Pretty girl promoting lap top on the beach

Do you know who in your group or associated with your group is a honest to goodness promoter of your charity along with your group? How about your detractors? Are passives easy to identify?

This concept is very well presented in the business book by authors Fred Reichheld and Bob Markey, titled “The Ultimate Question 2.0, How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World”. In the second of the book series on Net Promoter companies the authors continue and refine their ideas on how customers fall into one of three very distinct categories, promoter, passives, and detractors. They go into very good detail on how to use analysis and statistics to find each group and why it pays off to make this determination for various ROI  identifies or just in loyalty sales and future growth.

When you think of people who promote things, often what comes to mind is megaphones and loud speakers. But promoters are just people who manage to talk up your cause or your group in a positive way. They may wear hats or shirts with the name of the group as well. They are inspired and promotional of the groups message and image. They show passion for the cause.

These members identified as promoters and associated friends and family live the message of the cause and they are very strong advocates of the other members who are also promoters!

Promoters are the most likely to be in tune with the “voice of the customer”. This concept stems from the many management plans which promote quality and is the single biggest concept behind the empowered volunteer. For many of you in business or having taken business courses quality plans from the past included Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and of course combinations of those labeled Lean/Six Sigma.

For a while during the 90′s even the U. S. Navy had Total Quality Leadership (TQL), with mainly the name as the only difference between TQM and TQL. Today the U. S. Navy has Six Sigma quality systems and reportedly embraces the concept of the empowered worker where it most certainly did not support lower rank empowerment before. This is because the sea going service was not mature enough to allow empowerment of it’s non-managerial members (read enlisted volunteer members) when TQL was instituted. From what I have read Six Sigma has made healthy contributions for today’s Navy!

In my past I have been trained in all of these and hold certifications in several continuous improvement training methods. They all have a concept that includes empowering the lowest worker with the most responsibility and accountability as well as listening to the customer, both internal and external customers. The empowered volunteer is simply another application of the empowered worker from Lean Manufacturing teaching.

All volunteer groups have the potential of supporting three types of customers, those from the cause they serve,  their group members and associated family, and the general public or businesses from which they develop relationships and derive much if not all of their resources.

So how do you identify promoter types for your group?

The authors of The Ultimate Question 2.0 suggest something so simple that it even applies outside industry and I am suggesting it would apply nicely to volunteer groups who want to add to their SWOT analysis. Survey your three customer groups and ask them one question, “Would you recommend this volunteer group to your friends?” On the survey have a range of responses from zero to ten, with ten being the best and zero the least. The authors say that a promoter is someone who responds with an eight or better.

Nothing brings in willing volunteers like proper passion for a worthy cause!

Knowing who your promoters are and being able to motivate them on the behalf of the group is worth more to the future success of your volunteer group than just about anything else you can do! If surveys are not in order another way to identify the promoters is through their passion observed over time!

I have written about passion in volunteer groups before, use the search feature on this blog to find some of those posts for further reading. 

Proper passion directed for worthy causes is one of the biggest draws for new members. When people enjoy themselves the volunteering becomes less work and more fun. People flock to fun things! Birds of a feather flock together and promoters like to be among other promoters and also to enrich or uplift passives into promoters! This is one feature of successful leadership which can’t be over emphasized. One really likable passionate promoter in a group can transform that group into a bunch of promoters over time. That is one huge way to ensure the future of the group will be a long and healthy one.

I will write in future posts about how to motivate and focus promoters as well as identifying and converting passives and detractors. The authors of The Ultimate Question 2.0 targeted their book towards business and the collection of data.  The subsequent data collection and analysis over time is much more trouble than the average volunteer group can justify. I will provide some ideas and suggestions for finding each group without all of the data search needed.

The empowered volunteer by the way would almost certainly be a labeled a promoter!

Share on Tumblr

When we see a book or even a person, we automatically evaluate many things from what data we have, mostly visual. This is natural and fine. But the cover can be a poor representation of the person or the book, depending on many factors.

