Writer and humourist Jarod Kintz once noted:
“Networking is more quality, and less quantity. It’s better to form a solid connection with one new person, than a liquid connection with ten. You don’t want people to think you drink too much.”
Creating quality connections with people is a goal of networking in BNI. One chapter – BNI Achievers – makes goal setting and achievement a key part of each weekly meeting. In order to do this they put up a slide with their chapter’s goals at weekly meetings.
Catherine Murray, President for BNI Achievers in Auckland and Director for The HR Department, says putting the chapter’s goals up at each meeting helps engage all the members of the chapter. Members buy into the goals which means there is a much higher likelihood of achieving them. It’s also very positive in terms of visitors because those attending a meeting see that the chapter as a whole has direction and is on a growth path.
The goals that are discussed aren’t just related to money. They include:
- How many members do we want the chapter to grow to?
- What is the figure for closed business you want to reach and where are we tracking from Jan 2015?
- What number of quality referrals as a group do we want to aim for each month?
- Looking at your current meeting attendance rate – what percent can you raise that to?
- Who has completed training – has the entire chapter attended MSP training?
The goals are short, specific and numbers are attached to each. Providing figures is fantastic for visitors because they can see how your chapter works and what it can do for them. This is one of the reasons why it is so valuable to make your goals visible. It also moves the decisions from solely the Leadership Team to the chapter as a whole. This strengthens chapters by making them more collaborative and consensual in their decision making.
Quality is always emphasised at BNI Achievers so the referrals aimed for are ones that provide real income for members and growth for businesses. The goals provide a challenge for the chapter, but at the same time are realistically achievable and easy to understand.
Any chapter can follow BNI Achievers’ lead and draw up their own set of goals to be discussed at meetings. Why not try it next week? Track where you are at and make plans for the future – that’s the way to grow your chapter and the businesses in it.
It’s almost the middle of the year – so what are your chapter’s goals for the close of 2015?
