Matthew Rathbun’s Share-Spot

What's The Plan, Man?

While walking through my office today, I saw a little wallet size card, called "One Year - Six Goals" and because it reminded me of a religious track that one might find in a public restroom from 1989 I had to pick it up. When I actually opened it, I realized that it was anything but. VAR had put onto an eye-catching, trendy card a summary of where they were headed in the next year. Brilliant.

Keep it Simple and Keep it Interesting

I know I don't say so enough, but I was immediately impressed with the pointedness, who was in charge and what the card had to say. See, in the process of going from Realtor to Association staff and then back to Realtor, I've kind of gotten lost in the shuffle of what's going on. I had not really been paying much attention to what was going on and what the Association was up to.  When I picked up this small 8-paneled card, I was easily able to read without salesy Association-gibberish exactly what direction we were going - I felt up to date and didn't have to read a legal size chart of 14 pages of strategic plan to get there. I've been incredibly fond of the direction that VAR communications has taken for some time. The recent editions of Commonwealth Magazine, the Association Blog and the Convention makeover have all been outstanding. The best I've seen in the industry. Goal 4 hit me "Use the expertise of more of our members to help all our members". I went to the website on the card and found this information:

Project: Leveraging your expertise for the good of the profession and enhancing your value proposition Leader: Scott Brunner, Chief Executive Officer At its core, VAR is its members. And while most of our 30,000 members didn’t join VAR just to be a volunteer, the services we deliver are only as good as the member expertise Realtor® leaders provide in their state and local associations. We simply wouldn’t be effective without our volunteers — hundreds of committee members, directors, liaisons, officers, and others just like you. That’s why in 2010, we’ll be doing more to identify members with critical expertise in key subject areas on which VAR is working, and engage those members in the effort. The result, we believe is better policy proposals, better programs and services and better overall member value. At the same time, it’s true that not every Virginia Realtor® has time to volunteer with the association. But every member should feel engaged in and served by VAR. In the year ahead, we’ll be looking to enhance your connection to VAR by creating a variety of tools and touchpoints that reinforce the value you receive for that dues check you stroke once a year.

I think VAR has always done a pretty good job of this, but I had never heard put so succinctly. I've traveled and taught for many Realtor Associations and just this past week I've had conversations with several staffers (usually those responsible for Education) in three different states, that have had issues with volunteer involvement. The most talented volunteers are rarely able to deal with committees and politics. They also seem to have a lot less time to give. I've lived both the life of the volunteer as well as staff and I understand the lack of time and interest that plagues the Realtor, as well as the frustration of the (usually) overworked Staffer. We Realtors seem to be incredibly blessed with an over-abundance of ideas and advice, but little to no follow through.   And before those who are involved get irritated, look around.  What percentage of your overall membership is engaged? Oh sure, we're happy to blog and chatter about what Association leadership isn't doing or why staff can't just.....fill in your opinion here. But often we're not interested in participating to make things better. Many people, outside of those voted into leadership have skills and abilities we wish to share. But why? I was reading a blog post of Lani Rosales from Agent Genius earlier about the emerging of changes in Brokerage models, and found a great video that she shared. It's well worth the time to watch and whereas it fits well with her blog post, I think it also explains ALOT about the dilemma that Realtor Associations face when recruiting and keeping good volunteers.  And why I've backed away from much of that life-style.

Confession of an Association Burn-Out

The presentation above spoke to me. I was happy and motivated when surrounded by a team of people who where enthusiastic and engaged. I was thrilled to go somewhere with a project or opportunity that actually built tools or made the industry better, but inevitably as soon as any project became popular everyone becomes interested. It becomes politicized and now we need more committees and more oversight. This issues isn't at all unique to Real Estate. I've been volunteering with civic organizations since my mid-teems and it's always the same. With the Realtor Association, it's a bit different in that there is typically so many varied needs that not everyone sees the benefit of every project. We're a diverse group and no one thing is going to appeal to the entire membership, this is hard for many dedicated or creative people.  Typically those gifted with creativity or skills are not gifted with tolerance for  hierarchy or bureaucracy. If I could recommend a few things that might help Associations with keeping their volunteers, it would be this:

• Stop having committee meetings for everything! Have task groups, only invite those that can contribute and don't invite those who just want to "make sure it goes right". The knee-jerk reaction to most organizations is to take complainers and tell them to get involved in a particular project if they have issues with it. This is deflating for most people. I don't want to have to show up to a meeting and spend 75% of my time trying to get the minority on board.  When the task is complete, so is the task force.
• Stop trying to make everything one size fits all. If your education plan appeals to tech savvy, fast moving, laptop-bringing agents than own it. If your publications bring fire from people who want to hear less about new trends and more about how to call from a phone book, give them editions of a 1995 marketing class - they won't know the difference anyway. If your members don't show up to meetings because they don't like the new chair, then tell them to find a group that they do like.
• No more leading by Clairvoyance. So often organizations die because when a project is announced, so many people "see" future problems. Look, people are going to get upset no matter what you do. Be Creative anyway. Be a Visionary anyway. Be Awesome, anyway.  Just because your leadership is typically "veteran" agents doesn't mean that you should neglect your innovative newcomers.  And we should stop assuming that "veteran" agents aren't also innovative and longing for something-anything new.
• If you don't have the people, than don't do it. Association staff and volunteers are limited resources. If there aren't enough people than there aren't enough. I find that often in all sorts of organizations, people try to cling to committees and projects that are dead. If you find that you'd don't have the folks for your functions, projects and socials than clearly you don't have enough vision to keep doing them. You often hear "But, the people who did show up enjoyed it". So?!?! If your programs don't have attendance than why kill yourself for the interested few, if it was that great why aren't they bringing more people with them?  I think that most people tell Association Leadership that they like a particular program to make leadership/staff feel better about low turnout.  If you have the same event again without increase, consider doing it differently.
• Scarcity and uniqueness drives interest - not ubiquity. When Associations do find something that people like, the Associations tend to do it over and over again until it dies. It's great that it was a success. What can we do different? People get bored easily in this culture. You're annual [fill in your event here] was a success last year, but after three years it's just the same old thing unless YOU make it different. Do fewer and more interesting actives and events.

I am sure there are more that you can add and I'm sure that better minds than mine will find fault with all of this, but I crave something different. I'm always looking for something new to do and engage in and I know that I'm not alone.