The empowered volunteer must always approach someone who could be a candidate for their group with an open mind.

The person before you could be very wealthy and just not displaying their high status at the time you meet them, if they ever display such status. In your SWOT analysis you should have addressed this subject so you already know what to do.

If favors are what you need, ask for it directly but politely. If you are looking for positive actions, make sure you are specific. Remember, wealthy people are very passionate people already. They made their wealth through that passion if they are self-made, so show yours for your cause and they will more than likely respect that part of your presentation. Stay optimistic even if they are multitasking as you are making your presentation. Keep the faith in knowing that what you offer can help them every bit as much as a lower status person. Rich or poor, everyone sees health benefits from volunteering.

Treat every person as important and worthy no matter how they speak, look, or act. Obviously don’t solicit memberships from locked up criminals or other parts of society where the person may have challenges that prevent them from participating fully in your group. But otherwise, be open minded to everyone.

Consider in the caption above the leather bound book of poems from 1721. For a book in the hands of one who doesn’t own fancy books in glass cases and special atmospheres, this may look out of place in a normal home. Most people who are not wealthy don’t own such old books.

However, the cover is the best part of this old book. Once you open it, a page is torn, writing from when it was transferred between owners is reflected in the inside cover, in short it is not worthy of a collector’s attention even if it is old. It has no collector value at all. It is neat to hold a book that was printed before Ben Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence but neat is pretty much the value of this book, beyond family memories or other intrinsic values it could have.

Bill Walton, of Wal-Mart fame was well known for driving an old pickup long after he became very wealthy.  If you did not know it, his dress and car did not give away his status or wealth on many occasions if you met him on a weekend somewhere.

Never prejudge a person by any outward appearances. They may be rich or they may be drowning in debt while looking and driving really fancy cars and owning a great home in a high status neighborhood. You don’t know and if they are willing and capable of volunteering, you really don’t care. Either way your offer helps them in many ways, so be proud and offer them the opportunity to volunteer.

You should also understand that to a high degree, those that are wealthy are also involved in raising funds for charity.

In his fascinating book in 2000 The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley, PH. D. noted, “that nearly 2/3 of the millionaires (64%) engaged in this activity in the past twelve months, and there was a very positive correlation between their activity and net worth”. The take away is, as an empowered volunteer you may be setting yourself up with many who have had or are on their way towards real monetary success. Successful people are drawn to noble pursuits in many cases.

Dr. Stanley further writes, “Financially successful people and the next generation of economically productive people volunteer”.

He expounds on the notion that most of those who attain high wealth were volunteering long before they attained their status or wealth. Bill Clinton, former President of the United States wrote a book written in 2007, Giving, How Each of US Can Change the World, which told of his life long history of volunteering. I doubt you will run into Bill Clinton in your empowered volunteer prospecting, but a young up and coming person could be sitting at the next place you stop!

To drive this point home just a bit further we will dip into Thomas J. Stanley’s 2004 next book, The Millionaire Women Next Door which details the difference between men and women of high wealth and status. He writes, “Women are more likely, however, to be involved in community or civic volunteer work (77 percent versus 67 percent). Overall, within the same age groups and income cohorts, businesswomen are less likely than their male counterparts to demonstrate patronage habits that advertise their status”.

The Rifleman’s Rifle 1982

Now consider the above caption, a book leather bound, pulled from next to a series of Time Life books on The Old West, with covers that resemble this book when casually handled. This book might fool you in its worth, it is fairly rare and is valued, depending on who is publishing the review at over two thousand dollars! Yet it doesn’t look to be much more than the Time Life books of the same size! The topic is narrow and for many people not particularly interesting.

Never judge a book by its cover, just as you should not judge a person!

Why does this matter? Everyone is the same when it comes to volunteering from the empowered volunteer point of view, right? Wrong on all fronts is that line of thinking. Wealthy people can be of huge help to your cause if you are open minded, with their high social capital and robust networks. Remember in earlier posts the rule to always ask for referrals? Wealthy people usually have networks as worthy as their status. Now think about that. If their status is high, they often can provide insight for you to people who are open to your message even if they are not.

