Turn Over

Hmmm….. How are we doing at making our volunteers feel valued and supported?

Parting Kiss

 I received this in the mail yesterday. It's a perfunctory parting gift. There was no note included. No "thanks for your service; we'll miss you."

Do I really need to clutter up my house with a physical reminder of the way this AMC has treated me? 

Thoughts on Jewel Awards

The recent Bulletin had a long article by a non-AMC person about rethinking the Jewel Awards. I confess I didn’t read and ponder it carefully, so I don’t have an opinion about it. However, It does seem like the Jewels as they are currently handled only take into consideration things that can be counted by the National Office.

In December, as part of a long list of next steps to improve volunteerism in Mensa, I recommended the RVCs look at the Jewel Awards and figure out how to incorporate volunteerism into them.  I can’t imagine that it’s impossible to review  other things LGs do or don’t do over the course of a year that impact the quality of service they provide to their members beyond what the National Office tracks already. RVCs know their Groups well, including the quirks and nuances of how they function.

Off the top of my head:
• Does the LG have a formal volunteer recognition party/award/process?
• Does the LG provide training and other onboarding materials for new volunteers?
• Is the turn over in leadership regular and non-contentious?
• Is more than one key position held by the same person?

Harvard’s 15-Step Leadership Checklist

Leadership is one of those terms we all use and we all "know" what it means, but I found this article particularly on-point for identifying exactly what makes a good leader. 

https://hive.com/blog/leadership-checklist/

Effective Leaders...and Servants

As an AMC person, I’m often labeled as a “leader” in Mensa. And while I do lead committees and discussions, most of my work is done as a servant to the members and organization.

 

I recently read an interesting article about being an effective leader:

 

 

 MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK

 If you want something, ask for it . . . Go get it.

 

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

Be passionate about the area you’re leading; how else can you empower and motivate teams around you?

 

IMPROVE YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKING

Without the confidence to speak in front of groups or even infront of a small team you’re leading, it’s tough to effectively.

 

BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE

Habitual negativity is a slippery slope. Effective leaders shift their mindset to invoke positivity in those around them. Something that may have been an “issue” or “problem” can instead be an opportunity to improve. A positive influence is infectious—and makes the work more enjoyable for you and your employees.

 

BE HUMBLE

Let the work, results, and performance speak for themselves, rather than talking about how great you are. Leaders with big egos and self-centered behavior eventually hit a wall. 

 

BE WELL-ROUNDED

Effective leaders tend to be “good or better” in most or all categories of leadership, such as people management, the ability to sell and deliver or produce results, interpersonal skills, relationship-building skills, and more.

 

PRIORITIZE INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Relationships are everything. That starts with being genuine, investing time in these relationships, respecting all opinions, and being mindful of how you treat people. 

 

COMMIT TO DEADLINES

Being committed to deadlines in addition to effort builds credibility and shows stakeholders that you are reliable and trustworthy, which often leads to additional responsibilities. 

 

 TAKE CARE OF YOU

Finding balance across mind, body, and spirit will keep effective leaders sharp, focused, and able to sustain their positive impact in the long term. 

 

KEEP RESKILLING 

Whether it’s training, reading, or side projects, even the most senior leaders never stop learning. Particularly now, in 2022, when technology is changing faster than most humans are capable of adapting, if you aren’t a continuous learner, you will eventually be left behind.

 

BE SELF-SUFFICIENT

Demonstrate that you can handle a role with minimal supervision. If you’re independently capable, a next obvious step will be to lead and guide others.

 

BECOME AN EXPERT IN SOMETHING

Covering many types of assignments and roles is useful to become well-rounded, but at some point, it helps to become a subject matter expert—the acknowledged go-to person.

 

You know what? All these steps make for better servants, too.

The March 2022 AMC Meeting

The AMC meeting at the National Office went well this past weekend. It was long and covered a lot of topics, but things were calm, respectful, and productive. All the motions I put forward passed, including revision of Appendix 23, aka the Elephant!

