I recently read Mary Byers and Harrison Coerver’s book “Race for Relevance, 5 Radical Changes for Associations”. Then I got to listen to Byers speak at the Oklahoma Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting.
Loved the book! Yes some of it is obvious, but a lot of us in the association world, me included, have ignored the obvious.
There are six basic components to Byers and Coerver’s governance proposals.
*Get your board to 5 members, and select them on competency
*Overhaul your committees, have staff chair the committees, and have only the committees you need.
*Give more power to your CEO and staff. Hire professionals, empower them, and let them do their jobs. Conduct annual evaluations, be candid, and hold people accountable.
*Focus on the needs of a definable member market. Quit trying to be all things to all possible members. We all want to see growth, but you dilute your product when you move away from your key market.
*Rationalize your products and services. Ask yourself if volume equals value. We wind up with so many offerings, that we don’t do any of them as well as we should. Even a small part of staff time captured by a small segment product is a problem. Focus on products and services that your members truly need and use.
*Invest heavily in technology. Associations have got to make more of an effort to get in front of their members, rather than lagging behind them. The member future will be driven by change in technology, whether it be social media or mining your data to make smart decisions. Associations have a habit of waiting to invest in technology out of fear of making the wrong move. There are still association executives who aren’t sure about this “social media” thing. And honestly, a lot of the problems are tied to a reluctance to give up control. Who knows what members might say and do out there on our list serve.
A great book, and I highly recommend it. As they point out, doing nothing is not an option.
AssociationOkie 
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