People who can also engage their networks effectively are a unique brand and they are also unique for your offering! Taylor your offer accordingly. Ask for their help if their time can’t be given.

I am not saying target wealthy people. I am saying that they operate on different wavelengths and as an empowered volunteer you need to adjust your message for them. If they can’t help by directly being involved perhaps they can make some calls to suggest referrals who are up and coming as they once were?

These referrals are often as valuable as gold because the wealthy often know who can and will do things. They tend not to waste time on wild goose chases so they provide solid referrals. Treasure these if you manage to get some from a high status person.

Share on Tumblr

SWOT

For the purposes of the Empowered Volunteer, SWOT analysis is NOT going to require someone with an MBA or other high level training. Good people who want to improve their group are all that are needed for success.

From Wikipedia we can get an idea of what SWOT is:

SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT Matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.

Volunteer groups Strengths can be assessed. What makes this group attractive? Be sure to include all things in the initial list or information gathering. Include perspectives from all stakeholders!

Volunteer groups Weaknesses can also be assessed. A weakness can be relative, that is for some it may be less a weakness than for others. Ensure you do all sides and all stakeholders.

Volunteer groups Opportunities can be assessed as well. This is likely to be a running list that is continually updated. It can tax some people’s creativity to come up with opportunities. Others can rattle off a list. Get the list created before worrying about an analysis or if the individual entries are worthy. List reduction can be done later, after initial conception. Also, never lose the initial list. Future empowered volunteers or group leaders who usually rotate yearly may be able to work an opportunity that the previously engaged volunteers could not.

Volunteer groups Threats are usually the easiest to list. Simply ask those who don’t want to join your group “why”? The value of listing threats for volunteer groups is only as good as the data gathered. It will become apparent when you start the list that there are some threats which hold more merit than others. In other words, some threats are a bigger issue than others or they apply to more potential volunteers than others. List them all, sort  later.

If you do a search for SWOT you will find many templates and help, some for free. If you find one that is to your liking, it can be used in most cases. Just keep in mind that a business SWOT is much more in-depth that the one you will be creating.

For this part of the Empowered Volunteer recruiting effort employing SWOT, you will need to be a bit more creative than just setting up target populations and prospecting times. If you have someone in your group who has a business degree or even an MBA or MSM (Masters of Science in Management) they will very likely be potential help in the gathering of data and its analysis. However, most of the data gathering is common sense and the analysis is mostly a matter of sorting and tabulating the individual groupings in a meaningful way. Simply count the various groupings and line them up, more or less.

Using college classes to complete a SWOT. If you have ready access to a professors class who is able and willing to take this project from start to finish and provide an analysis, I would suggest you engage them. They gain the experience and you get an outside view with potentially less internal contamination from the internal members. If they have the ability and are willing to do other types of assessments it would not hurt. The more relative data the better.

When I was doing my graduate studies in management we often had to search far and wide for businesses who would let us study them. Each class required another business for our study and even though we were often in groups of 5 or so, that added up to a bunch of competition in the area for businesses friendly to being studied. Many business leaders did not see the value from their side while being very careful what business data they would be willing to provide. But for graduate studies in management, real businesses were required. You had to get into a group who found a business willing to be studied to pass the class. Thus some nearby college classes may be looking for a group to study.

It you decide to work the data gathering internally consider gaining a broader perspective by expanding your potential population. For instance, if you are a Masonic lodge and you want to get some data through interviews and from follow ups for instance, consider expanding your data collection to more than one physical lodge. Perhaps several lodges in an area, called a district in many states. Keep track of the groups sources in case a trend develops in one group but not the others, naturally.

In most instances the bigger your population combined with the more focused your questions will provide the most accurate path for action. You are looking for valid data rather than a small sampling of the senior leadership and supporting group, for instance. If the whole population is polled in some way, even online then a small sample will have less chance of skewing the results.

