Associations Now June Case Study: Deadline Pressure
When I first started writing the June 2008 Associations Now case study, I wanted to explore a situation I've personally seen multiple times in my career: the issue of the "difficult" volunteer. I know it's a truism of association management that you should never say anything negative about a member, but in the day-to-day reality of member service, there are some members who can drive you crazy--whether through the best of intentions or just because they're not particularly nice people. (That's my experience, anyway.)
Dalia, the main character in this month's case study, is dealing with one of those members. But is she doing everything she can to manage the situation properly? Some of the people who read the article for me before publication think she is, but this month's excellent commentators, Cynthia D'Amour and Lisa Sidletsky, don't necessarily agree. They both have a lot of suggestions for ways the situation can be improved.
This month's case study, "Deadline Pressure," is now online. What do you think about Dalia's situation? How have you handled similar issues in your own work? Do you agree with Cynthia and Lisa's commentary? Let us know!
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Comments
If the chapter leader is habitually a problem, a peer (a fellow member, not staff) should talk to him and coach him how to deal with staff. The Executive Director can recruit that peer but the chapter leader should never be given the opportunity to bypass the staff person who handles chapters.
This sounds like a large organization where the bulk of work is done by staff. Despite the "member-centric" philosophy, members are probably thought of as interlopers in association work.
The commentators made great observations about the actions of the staff involved. A fellow member, however, needs to run political interference for staff.
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | June 2, 2008 12:44 PM
Hi David!
Thanks for reading our case study. You make a great suggestion to involve peers in potentially politically challenging scenarios.
It's easy to focus on solving a problem and in the rush of solutions forget to take a step back to explore the unintended consequences.
Cynthia
Posted by: Cynthia D'Amour | June 4, 2008 1:35 PM