Chrismas is fast approaching and organisations up and down the UK are changing up a gear. December isn't just about festive food and drink; if you work with a professional membership association its a critical time to review your year; streamline your administration processes and engage your team.
Future proof
Careful planning is paramount as the year approaches its end, especially with many organisations soon to shut down for Christmas. Remember to reflect on previous year's strategies, recognise areas of improvement and set milestones for 2024
List any and all administration tasks that need to be completed before the year end, always keeping in mind your organisation/s strategic plan. Take into account any of your fellow Board or admin colleague's annual leave and year-end financial tasks.
Communicate
When you're part of a professional membership association, keeping in touch is critical; not only with your members, but also your colleagues. Keeping all informed of any Christmas policies and office closures is vital to the day-to-day running of your organisation. When circulating your Christmas newsletter to members, also keep in mind your internal team and any updates you may need to send them
Engage
Fostering a sense of community will help you lay the groundwork for your organisation's success in the new year, creating an opportunity to reinforce your association's vision and mission. There's no better time to keep up the communication with your members as they may be experiencing some down-time on the weeks coming upto Christmas.
Process
How long have you been using the same procedure for day to day tasks? is there any room for improvement or streamlining? Time permitting, revisit your financial processes; people often find that once analysed, there's room for a process or procedure to be simplified,
For example, would there be a benefit to using a new software to create your budgets or conduct expense reports? Would this allow some steps to be omitted? (eg circulating spreadsheets or requesting manual edits)
Reflect
Reflection is key to the growth and development of your association. Be critical and recognise your areas for improvement, not forgetting to spread your gratitude and appreciation to those you work with. When Christmas finally gets here, ensure you are making the time to relax to avoid burn out
How can we help
At Cynul, we work with partnership wth our clients as trusted advisors to the Board. We can undertake a full range of membership, secretariat and bookeeping services as well as offering advice and support to associations around the UK. if you want to explore how these services could help you organisation please get in touch with us https://membershipsolutionscentre.com/supplier/cygnul-ltd/