There seems to be growing excitement and anticipation about the results of my Volunteerism Task Force, which gives me even more motivation and hopes for improvement.

All in all, I'm feeling positive.

Politics and Proctoring

I’ve been a proctor for oh, maybe ten years or so. I forget exactly. It’s generally a joy to do—talking up Mensa, answering questions, promoting activities and participation, being the  welcoming face to new members.

But about a month and a half ago, I decided that I was no longer comfortable rah-rahing for an organization that was becoming, in my opinion, less and less welcoming. It was the whole AM Facebook meltdown that was the final straw—I could not in good conscience tell people that Mensa was this happy, accepting family they were looking for. I’ve ranted about that in previous posts; no need to repeat myself here.

Then came the Howard/Executive Director/National Office/AMC storm.  I’m angry and despondent and disgusted... and really really don’t want to do any more testing for Mensa. I was intending to notify our local Proctor Coordinator this coming week, and arrange to get him all my unused testing supplies.

So here I was this afternoon, relaxing after a long day dropping off the boy child at college and looking forward to a night without kids in the house for the first time in what feels like forever. Then the phone rang. Our LocSec was frantic—she had seven people show up for the testing session and no proctor. Since I live only 20 minutes away, could I please come over and do the test session?

I was torn.

On one hand, I was weary and disinclined to do any more testing. On the other hand, I harbor no displeasure with our Local Group, and certainly had nothing against the people who had driven far to take the test. To say “no” would have been just... well… shitty. So I changed my shirt, grabbed my testing supplies, and headed over. The session went smoothly. The Local Group was relieved and thankful.

I only hope the AMC feels the same way.

Blushing

I'm touched and honored and pleased to know that despite how it feels sometimes, my hard work has not gone unnoticed.

Tiny Change for the Better--Bravo!

One of the recommendations from the Governance task Force last fall was to open national-level volunteer positions to all members, including those not already known to the AMC folks. This would mean writing up good descriptions of the task to be done and the skills necessary to to the job well and then advertising far and wide.

I was very pleased to see that concept actually used recently when John Recht sent out the call for an LDW Chair. He specified who the person would be working with, what the goals of the committee are, what responsibilities would be, and what special skills are being sought.

I suspect there will be some new highly qualified and enthusiastic people dipping their toes into the national waters, which can only improve the organization, regardless of who is ultimately chosen.

Bravo, John!

Saying Thank You

I'm working my way down my list of "Things to tell Brian" about communications, "Things to tell Roger" about Name and Logo, and "Goodbye and you rock" messages to all the fabulous members who have served with me on committees and projects. I was very fortunate to find and keep the people I worked with:

Sallie, Guy, Mel, Nancy, James,
Brian M., Gary, Dennis, Brian R., Gail, Thomas, Greg, Dan W., Barbara, Terri, Bill, Erik, Tim, Rob, Dana, Lynn, Kevin, Sheila, Brad, Zee, Marc, Carol, Claire, Jill, Lessa, Kathe, Don, Jared, BethAnne, Jean B., Jean D., and many others over the years.

One of the calls I got yesterday, expressing the usual "surprise at the election outcome / gosh you sure did lots of great work / what will we do without you" sentiments also commented on my annual report in the Bulletin and how while most other officers' were filled with  "I, I, I," and wrote about everything they did and accomplished, my column was taken up with thanking my people. Well, yes, I've always believed that was the purpose of that column. Members know I get stuff done. I already had my name in lights, so to speak. For the other volunteers, that annual mention was all the reward and glory I could offer them.

They deserve everyone's thanks.

Mandating Volunteer Service

As some know, I have been an active member of my local mothers of multiples club for a long time. That club has grown and recently the Board of Directors, faced with concerns about lack of participation and volunteering, proposed a bylaw amendment that would require some amount of volunteer effort from every member. I gave it some thought and jumped into the discussion. I am sharing it here, since Mensa, like my mothers’ club, regularly faces volunteer shortages and frustration at the lack of participation by the membership.