Beware of the often found die hard past leaders who will profess in loud and passionate terms all the possible paths to increasing memberships or other corrections have been tried before and found to be insufficient to the task. These negative elements seems to be found in most groups and they are more often than not very vocal. If they can lead your team of information gatherers down a destructive path they will. It seems to be their nature. It is best if the volunteer group leader deal with such individuals rather than the empowered volunteer.

It is necessary for this part of the process to just gather the facts and data. Don’t try too much analysis until the complete study is gathered. Initial trends by the members who attend frequently nearly always will diverge somewhat from those that attend the functions more sporadically.

Gather the data anonymously from your group members if at all possible, so that honesty is more likely. Segregate the information into large population groups only, and be very careful to keep those who view the raw data analysis to a small select  and trusted group. This is in case some unlikely negative trend emerges that indicates an issue which is potentially divisive. Have a care that what you unearth in the data can be disseminated indiscriminately if and when the leadership decides to do so.

An example would be the discovery in one of the groups in the area where the population data was gathered shows an individual who’s nature has turned off many prospective volunteers as well as recent members who have backed off their attendance, through the offenders heavy handed ways let’s say. This is not the kind of data you want the entire group to automatically view! It is something that leadership within the individual section should address. It certainly should not be passed around the entire district or other population areas! Praise in public, reproach in private. This is elementary leadership for most junior members of a group, yet often senior leadership completely ignores this maxim.

Unintended consequences often can be detected during this part of the process. Perhaps a particular church actively discourages its members from joining your group. Your group has no political or religious interests and simply supports fund raising. In well directed questions you learn that one of your main fund raising activities involves Halloween hay rides and other themed activities on this particular time of the year. It turns out that the local Christian church doesn’t support that holiday, something many Christians of other denominations fail to realize. So it’s members don’t volunteer rather than face conflict on Sundays by joining. This would be very good information for your group to know.

Freemasons

Keep in mind  as well you are searching for reliable and accurate data for each of the SWOT areas. This becomes a bit more confusing when some individual characteristics of a group might be viewed by some in the study positively while others see the very same thing as negative. An example that is currently being addressed by Freemasons world wide is the value of the initiation ritual requiring the new member to memorize the groups rules through Bible stories, in a very formal manner usually entailing the new member to recite the rules in front of the rest of the assembled membership. This public speaking often is seen as a scary thing for new members. Older members place value on the fact that if the member is not committed then they should join a group where only money is required for membership! This is seen by many Masons as a kind of quality control or at the least a way of gauging the new members seriousness. Opponents see it as a huge time constraint holding good and proper prospects from even attempting to petition for membership.

Most groups will find they have some issues that can be viewed by more than one section of SWOT. This is common when a SWOT analysis is done on a business as well, where this type of analysis was first created and used. Each aspect of an issue should be collected and then evaluate from each angle for merit and application to the group. For instance some churches direct their membership to avoid some volunteer groups based on their individual perceptions of that group. Seldom would this be a positive aspect for an empowered volunteer, but it would be very good information to know! If you are one of the groups involved and the church which holds this position for your group is one of the main churches in your small town, you really have a major issue rather than the lesser issue if this were in a large metropolitan area.

The purpose of the data gathering is to sort things into a SWOT analysis that can focus the empowered volunteer and his supporting leadership in a direction which positions them for increased membership. If other issues arise out of a SWOT analysis they can be directed to a committee appointed for deeper investigation and action if needed. If too many issues are detected then the empowered volunteer should hold off on most of his or her efforts until the group is better positioned to receive new members.

Share on Tumblr

Freemason’s Ben Franklin with author and Freemason Rudyard Kipling books in background,  both reflect successful lives even by today’s standards.

Rebuilding America’s volunteer groups can easily start with these ten steps to success in rebuilding America.

