Reorganizing for the new economy

Published 2:00 am Thursday, June 24, 2010

Recently I spoke to a professional organization representing manufacturers, distributors and suppliers for an industry. The organization was experiencing some “growing pains” given the current economy. Several members felt the industry had changed enough that the organization might no longer be needed.

There had been much consolidation in the industry with fewer manufacturers of the product. In the past, these manufacturers had more discretion about the types and formulations of products they offered and often their customers came directly to this group asking for various new products. The situation had changed with more regulation and standard products and the size of their market has also declined given the issues with the U.S. economy since late 2007.

A larger professional organization represented the larger industry of which this group was a part but some of the members were not in favor of disbanding their group. They felt their voice would be lost or forgotten within the larger group. The executive director asked me to lead a seminar on networking with the group to decide which way they should go. She believes the group to be at a major crossroads and uncertain about the future.

I understood her problem since many business and professional organizations I belong to are experiencing similar issues of trying to reformulate their mission and purpose and yet stay current and relevant given the fast changes taking place around them. I realized too that networking seemed to be describing strategic planning for the future. While many groups moan and groan about having to spend a sunny day inside a hotel conference room talking about strategic planning, this group did not. It has been a long time since they’d had this discussion and most were at the meeting to decide whether to keep it active or to disband.

I knew this would be a challenging assignment. Following a long conference call with the past president of the group I arrived early to talk with several members informally. I realized there were senior members in the group who needed to be heard. There were also brand new members who didn’t really understand the mission and direction of the group. Other members were polarized.

Prior to the meeting, I passed out several worksheets with five square Post-It notes at each seat along with a pen. Around the room I had posted six large white flip chart sheets on the wall. I told the group a little about changes in our local Dalton floorcovering industry and gave several examples from business and education organizations I belong to.

I even told them the story of the March of Dimes established in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt to save Americans and particularly America’s youth from polio through a partnership of volunteers and researchers. Within 17 years the Salk vaccine was developed and the original mission of curing polio, also a disease shared by President Roosevelt, had been met. However, the dynamic partnership and group remained. With polio eradicated the organization has transitioned to save babies from birth defects, low birth weight and prematurity through parent education and health care. The group understood everyone has to reinvent themselves.

First, we quickly reviewed the current mission/purpose statement of the organization I had copied from their website. To start the group talking I had a hand-held microphone I simply handed to members around the room and asked them had their purpose changed and had other organizations assumed part of their original mission. I also asked what they, individually, thought the group should do and to identify some of their common interests.

The comments were wide and varied. I started with a senior member of the group and my next person was a “talker” I had met earlier in the hall. Soon everyone wanted their voice heard and didn’t mind me handing them the microphone. I would sit in an empty chair in various places around the room so I wouldn’t be standing over them and so the rest of the members could focus on the speaker. This helped the person to talk a bit longer and have time to air their ideas and get their point across. I didn’t miss any of the 30 or so members in the room. An international member new to the group was the only one without a comment and he mentioned he was just there to learn.

After all had a chance to comment, I asked them to take a few minutes and “scan their environment” and work alone to list issues related to their industry in the following categories: legal, social, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and other. Then after 10 minutes, I asked them to list the top five items from any of the categories that they felt were the most critical. They noted the items individually on their Post-It notes and I asked them to place them on the appropriate white sheets around the room as they left for a quick break.

During the break, I pulled the president and the executive director of the organization aside and asked them to identify seven people to head each category. They knew the politics and history of the group and quickly identified my individuals. I stationed these individuals at the white board and asked four other members, at random, to join them to quickly organize and group the comments to report to the group.

After 10 minutes, I walked from group to group asking the appointed leader to identify the key points from the comments on the Post-It notes. The field of quality management calls this exercise the “Affinity Diagram” where many ideas are generated and grouped. After the presentations the group members seemed to have found their purpose. Given the ideas, the group decided that networking was in order and we discussed a number of ideas to disseminate information to the group including e-mail blasts to members, an updated website, more social networking (Facebook fan page, LinkedIn), a blog, better use of their quarterly newsletter and member surveys. We discussed too what new committees might be added to better reflect the group’s needs and interests.

After the 90-minute session, the executive director removed the sheets from the room and rolled them up to have for future strategic planning and to help guide her in planning topics for future meetings. Perhaps this technique can help in your planning as well.

Marilyn M. Helms is the Sesquicentennial Chair and Professor of Management at Dalton State College’s School of Business and welcomes your comments at mhelms@daltonstate.edu.