I’ve been a member of this club for… gosh, almost 15 years now. I’ve been a member of other organizations, too. Joining is what we social creatures do. It’s how we create the villages that are necessary for raising our children and maintaining our societies.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there are phases and stages of participation, much like the phases and stages children go through in our families. For a while, babies just stare wide-eyed and overwhelmed and just….take. And take and take and take and … poop. Later they start to give back a little— a smile of recognition, a cessation of taking for three hours at a time so mom can sleep. Eventually they help by holding their own bottles, or kissing a sister’s booboo. As time goes on, toddlers fetch a spit-up rag for a sibling, feed the cat, dress themselves. And so it continues, until one day you wake up and realize your teen can fully take over the lawn mowing and you’ll never have to do that chore again—you can retire to the patio and roll your eyes when he forgets to alternate directions like you would have done it.

Volunteering— participating in the village life that makes our society— is the same, and more complex, since we each belong to overlapping communities. I took from this club for a few years, gave back for a few, and now enjoy mostly sitting on my hands and just watching what I helped to create grow and flourish. I still roll up my sleeves in other clubs I belong to, and in still other aspects of communal life, like school fundraisers, I do absolutely nothing—never have never will; it’s just not my cup of tea.

In TCMOTTC* , we have women in all the stages of club participation, and that’s awesome. We have women who do nothing for TCMOTTC but who raise money for my kids’ school. Hooray!  We have women who care for neighbors’ dogs, create music in churches, monitor school board antics, and write checks for breast cancer research. We are amazing people, we suburban moms, and we are needed in every community.

Please, do not turn passion to obligation. Do not ask for actions that are out of sync with our life stages. And do not require that this club take priority over all the other communities that also need us. 

* TriCities Mothers of Twins & Triplets Club

A Recent Interaction

It is, indeed, a difficult time for me, and I'm sure that is making it less easy for me to stand still and take abuse from my fellow Mensans with a smile on my face and a "how can I serve you better?" attitude. I think some people forget that I'm not paid for this job.

Here's an example of a recent interaction (I summarized others' writings, since this was all by private email):


Mensan to LG newsletter editor:

You left out my birthday for the second year in a row!   This is disrespectful!

Editor to Mensan:

Well, M, the reason your birthday has not been displayed is that you either didn't supply it to the office or you requested that they not share it with the Local Group. You can fix this by modifying your PDQ, or you could at least tell me your birthday and I'll get it right next year.

Mensan to editor (copying me as Comm Officer):

If you have lost my info, then admit it and do some research before you foist the organization's ineptitude on me! Your reply, beginning with "Well, M" is demeaning, if you wish to retain me as a member, reconsider your attitude when replying to editorial questions in the future.

Robin to Mensan:

Your birthday information is not lost. I checked the national database to determine what privacy flags you've checked, and it does appear that you have flagged your birthdate as information not to be shared outside of the National Office.

Generally, editors just pull each month's set of birthdays from the national database and publish it. If you have that checked as private, but you told previous editors of the newsletter to override that privacy concern, perhaps you told the former editor, not the current one. I know [previous editor] has been ill, and it might be that he neglected to pass that on to Mr. New Editor, who in turn, neglected to ask if there were any members who required special attention.

To update your Personal Data information and privacy options, please go to

https://www.us.mensa.org/pdq

You'll need your membership number and password to get in. If you do not have your password handy (it was on your renewal notice), you can contact webservices@americanmensa.org and they'll get it for you (when the office is open, of course).

Mensan to Robin:

I NEVER flagged anything!  There is no necessity for me to "update my personal information."   Please rectify this situation. 

Robin to Mensan:

Sir,

Your belligerent tone is inappropriate when asking for other volunteers to assist you. The default is to not release your private information. You apparently never chose to change that. However, if you will confirm that you are authorizing the following releases, I will forward your reply to the staff who will click the appropriate boxes for you when the office opens. If you want it changed sooner, you may do so yourself online at www.us.mensa.org/pdq .

Below are the ten options. Let me know if there are any you wish NOT to release to the general membership.

