These days, with text and internet speak, many of us look for the most efficient routes of communication. In this environment acronyms have become extraordinarily prevalent.
In the business world you may be familiar with acronyms like FIFO (first in first out), ISO (international standards organisation) and SNAFU (situation normal all fouled up!). In BNI we have our own acronyms, including CATS (Chapter Accountability Tracking System).
CATS measures the number of internal referrals, external referrals, dollar value of all referrals, visitors brought and attendance at meetings. The report is for everybody in the chapter not just the Leadership Team and the Membership Committee. All members in a chapter should be concerned about the level of activity of members and the results they are getting.
Why CATS?
Without CATS it’s difficult to get a sense of who is doing great, and who needs mentoring and support. Everybody in the chapter needs to contribute.
CATS is a sophisticated measure of performance that gives different weightings to the activities that lead to closed business. This is how CATS is calculated:
- Plus 1 for each dance.
- Plus 1 for every internal referral.
- Plus 1 for every $1000 of closed business given credited to the member.
- Plus 2 points for every external referral.
- Plus 2 points for every visitor recorded against the member’s name
- Less 2 points for each absence without a substitute.
It’s great when someone demonstrates commitment by being active, but unless we take results into account when assessing someone’s performance we may miss the opportunity to help that person be active and great at the same time.
Ideally someone who is REALLY active is doing so with great skill, and is getting results for the members. One person who has achieved a high CATS score and has some tips for other chapters on using CATS is celebrant Sarah Bloxham who is the President for BNI Means Business.
She advises chapters should:
- Share the report each month in the meeting and be used and understood by all members so there’s a greater sense of accountability.
- Use the report to set goals – both short-term and long-term. This may mean increasing the number of dances held per member over a period or raising the amount of business generated over a term.
- Use the report to assess the overall performance of your chapter and members.
CATS is the mechanism for assessing givers’ gain in your chapter and when used correctly benefits us all by making our chapters healthy and successful.