One of America’s Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin decided he wanted to be more socially visible when he was young, while pursuing success. This was for reasons pertaining to his business where he wanted more printing work as well as his aspirations of higher social climbing. He created, according to his biography a group called the Junto club.

It was a social club, which met to discuss topics and books of interest to the group. Eventually Ben joined the Freemasons and became a prominent member in short order, rising to a fairly high level within a few years. Since this was an organization of prominent and successful merchants and tradesmen, he was able to make connections, which benefited him both professionally and in later life as our Ambassador to France.

Keep in mind Ben Franklin was the originator of the volunteer fire department idea, volunteering was even at that time highly regarded and useful in the building of American society! This revolutionary and highly successful model is still used today in many parts of America. 

By the end of Ben Franklin’s life he had become the most widely recognized American in the eyes of the world.

This was quite a successful accomplishment for a person who had so many obstacles to overcome in his quest for social capital and improved social status over a lifetime. Perhaps today the obstacles faced by an empowered volunteer might seem small in contrast to Dr. Franklin’s.

How should the empowered volunteer start the process for membership building? Excellent question, because rebuilding America seems like a daunting task. The answer is one step at a time, one volunteer at a time, for one group at a time.

Use these ten steps for empowered volunteer success.

First, the empowered volunteer needs be certain that they are supported within the group. This is simple, ask folks to support your efforts and let them tell you how they plan to do it. Request specific information and clarify the details. Put the highlights in writing with names attached to each detail that an individual agrees to complete and if necessary a date which completion is required. Your support staff is now ready to go.

Second, the empowered volunteer should ensure that the leadership for the group is prepared to deal with new members. This sounds simple, but if new members are needed, there must be a position or need which they can be expected to address if you want success in energizing them for the group. Most new members want to feel associated and needed soon after joining. They are usually willing to lend a helping hand. They are not likely to be happy if all they provide to the group is their dues and their name on the roster. Have a need they can fill or a place for them to become active participants and you will see the results you are looking for.

Third, keep the group involved in your efforts to find new members. They will be better able to support your efforts and also to lend comfort to you in your encounters with rejection. Make no mistake about this task you have taken on, membership building involves rejection and lots of it. Rejection is why so many individuals stay away from membership recruiting. It is hard work, and not fit for everyone. When you find success, and you will if you follow the proper course outlined in other posts from this blog, refine your technique until you produce a successful pattern or steps that work for you.

Forth, make a plan. It does not have to be elaborate. But a volunteer who says they will just go out and try is already doomed for dismal results, if they encounter any results at all. If you fail to make a plan, you are planning to fail. Have your personal business cards ready to hand out liberally. Consider some incentive on the back to capture e-mails or some other form of involvement for a prospective member. Get information however you can!

Fifth, set a long-range time frame for judging the success or failure of the plan, some of which will be carried out by those who follow you as the empowered volunteer. The recommendation for a reasonable plan is for at least one year, with a second long range plan of five years. Remember, the decline in membership has occurred over the span of several years, usually since the 1960’s. It would be unwise to plan to rebuild a membership by doubling it in six months. If that jump in membership happens, then great. Put the new members to work with the new opportunities, which were on hold due to membership constraints. This plan should address the four elements in a SWOT analysis in approaching prospects for membership.

Sixth, solicit feedback (read data) from those that reject your message and from those that accept your message as well. Keep a form for compiling your rejections. Sort the rejections into categories, which can be analyzed. You will find trends as you gather enough rejection data. This is invaluable information in helping you decide on future prospecting based on your trends and instincts. It can also be valuable to cross check the data from your rejections with the two parts of the SWOT analysis, weaknesses and threats. You may be able to either drill down into on of the sections of them or add to one of them, based on your rejection list.

Seventh, present a formal quarterly feedback report. Make sure it is data driven and that it is professional in the presentation method with which it is delivered. This is necessary to reflect to the group that you are committed to the group, dedicated to the cause of membership building, professional in your approach to this cause, and open to group participation through feedback in your efforts to achieve your goals. It is best to send the report out ahead of time so that members can digest it and be ready for the presentation as well as constructive feedback for you. Having the presentation group buy into your efforts by “helping” you with feedback is also valuable. It is more of a team effort.