[list of options]

Mensan to Robin:

My "belligerent tone", as you call it, is because of having been ignored for two years.  The original reply from [the editor] set the hostile tone. To be instructed to correct something for which I am not responsible is annoying.  After all, I did not have the problem for 16 years, so why am I the one who has to correct it? 

and then he authorized all ten releases, which I forwarded to the staff at the office to check for him. Good thing, because my next reply was going to be something about "too much vinegar and not enough honey-- fix it yourself."

Wondering about the Job Descriptions

In addition to all the ASIEs, there are a pile of Job Descriptions for AMC members and other National Appointees and committees. Interestingly, some of those appointed positions do not have matching ASIE that established them or that outline what the AMC wants those positions to be doing. They just exist, and someone, somewhere, wrote job descriptions for them.


So now I am wondering:

* Who wrote them?

* How were they approved (and by whom)?

* Are they considered directives of the AMC in the same way committee charges are?

* What is the procedure for reviewing and updating them?

* Does anyone ever stop to ask if we still need those positions?

* Who is responsible for writing new job descriptions?

* To whom do they get turned in?

* What is trump when a job description conflicts with text in a handbook?

Looking at Prior research

As part of our work on the Local Group Service & Funding committee, we had to read and analyze some of the prior research. There was a lot to chew on, but our job was to focus on teasing out conclusions regarding

What members expect and require at the local level

Here are my conclusions.

Renewal Survey 2003 (lapsed members):

* Most lapsed member did not participate in anything.

* 31% did some Local Group things.

* Most joined to meet other smart people.

* Greatest reason (34%) for lapse was inability to participate in things.

* Other reasons for lapsing included low value to dues ratio, meetings not interesting, locations not convenient, LG not friendly , too expensive to participate, obnoxious members, wishing for more service opportunities.

Marketing Survey (aka Mensans 24-44 of Gen X Survey) 2005:

* People join to prove their intelligence and to find intellectual stimulation.

* They want others to plan convenient brainy activities for little money.

Forum Survey 2006:

* Online interaction is a good thing.

Mensa Bulletin Readership Survey 2006:

* Members like to read about science, social problems & solutions, and humor. (Presumably they also like to talk and listen about these topics.)

* Members want intellectual stimulation.

Local Group Funding Report 2006:

* Volunteers, more so than money, are the key to a LG being able to provide good service to its members (although adequate funding is still essential).

* Money does not buy talented and enthusiastic volunteers.

* Local volunteers should receive training and encouragement to use funds to expand existing or initiate new methods of member interaction.

Local Group Study (aka LocSec Survey) 2008:

* LocSecs’ greatest concern is lack of interest on the part of members.

* Their second greatest concern is lack of volunteers.

* The main reason people don’t volunteer is lack of time.

* To improve the group, LocSecs want more members, volunteers, and participation.

Governance Survey 2008:

* The core purpose of Mensa is social. The overriding thing we need to do to improve Mensa is get more members. And then, teach them how to interact and be social.

Crisis Solved!

People often wonder why there are so few "young" members in leadership positions (and oh, I do love that in Mensa, at least, mid-40s is still considered "young!").

I think that much of the reason is just age and stage of life. Members in their 30s and 40s are working and raising families, and simply can't give the big, consistent chunks of time and freedom to travel required for some of these positions-- like being on the AMC, for example.

The next AMC meeting is this weekend, As it happens, my husband has to travel for work this same weekend. And of course, the school arranged to have a teacher institute on Friday, making the childcare problem even more difficult. So we forked out a few hundred to fly my mother up from South Carolina to stay with the kids while I go to Dallas. We're not thrilled about the extra expense, but Mensa is my hobby, and all hobbies cost money. This is not a complaint.

But...

20 minutes ago, my mom called to say she's injured and not likely to be able to come this weekend to watch the kids. My plane ticket, and Matt's are already bought. We have no other family in the area who can watch the kids. I was going to start pricing two tickets so I can drag the kids along with me to Texas, but my $#^&! Internet is still being really wonky and I can't get through to Orbitz.

