think they are too busy, T?
- ntenhross: Thomas - what if you just started with an archive online, where they could go to get copies of things that they invariably misplace?
- Meg @ CP: i like the idea of a file for lost things
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: what's key about that is that it gets at how online engagement can help them, not just how it would help you if they engaged online
- thomast: Exactly.
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: putting up the board contact info, the schedule of meetings - some of those minor, nagging logistical things - might get you the momentum you need for more in-depth engagement
- ntenhross: right - it's a stepping stone. And busy people like to have access to those sorts of things at 11pm the night before the board meeting!
- Meg @ CP: I want our board to feel what it's like when these tools really help.
> Executive Directors: How do you get them to try social media?
- thomast: Can I ask - does anybody have any experience getting CEOs to use social media & networking to advance mission?
- Meg @ CP: Thomas, that's what I'm working towards
- thomast: We had an internal ad-hoc meeting of staff to talk about social networking assets we had or wanted and how to best use them, and hatched the idea of getting our Pres on Twitter.
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: and...?
- ntenhross: Thomas - Try going to tweetscan and do a search for your org name, or related keywords, show that to your pres to demonstrate the value of the conversation that's happening there
- thomast: Well, she's coming back from vaca tomorrow, so we haven't broached it yet. But she's wondered aloud about whether she should blog, but I think Twitter might better suit her style, pace and luv-uv-Blackberry.
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: It's interesting that you bring up the blackberry, Thomas. I was just going to say that I saw a wave of EDs adopting PDAs sheerly through peer pressure. if we can show them a case in which it's working, they'll want to jump in there
- Meg @ CP: it's true...i also think using Jott or Twitter might help ED's manage their crazy late night ideas
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: view them in the sober light of day before presenting them?
- Meg @ CP: well, more that an idea over twitter is less "DO THIS" than one in an email, for me
- Jeff Forster, Bayer Center: gotcha