Eighth, share the successes and testimonials with the group and with potential candidates. Build on your successes with a past of success. If you don’t have any when you start, look some up on the internet or the national website for the group. Select the testimonials that reflect your values first and if possible leave the others for another time. It is best to always align with your personal value system if possible for testimonials.

Ninth, build a group of individuals who can “bird dog” for you. In sales terms these are called centers of influence (COIs). They can be any influential citizen who is willing to promote your cause and has sympathy for solving the issues your group specializes in assisting. This particular aspect of sales is time consuming and needs attending to frequently for it’s potential to be realized. It is hard work, but the payoff can be incredible when the groundwork is laid with care.

Tenth, groom your replacement. Few individuals want to be the membership building chief forever. It is easy to become tired and burn out. This is why many folks do not enter the field of sales. It is very demanding if one is to survive. Find someone who is perhaps reluctant but willing if they could just experience success while under some tutelage. Have them participate, silently at first by watching and over time let them build up confidence by taking portions of the presentation and presenting the message under your watchful eye.

Share on Tumblr

SWOT Analysis

This procedure is tailored for volunteer groups in general. In business SWOT’s the data collected is also often filtered through a Mckinsey 7-S framework model for further refinement and attempts to predict the total picture of the business. The McKinsey 7-S is for soft skills evaluation of management and would be practical for a well organized volunteer group with a national organization with a head quarters and formal structure. This is not what the empowered volunteer will be engaging in however. So for our purposes we will just focus on the SWOT. I simply want you to understand that for a formal business analysis, much more detail and work goes into the effort and the results can be much more focused.

Please note however, the empowered volunteer is in reality employing a strategy most closely aligned with the learning process called MOUND, which stands for “Middle, Out, Up, ‘n‘ Down. The empowered volunteer often is going to be self motivated and in many cases will hear or read this and other posts and react by trying to motivate his leadership to appoint him or her to this position. This working from the middle (in business it would be middle management) and then when things are ready for small changes you work your way up by validating the changes as you go and if that still holds validity for your efforts the new strategy can be driven down through the rank and file as a new policy. Thus the empowered volunteer can be if done correctly the driver for a new set of directions or even new policies for the group and potentially for the entire organization to take on if the pilot case justifies the changes.

Most groups who employ the empowered volunteer optimally will want to start with a focus group before attempting to collect the data for a SWOT analysis. The group should be small and diverse. So sprinkle in some various ages and various experience in the group. If ladies are in this group, ensure they are represented in proportion to their population in the group as a whole.

For a focus group a leader must ensure all participants feel valued and able to contribute without fear of ridicule or reprisal. This is critical. Creativity is usually killed by fear. Some groups work better with the SWOT descriptions disclosed early so that they can address their fear of an unknown or new item before the day of the group meeting.

Other members may prefer to wing it with the information fresh and their efforts spontaneous. If the group membership is business wise, more than likely they will be familiar with SWOT’s or at least familiar with other business patterns that use similar traits. If the group has less experience with such strategies then most likely a short written notice for those selected to participate would be in order. They can research the SWOT strategy for themselves and prepare for what is expected of them.

Facilitating a focus group attempting to compile a list for a SWOT analysis data gathering effort is a skill not every one has. Take care not to lead in such a way as to get what you expect, a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts. The facilitator needs to lead the effort without directing the effort or otherwise influencing the results. The purpose of the focus group is to compile the list of questions to be presented to the population as a whole, usually less than 25 which when collected and tabulated provide the group leadership with directions to steer the empowered volunteer or other task forces as necessary.