And then I called Beth Anne. With great enthusiasm, she jumped at the chance to drive to my place Friday, pick up the kids, and keep them all weekend long. Wow! So all is well, and I just have to board the dog for the weekend. Hooray! Thanks, Beth Anne! I totally owe you a few shots at Pretentious Drinking.

So back to Mensa.. as I see it, if we want "younger" members more involved, we need to embrace the attitude of "it takes a village."

The “Spirit of Volunteerism”

I have read that some members fear that the 2007 AG events and controversy has killed the “spirit of volunteerism.” That sounds dreadful and certainly antithetical to the Mensa as it has been for 60 years. But the more I think about it, the less I understand. What tasks previously done by volunteers are now being denied to them?

As far as the AG went, the paid staff were assigned only two roles: Hotel liaison and Treasurer. That’s it. They also assisted with logistics, registration, and beer keg schlepping. Other than that, Mensa members did everything: Chair, Registrar, Hospitality, Programs, AV, Action Desk, Kids Trek, LDWs, Tours, Games, Security…

Which members are no longer volunteering—and why? A quick look at my Local Group shows that we have openings for a:
• Scholarship Chair—the previous guy has gone underground since a painful breakup.
• Webmaster—the fellow who had been doing it has decided he should spend more time finding a better paying job.
• South Suburbs Area Coordinator—the lady who had that position for years has grown frail and ill.
• Monthly Meeting Hospitality—this has been open for more than a year because it’s a hard job that seems to bring more complaints than compliments (remember, Chicago’s Monthly Meetings are the size of many RGs). The one guy who had been doing a great job at it quit in disgust when members wouldn’t quit sticking their fingers in the chip dip. Fortunately, we have Stacey, who is always quick to pick up any slack, so the position is “open” for someone new, but the tasks are still being done—by a volunteer.

I see no connection between anything any local or national leader has done and these gaps in our volunteer roster.

How ’bout volunteering at the national event level? Let’s see…groups of members are still excited about hosting AGs. Groups of members are still bidding on MindGames. Several member-run colloquiums are in the planning stages. Members are planning and running LDWs all over the country. Even the grievously-offended-by-the-AG southern members are putting together an RG in Memphis and advertising it nation-wide.

So how, exactly, has the “spirit of volunteerism” changed?

Is Mensa Family-Friendly Enough?

It may be an urban vs rural issue. Chicago has kid stuff at its regular Monthly Meeitngs. Our RG has a kids track. I've dragged my twins, to meetings and dinners and RGs since they were toddlers. They seemed to be genuinely welcomed by the adults, who include them in board games, conversations, and invite them to unofficial parties.

I don't know what people mean when they wish for AML to become more family friendly. Families are allowed at most events. Many groups and RGs and all AGs plan kid activities. Dues are cheaper for family members. Short of legislating that children must always be allowed and welcomed at activities hosted by kid-free-by-choice members, I'm not sure what more a parent could want. If there are only barroom gatherings on your local calendar, then host your own playgroup. And if no one comes, consider that other members with children aren't looking for the same things you are or that they’re simply too booked with soccer and school and scouts and piano lessons and birthday parties and laundry and PTO and day camp and swimming and and...

As for the extra financial burden placed on families as opposed to singles, yes, of course it costs more to bring the entire family to a Mensa event. It also costs more at the grocery store, movie theaters, and dentist offices. I spend a lot of extra money for the joy of reproducing, but I would never expect that my child-free friends should share my financial burden when we all decide to go to Six Flags together.

So yeah, I think Mensa is adequately “family-friendly.”

Returning Mensa to the Members

During election season, several members posed questions to the candidates. Since I wasn’t running for anything and in fact, I was trying to facilitate the questioning and answering via the AML Forums, I refrained from offering my own thoughts on the issues. But now that is’ all over, those questions make for good jumping-off points for this blog.

Jared Levine asked:
What will you do to return "ownership" of AML to the members? i.e., taking away some of the tasks from the National Office staff and encouraging the members to undertake it (be it for the first time, or once again after the NO having done it for some years).

