DAY 1 - Club Planning for 2009-10 Season -

Hi,

A couple of interesting questions, so here are my views:

Q1 - it is a great idea and works well with new clubs or clubs that are struggling.

Q2 - the plan should include specific targets relating to what new changes the club committee wants to bring in. eg: identify new workshops and special events the club would like to introduce

Q3 - what is critical - club members help and support the club.

Q4 - How stretching should the club plan be (e.g. should it maintain the club's previous records/standards or take the club to the next level?) >> its for each club to decide.

Q5 - What challenges do you and your committee face in coming up with a club plan for the new season? getting in new members to keep our club above the 20members.

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The club planning process is made easier because of the DCP program but this should only serve as part 1 of X of the club's plan.

The real question for each committee is -- where do they want to see there club in 5 years time. If they have that view point then that should have a REAL input into the seasonal planning sessions.

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The club committee should be setting stretching targets for the club so the club's good health and standing is improving.

So what do i mean by this:

Club has 20 members - target 35+ members

Club only has bi-weekly STANDARD meetings - Introduce special events (invite special speakers to give a workshop on a leadership area as an example) and arrange joint club meeting

Thx

Grazia

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Josh - you make some excellent points.  DCP program is very important to the clubs but should not be the only component of the club's plan I would say.  As for the plan it should be specific to the aspirations of the club and its members.

Sonja - good point about taking the long term view. I think new committees believe that they only need to address current concerns and issues

Grazia - club setting stretching targets would be great where it makes sense.  If the club was to 'move forward' in a smaller stride than that would be ok I think.

Anyway, thank you to you three for kicking us off on the right road :-)

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Great comments everyone!

What are the critcial success factors ...You need to get buyin from the committee (in respect to the effort) and take into accout what the members are asking for!

Sarah, Galway.

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The key to getting buy-in from Club members on meeting educational goals is to:

1. Conduct a member interest survey to find out what educational goals members want to meet during the coming year.

2. Identify those people who are close to meeting their educational goal.

3. Ensure that these individuals are scheduled for speeches to meet their goal and that the speeches are documented.

I think the DCP provides a good framework for setting goals, but I think Clubs can go beyond those goals.   One of the things our club is doing now is seeking a new meeting place because of the high monthly cost we pay for our current space.  If we are able to find a place where there is no charge, we can reduce dues from $25 a month, which is admittedly high, to something like $10 to $15 a month.   This in turn will help us get more members because the cost of joining will be lower.

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The real challenge I think is growing the club membership and I would suggest the committee spend the time focused on this number one priority!

Regards
Thomas

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A robust plan - I have not seen much literature on how to set this out correctly. I once had a project manager who asked if our club plan had been reviewed and validated by someone outside the committee which is an excellent suggestion.

Best,
George

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Q1 - The DCP is a good yardstick to measure the growth of the club. In District 40 we say making Distinguished is comparable to a "C" on a report card - the bare minimums for a passing grade. Many of our clubs are not satisfied with 9 out of 10 goals for President's Distinguished, we go for 10 out of 10 goals. When I was Area Governor and needed only 10 CCs to be President's Distinguished Area, we brought in 22 CCs.

Q2 - The club should focus on members, members, members as that is where the excitement comes in: from the new energy and enthusiasm they bring to the club; an ordinary speech is a phenomen to a non-Toastmaster and raises the level of enjoyment of the meeting.

Q3 - Having just experienced my HPL project "Poker, Anyone?" membership building campaign you have to make certain that the members are more than committed to the RESULTS, they are committed to the action required to get the results of "Each one, grow one". When I give my HPL results speech to the club, I will brainstorm what I needed to do differently to get the members committed to the ACTION needed to double our membership during our next membership building campaign during International's Jan/Feb Talk Up Toastmasters campaign. The club started with 8 members in July and brought in only 5 new members, not the 8 I was seeking.

Q4 - being an overachiever, I always want to have a stretch goal in mind. We need only 13 members in our club to be distinguished (we already have 4 goals and will have 5 when dues are posted for goal 10. We collect dues for the year and know we WILL be distinguished. When I give my HPL speech results, I will have 20 ounce bottles of Vitamin Water to drive home the point that we need to grow to charter strength of 20 members at a minimum.

Q5 - As mentioned before is getting club member buy in to provide the ACTION needed to produce the results. I thought leading by example would stimulate the members to invite as many guests as I did, but the ACTION buy in was done by only 1 other person, the President, who would like to grow the club to 35-50 members. It is better to shoot for the moon and hit the stars than it is to shoot for the pole and hit the ground.

Sorry to have been so long-winded. I have earned the Tri-fecta of Leadership in my District: Division Governor of the Year in 2002; Outstanding Toastmaster of the Year in 2005; and Area Governor of the year in 2008 and think I have valuable information to share.

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