For individuals with experience in the Quality Fields or businesses that have quality programs, the leadership receiving the focus groups’s report is roughly the equivalent of a Steering Committee. Steering committees have the purse strings and are empowered to act on the information gleaned from the data collection process. The empowered volunteer can report to the steering committee or to a leader appointed between the steering committee and the empowered volunteer.

Focus groups can do each section of the SWOT analysis collectively and openly or they can break into smaller groups and brainstorm an individual section. The group leader needs to be careful if they allow the individual sections that one group doesn’t somehow come to be dominated by an individual with an agenda! Also care must be taken not to prioritize one section of the SWAT analysis over another. They are to be treated equally if the results are to be trusted.

Ensure that all ideas generated are collected and maintained. This is very important. If all ideas are collected and considered, the participants can’t find themselves invalidated by an individual with an agenda. While ideas do sort out eventually into categories, this stage is not the place to do it. It doesn’t matter if ideas overlap or are redundant. That can be taken care of later. The trust for the group that all ideas carry weight is paramount.

Ensure that all participants are aware that one idea or issue can be seen under multiple parts of SWOT segments. One idea could be a threat and an opportunity. If this happens, the point can reference or justify the position by using and example so that whatever the underlying issues is can be referenced and the situation can be sorted out for validity. Just get the data down so that it is listed and properly supported.

Keep the data in its raw state for the focus group. Do not count things or try to sort the raw data. This will hinder those who want to jump ahead and leap into the analysis phase. They will try but it is much harder with only raw ideas not yet placed into individual questions.

At this point, the group leadership needs to decide if the focus group will be tasked to gather the SWOT sections into questions for the formal questionnaire or if the process should be conducted by a leadership task force. I would suggest that most of the time the focus groups “reward” is to participate in the initial listing of questions. They see results for their efforts. It should be understood that the questions will be filtered through a quality check for accuracy and perhaps even a lawyer check if necessary to avoid issues not initially seen by the focus group.

The steering committee should choose the questions. They should ensure they can justify that the data drove each and every question. If you received a high proportion of ideas on several SWOT sections about an issue, take care not to assume that it is only an issue from one direction. It may take two questions from different perspectives to get to the data needed to take action and repair an issue.

Once the formalities are set and the questions verified and sanctified by the necessary people send the questionnaire out for the membership to fill out. Ensure that communication is provided on the purpose and that the results will only be seen by the rank and file in a collective basis, no individual reports will be disclosed. Do everything you can to get 100% participation. Unless your groups is too large and spread out to poll, get this part done.

Collect the filled out reports. If possible have the questions, which have been as much as possible positioned in an objective way, that is the answers are a, b, c, or some other type of replies that can be tabulated. If you had to have a final part where a write in statement was collected, hopefully this can be collected in a private way too. Bottom line, collect the data with as few members having to do more than just data entry if that is even necessary. Automate this part if you can. Cut and paste the statements if possible rather then retype them. Do your best to keep the transfer of the raw collected data pure so that no one person can goof in a data transfer.

If there are people who have data collection experience in your group, Quality types with titles like Black Belt or members of the American Society of Quality (ASQ) for instance, finance types or even accounting professionals this would likely be a place where they would be very helpful.

Whoever tabulates the data must be seen as trustworthy. Often this could involve board members if you have them. If it involves multiple members, they must all be seen as trustworthy. Present the data in an organized and easily digestible manor to the steering committee or leadership.

Then for the first time the leader of the group who will direct the empowered volunteer should review the results. Trends and issues should emerge from the data presentation. The new eyes, not from the data tabulation or hopefully not from the focus group look at the data results and decide what are the best directions, putting a time table and other factors into a time line if necessary.

The empowered volunteer does not have to have all of this data supporting him or her. But if this method is done, even if some parts of the process are messy, the end result should be a long range project where efforts by members will yield results. The empowered volunteer can operate in a less structured way, as a kind of marketing point person if you will. In the next section I will provide details for that kind of effort. This path is by far the better one if it can be done. The information gathered if the integrity of the process is valid will be useful for years to come. Use the results wisely.

Share on Tumblr