Welcome
to
Member Retention
Focus Question
How do I lead my
members for a period of time,
so they see themselves as a group of people
working together
to build something meaningful and amazing
that is worth staying around for…
despite all the challenges that never go
away?
Dimensions of Success
RESULTS
PROCESS
VISION
RELATIONSHIPS
Dimensions of Success
Vision - Picture of what you would like to see when
the project is complete; Keeping the end in mind
– What do we want to see when our work is complete – the “so
what”?
– Do all my stakeholders, particularly my members and sites, have
the same picture?
– Am I communicating the picture clearly to others?
Results - Achievement of the goal; Output,
Intermediate Outcome, End Outcome
– Are the results high quality? Timely? Desired by all?
– Do the results match the need?
– Do members and other stakeholders understand the problem you
are trying to address?
Dimensions of Success
Process - How the work gets done and is designed,
managed, monitored and evaluated
– Is the process clear and logical? efficient? appropriate for the task?
– Is the process developed and understood by all stakeholders?
Relationships – How people experience each other,
relate to the community, and feel about their
involvement and contribution
– Do team members/stakeholders feel supported? trust each other
and you? feel valued?
– Are team members recognized for their leadership styles, skills,
background, and knowledge?
Think about…
A time when you joined a team or project or
were part of a group/ effort/ initiative where
your commitment was strong and you stayed
until the end of the time commitment, despite
the stuff that was going in your world –
– What happened…what made it a success?
– What did you most value about the
commitment/team/project?
– What were the specific characteristics that made
it so successful?
NORTH
Asks:
WHAT?
The Leadership
Compass of
Success
Focus: Products, Results, Bottom Line
WEST
EAST
Asks: HOW?
Asks: WHY?
Focus: Process,
Planning, Details
Focus: Purpose,
Vision, Big Picture
SOUTH
Asks: WHO?
Focus: People, Team, Roles, Relationships
EAST – Why? – Purpose
At our best:
Taken to excess:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Bogged down by vision
• Lose focus, become
bored, drop the ball
• Overwhelmed by detail
• Highly enthusiastic then
burn-out
• Reputation as
undependable
See the big picture
Pull together pieces
Idea-oriented
Insight into mission
Overarching themes
Experiment, explore
Brainstorm possibility
Inspiring, exciting,
motivating
WEST – How? – Process
At our best:
Taken to excess:
• Practical,
dependable, thorough
in task situation
• Provide planning and
resources
• Lists, tables, tasks
• Follow procedures
• Analytical
• Benchmarks
• “Analysis paralysis”
• Stubborn and
entrenched in rules
• Mired in details
• Focused on data
• Withdrawn
• Resists change
• Can’t see big picture
NORTH – What? – Results
At our best:
Taken to excess:
• Assertive, active,
decisive
• In control, steer
course of events
• Quick to act, pace
• Enjoys challenges
• Bottom line
• Perseveres
• Bogged down by
need to press ahead
• Argumentative,
impatient, autocratic
• “Black & white”
• Impulsive
• Perceived as cold
• “I’ll do it myself”
SOUTH – Who? – Relationships
At our best:
Taken to excess:
• Allow others to feel
important and
involved in activity
• Use relationships to
accomplish task, goal
• Supportive, caring
• Trusting, intuitive
• Team player
• Validate roles and
contributions
• Bogged down when
relationship is
compromised
• Assume blame
• Trouble saying no
• Take it personally
• Manipulated by anger
• May “check-out” if
role is not validated
BALANCE
• We tend to get comfortable and are more
developed in one or two styles, but…
• We all have all four of these styles in us.
• We can use any style/approach to bring
balance to our ourselves, team or work:
Be “situational”
Leadership Compass Activity
For the sake of the activity, select ONE style that
tends to be most like you most of the time
(what energizes you?)
Go to that “direction” in the room
(North, South, East, West):
Next, introduce yourself to one another
Leadership Compass Activity
2. NOW, spend time focusing on the direction you are in:
- When I think about any project, team, or
initiative, what has to be in place for my
commitment to be strong ?
- Use the post-it notes from the earlier activity and expand
- Create summary statements that get at what is important
in this area
Leadership Compass Activity
2. NOW, focus on you and your program:
- In my AmeriCorps program, what excites me
the most? What keeps me engaged?
- What makes me most stressed? What causes
me to walk away or get frustrated? Where am I
challenged?
•
When I think about any project or team,
or initiative, what has to be in place for
Leadership Compass Activity
2. NOW, focus on the team – your members – as you
think about the direction you are in:
- If I was a member:
* what has to be in place to keep me engaged –
what ideas can we implement to ensure member
needs are met (think about all stages of recruitment,
selection, orientation, training, supervision,
communication, reflection, and recognition?
* what would serve as “break” factors - cause you
to disengage from others and the program?
•
When I think about any project or team,
Gallery Walk
• What stands out?
• What directions challenge you the
most?
• What pieces do you think affect
your retention rates?
Retention Reflection
1) Introduce yourselves;
2) Share your responses to the gallery
walk questions
Retention Reflection - VISION
•
•
•
•
Do I have a clear picture of why this
program exists? (GTD/SC/PD-ER/PD-EO)
Do my members have that same picture?
Do we create this picture together?
How do I communicate throughout the
year the vision we have co-created?
How do I bring them back to this vision as
the year progresses?
Retention Reflection - RESULTS
•
•
•
•
•
What are the results we expect to see in our
program? Do these match the vision and the 4
AmeriCorps areas?
Are these results about impact and not just
numbers?
Do my members understand the results? How do I
train and support them on this?
How do we demonstrate our success throughout
the year so members and others can see it?
What opportunities do I provide throughout the year
to reflect?
Retention Reflection RELATIONSHIPS
•
•
•
•
•
How do I build team among my members?
Throughout the year, what do I do to build
trust, esprit de corps and relationships?
How do members understand the
importance of their role in the program and
within the team?
How do I build individual and group
relationships with my members?
How do I support my members throughout
the year?
Retention Reflection - PROCESS
•
•
•
How do I communicate to my members all
that this program is about and all that is
required throughout the year?
How do I support my members in
understanding and following through on
what is expected of them?
What tools, documents, systems support
this understanding in the recruitment,
selection, orientation, training and
supervision phases?
Where do I find EnCorps?
 The Resource Center:
http://www.nationalserviceresources.org
 Bookmark the URL:
http://encorps.nationalserviceresources.org