BNI Chapters that succeed the most follow the BNI system closely and have enormous fun at the same time. As Dr. Ivan Misner says, “you have to keep the FUN in the fundamentals”.
Fun with no system doesn’t work, it’s a coffee group. System with no fun, why would you want to attend?
Good attendance is a key part of the BNI system, chapters with poor attendance (less than 90% on average of members attending each week) typically have poor member retention (seems counter-intuitive but it’s true) fewer overall results and their meetings aren’t as much fun. It’s the opposite low attendance is no fun. After 30 years BNI knows the attendance guidelines are set at a level that if followed are fundamental to member and chapter success.
Chapters that have good attendance don’t apply the membership rules in a draconian manner. It’s the opposite, attendance is good because there is a culture of caring. They care about being at the meeting to learn from each other, they care about the featured presenter having gone to a lot of effort with their presentation, they care about accountability, they care about the chapter and most importantly they care about each other. If members are absent, they care enough to find out why.
So how do we create a culture of caring about attendance? It’s rather easy. For this education, you do need to know who in the chapter members should let know if they can’t attend due to a late illness or late notice event. Usually, it would be the Vice President, but it needs to be a sole person otherwise no one knows who has contacted who.
Who cares?
Who hear cares about the chapter and the other members? We all do. Great.
Who cares about what’s happening to members that aren’t here at the meeting and if they are, ok? We all do. Great, we’ve got a good chapter culture when we care about each other and how we are doing.
We Care
Because we care and it’s courteous to stop us worrying, if you are unable to attend at short notice, please show you care by letting us know why and that you are ok or not before the meeting. Just text the VP and put our minds at ease.
Show you care a bit more
We all know that feeling at the meeting when more than a few members are away, and they knew they were going to be away well in advance and they didn’t care enough about the chapter to arrange a substitute. Don’t be that person. Show you care about the meeting vibe, the other members, their sales pitches, their feature presentations, their referrals, and visitors by sending a substitute.
Sometimes sharing isn’t caring
In these times it’s perfectly acceptable to not attend if you are unwell (at short notice). Just let us know you aren’t coming; it counts as an absence but that’s what absences are for.
Everyone Cares
If we truly care about each other and the chapter let us know if you aren’t going to attend and why before the meeting. And if you know you are going to be away, show you care by sending an appropriate substitute.
