Guest post by Mike Pennington, CAE, Evangelist for Novi AMS
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
If there is one thing around which all associations can rally, it’s that there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything you need to do. As the world continues to thrust more technology at us, our Boards expect more and more work out of us. But last time I checked, there are still just 40 hours in the week.
I think we all agree that we would be interested in solutions that would allow us to follow the clichéd axiom, “work smarter, not harder.” Of course, there are tech tools out there that would make life easier. Of course, there are apps, programs, and services that would save me boatloads of time, pain, and frustration.
On the other hand, there are also literally thousands of companies and services out there that make those promises. When we’re already stretched to the Nth degree with an onslaught of deadlines, how on Earth are we to allot nonexistent extra time to sift through a seemingly endless torrent of offers and promises of an easier work life? Which are the apps that actually work as promised? Is there a way to wade through the myriad solutions and find those that will make an immediate impact in the office, your productivity (and workload), and allow you to actually clock out at 5 on Friday and make it to Happy Hour?
Could it actually be possible to:
- Have someone schedule appointments directly into your calendar at their leisure,
- Use a simple, yet powerful communications tool that is replacing traditional email
- Hire a freelance designer for as little as $5 per project
- Teach your database to automatically sync transactions into your accounting software
The answer to all the above is, ‘YES!” We’ll discuss these and many, many more solutions. And before you say, “My association will never go for that,” here are some life hacks to open the possibility of adoption:
- Don’t force new ideas onto other people. Involve them in the decision-making process as much as possible. It’s just like strategic planning … encourage stakeholder participation throughout the process and it will lead to greater adoption.
- Paint the picture. If your team doesn’t understand the reasons behind new technology, they’ll see it as just some new shiny toy that they’re forced to play with. Show them the benefits and reasoning … how it will make their work lives better … and they’ll jump on the bandwagon.
- Gamify. Encourage the team to seek new tech options on their own. Incentivize those who bring the best new solutions. Once successful, you’ve turned the atmosphere from one opposed to new technology to one that actively seeks it.
Join ReviewMyAMS & Novi AMS for a webinar on Tuesday, May 7th at 1:00 pm Eastern as we share some ideas and solutions that you can implement right away, bringing automation to the office: Register Now!
