There are a number of words and phrases used throughout 2020 that we all want to forget: pivot, new normal, flexibility and change. While the words may make everyone cringe, it is important to look at the positive take-aways from our experiences in the past year.
In a recent blog, Lowell Aplebaum, CEO of consulting firm Vista Cova LLC, describes how the upheaval of 2020 provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the many different ways an association can re-define and re-focus its activities, strategic plans and membership benefits to better meet members’ needs.
Five of the 10 opportunities Aplebaum identifies are:
- Strategic planning renews focus on strategic vision, direction, and strategies. Associations, no matter where they are in the strategic planning cycle, should take a step back in 2021 to confirm their vision and mission still defines their purpose in this new landscape.
- “No” is the secret to impact. Associations have the potential to adopt a systematic programmatic review that recognizes which programmatic output is making fiscal and mission impact in this new environment.
- Governance modernization. This is a moment where associations should take a step back and reflect whether the leadership structure they have in place will be the structures that will lead them their desired future.
- Diversity & inclusion: greater fluency, greater adoption. This is the year to demonstrate the new DE&I statements of 2020, and DE&I committees in general, were not just momentary efforts to respond to a societal focus.
- Intentional design will replace crisis response. Make a list of all that things associations changed in 2020 because of a crisis response. Virtual workforce? Virtual tradeshow? Virtual town halls? Online learning? Now it is time to step back and go through an intentional design exercise with each activity.
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