The members already “own” AML and they elect a handful of members to act as officers (or elect those who will appoint others, like me) to develop the policies and oversee that those policies and priorities are carried out. Those officers have, for decades, chosen to pay non-members to do some of the work that must get done in a consistent, timely manner. Despite how it seems, the National Office—the staff—do not dictate to members; they merely pass on information and requirements set by the AMC. Now, if you’re concerned that the AMC has taken over too much or that those 21 members have somehow forfeited their memberships, well then, that’s a different subject.

Anyway, what tasks do I think should be taken from the staff and assigned to member volunteers? Thinking about what each of these staffers does, here are ways I think we should increase the use of member volunteers:

• Dick—I’d love to see more member-generated professional-quality photography in the Bulletin.
• Paige—I’d like more Mensans to volunteer to call and sweet-talk lapsed members in April and May so the staff doesn’t have to stay late and do it. I think local volunteers should be more active in preparing and sending welcome packets to new members.
• Heather—Members should prepare and print clear financial reports instead of making her piece the information together from several sources. Members could also reliably report officer changes so Heather can spend more time on other membership-processing chores and less time reviewing newsletters for that information.
• Hilary—I’d like members to do more PR; they could send press releases to their local media outlets to promote testing and community activities. They could design, print, and distribute tear sheet ads and bookmarks.
• Catherine—I’d like Mensans to become involved in each state’s Gifted Children organization, including hosting a booth at the conventions. Members could also learn how to create connections with local generous corporate donors and advertisers.
• David—Members with expertise in corporate and IRS areas could assist their Local Groups with 990s, financial reporting, and other accounting needs.
• Howard—AG and colloquium committees could do their own high-quality and effectively maintained Web sites.
• Bryan—Members could keep track of their own passwords so Bryan can use more of his time to make the data-management processes more flexible for Local Groups.

What I’d really like to see is more members doing the tasks that paid staff in a Texas office can’t do as well—or in many cases, at all:
• Call new members and personally encourae them to come to an event
• Write articles for newsletters
• Create lively, inviting, interesting LG newsletters and Web sites
• Update local Web sites regularly
• Produce brilliant, witty lectures for podcasting
• Develop welcoming and Group-specific informational materials for new members
• Initiate and support unusual, intellectually stimulating events
• Arrange testing opportunities all over their Group’s area, including the outlying regions
• Team up to help with local schools’ gifted students’ programs, like science fairs and math competitions
• Enliven and promote their group’s online communities
• Organize Mensa-style enrichment activities for gifted children
• Raise funds to pay for exciting programming
• Personally recruit new members—widely
• Chat amiably with shy members
• Be vigilant about boorish members who might otherwise chase away newcomers

Using Paid Staff instead of Volunteers

There seems to be so much anger and resentment over the concept of paid staff in Mensa. If there are so many qualified volunteers with the time to do big tasks like running the national Website or editing the Bulletin, why do so many Local Groups, even giant ones like San Francisco and Chicago, have difficulty recruiting and keeping them? And of those qualified volunteers, how many of them would really be willing to take all the conflicting orders from members?

How many volunteers are available, during business hours, to answer 26,283 calls in a year? How many are available to score 4,369 tests? To process 5,107 offers of membership and 4,930 new memberships? How many are willing to sort and stuff materials for ~500 LG officers every month? How many will patiently provide forgotten passwords to ~50 members every month?

Which volunteers are best suited for processing credit-card payments and all of the daily cash receipts from dues, new members, testing and prior evidence? Who do you suggest to call members to follow up on declined or invalid cards and sends letters to members regarding NSF checks?

Who will volunteer to daily (during non-renewal-season) process more than 100 member data changes from the Web, more than 100 direct requests for testing information, 50 Mensa Home Test requests, 50 PDQ updates, 50 renewals, 30 address corrections from the U.S. Postal Service, 20 event transactions and 20 customer service emails? Which volunteer will process a 150 pieces of undeliverable mail each week, checking the database and contacting members for their new information?

Maybe it’s a generational thing, but I’d much rather hire people to do those chores so I can spend my volunteer time on more interesting, rewarding endeavors.