Chapter Structures: Maximizing Attraction, Engagement and Retention

1. Chapter Structures: Maximizing Attraction, Engagement and Retention Done By: Kalyani (Uvic) David (UofT) Kyla (Mcmaster) Evan (MUN) Ashley (Umanitoba) George (SFU) Yasaman (Regina) Jad (Concordia) Marie-Pier (Sherbrooke)

2. AER Definition Attract: Initial connection Engage: Increased interest and connection Retain: Self motivated and long-term commitment

3. Attraction – First Contact School Out-reach in High-School (MUN exec members recruited since high-school) Club days kiosk Class Announcements Invite people to fun first-week activities! Make sure your chapter is visible on campus

4. Attraction - Action Strategies Ice breaker events such as: Rock for Change (Local bands perform as an EWB event and instigates people to join- UVic, UNB) Invites to retreats in the Fall right after FROSH (Waterloo, UNB, McGill)

5. Attraction - Action Strategies Organizing first time meetings- make it fun and fresh so new members associate that with EWB! Classroom take-overs (Laval)- word to mouth, face to face conversations: recruiting people from your own discipline.

6. Attraction - Action Strategies Introduce JF Programs, people who apply get involved! Presentations from previous JF experiences attracts people (combined with a fun activity like a barbeque) Know who you are attracting (faculty members, students)

7. Attraction - Action Strategies Try to find a charismatic person to attract students and make them feel comfortable. Make sure to mention that EWB is about personal development, and not JUST Engineering Be friendly! Don’t scare them away! Have high energy and be motivated!

8. Attraction - Action Strategies New member! Bring a friend! We have attracted people now, will they stay interested?

9. Engagement – How? • Early chapter retreats • Waterloo, McGill, Calgary, UNB, MUN, UBC, SFU, McMaster • Well organized and planned retreat to connect new and old members and solidify culture of the chapter • Great energy booster and source of motivation • Sometimes attendance is the major issue. Generally those who attended stayed engaged, those who did not slipped away • Introduce year plan and see if there are new ideas

10. Engagement – How? • Speed-dating • Guelph and Waterloo • Big first meeting, new members free to talk to program areas that interest them • Get them signed up right away, they leave having a task to accomplish within the next couple of weeks • Waterloo’s executive had one on one’s with the members who signed up for their program area to build stronger connections to the chapter and create a team

11. Engagement – How? • Keep in mind people who don’t want a defined task or responsibility right away • Some encourage that members speak to every program area to learn about each and understand which they are or are not interested

12. Engagement – Activities • Engage quickly in activities: • UNB, USask, MUN, UMan, Ureg and more! • Events that easy to volunteer at • Bbq, coffee club, bridging the gap, steak nights, potlucks, pumpkin drops, kegger • Things that you have run before, require little or no new innovation, therefore low stress • Can include retreat • Naked bbqs!?!?! How can EWB stand out during this early flurry of campus activity?

13. Engagement – Work Meetings • Working meetings • MUN • Engages all members who want to work • Can see and hear other teams working, can contribute • Feel like part of the full team • Cuts down on time commitment outside of scheduled meetings, reduces stress • Motivating, exciting

14. Engagement – Work Meetings Celebrate afterwards Use working meetings to explore new possibilities, new events etc. How else can meetings be varied?

15. Engagement – 1 On 1’s • One on one for new members • UReg, Waterloo, SFU, UOIT, U of T • Team Leaders/VPs meet the members of their team personally to discuss the work they will be doing as well as chapter “basics” • Focus on getting to know them and making them feel comfortable • Don’t intimidate, leave open space • Can be hard to organize, especially with a lot of people • Waterloo distributes their coaching throughout the various levels of their chapter

16. Engagement – Inclusion • Exec culture of inclusion • Western • Talk to new members at the end of meetings • Invite them out (to events, dinner, hiking, naked bbqs, etc) • Demonstrate that their views are valued and sought • Self awareness of how you are communicating. Try not to speak down to new members • Make all conversations accessible. Create an environment where there are no stupid questions • Include them in your year plan

17. Engagement – Orientation • EWB Orientation Program (UofT) • Was run right after Frosh week activities • Stretched over a month, people come by and they figured out what they want to do • A lot of commitment to come out to a session every week, people are looking for a quick volunteer commitment • A lot of resources needed • Learning: Find a way to condense the information you want people to learn, and find a way to emphasize they should learn about all activities before settling down into something

18. List of Retention Strategies National Conference Giving members a voice Member appreciation Encourage leadership roles

19. Retention - National Conference (All chapters) • Sending new chapter members to conference • Pros: • High success rate • Where the members get in contact with the overall organization, where they see the vision/mission/values • Cons: • Limits the number of experienced member delegates • Cost

20. Retention - Giving members a voice (UofT, SFU, others) • Encouraging new members to voice their own ideas and opinions during meetings without being shot down • Shows that they are able to contribute to the organization • Pros: • Member feels welcome to the chapter • They are more inclined to continue going to meetings

21. Retention – Member Appreciation (SFU, Laval, UfA) • SFU hosted monthly potlucks • Laval gave positive feedback to volunteers after every session • UofA gave awards for accomplishments of new members (not too serious) • Pros • Members feel good • Chapter bonding • Higher chance of retaining • Cons • Might exclude other members

22. Retention - Encourage Leadership Roles (MUN, McMaster) • Take new members, place them into leadership positions (in charge of a project) • Pros • Members feel important, that they contribute greatly to the organization • Cons • Failure is possible, in case of MUN and Mac, they both over pushed in some cases

23. Retention - General Tips Appreciate small things that members do (UofT) Communicate that the chapter always needs extra help Believe in your chapter!

24. What are the different structures of Professional Organizations? There are 3 different types of Organizational Structures: a) Functional Organization b) Pure Project Organization c) Matrix Organization type (hybrid of a & b) Each has advantages and disadvantages

25. The Functional Organization

26. The Functional Organization Advantages: Team Work! The chain of hierarchy is linear and sound People are arranged on the basis of their common interests, therefore they can learn a lot from each other Individual experts can be utilized by many different projects Specialists in the division can be grouped to share knowledge and experience Disadvantages: Usually no individual is given full responsibility for the project There are often several layers of management between the project and the client The organization slow and inflexible Skills and abilities of members are narrowed to one specific area Difficult to find out who is efficient in his work and who isn’t

27. The Pure Project Organization

28. The Pure Project Organization Advantages: The project manager has full line authority over the project All members of the project work force are directly responsible to the project manager When the project is removed from the functional division, the lines of communication are shortened When there are several successive projects of a similar kind, the pure project organization can maintain a permanent cadre of experts who develop skills in specific technologies Disadvantages: Each project tends to be fully staffed which can lead to duplication of efforts Pure project groups seem to promote inconsistency in the way in which policies and procedures are carried out

29. The Matrix Organization

30. The Matrix Organization Advantages: Makes use of the entire reservoir of talents and technology Better integration and communication between functional departments Balance and effectiveness in resources utilization Higher staff moral and better career progression Individuals can be chosen according to the needs of the project Project managers are directly responsible for completing the project within a specific deadline and budget. (people are held accountable!) Disadvantages: Might have two bosses over the individual Problems for Project managers without strong negotiating skills If teams have a lot of independence, they can be difficult to monitor