Hi Everyone,
Welcome to your roles as Education Coordinator for your chapter.
I am Richard Foulkes, a BNI Director Consultant of 11 chapters in Auckland. I have been involved in BNI as a Member and now a director for over ten years. I am super passionate about BNI and what it can do for members. I have visited overseas BNI chapters and BNI chapters around New Zealand and I spend countless hours working on and studying BNI.
I believe BNI is proven to work worldwide and we just need to educate our members on that system and that following it with passion and fun means they too will find it rewarding. So, my goal each week is to make it easy for you to start the meeting with a THREE to FIVE minute education that helps your chapter and members get more!
This message is longer and more involved than it will be in subsequent weeks as it is also explaining what we are trying to do so please bear with me and read it thoroughly.
So, each week you will receive from BNI Support an email like this with a suggested Education Nugget for the week. This email also goes to the President as they need to know what you might be educating the chapter about. The email will include a PowerPoint you can use in the meeting (or print and present from), a link to a video explaining the why and how of the education, links to relevant podcasts and any other materials or documentation that would help you to get the education across.
These education nuggets will each week be primarily focused on education on how members can get more from their BNI membership. Occasionally we may move away from this but we believe you can best serve the chapter by helping improve the chapter.
Your role is to study the material and present it with verve, energy, flair, passion and excitement as even the most compelling of material can be made uninteresting by the presenter and conversely the worst material can be made interesting by the presenter. Just think of your Favourite song ruined by the worst singer!
You can also not use this material at all or dip in and out of it as you see a need but researching and presenting your own material will take more time. I’ve done the hard work for you!
The education will always follow the format of why, what and how and ask for members to take action to achieve the why.
And the concept is over time, inch by inch, week by week help the chapter move forward so at the end of 6 months or 3 years you see a general level of engagement and results that make the chapter even better to be part of.
We will be following a programme of education which runs alongside the flow of the leadership team. We will keep you updated as to what the next ten or so weeks will cover so you can see if your chapter has a particular need for an education when it might be coming up. Not surprisingly most chapters have the same education needs! And if you want me to cover a topic, please let me know, the list is endless.
The programme for the next ten weeks is:
Week 1 Leadership Team Vision and Goals
Week 2 Leadership Team Roles
Week 3 VCP
Week 4 Attendance
Week 5 Raps and Referrals (I have) Part 1
Week 6 Raps and referrals (I have) Part 2
Week 7 Visitors (also including how to invite through the App)
Week 8 Too busy for BNI?
Week 9 Effective One to Ones
Week 10 Level of Referrals (referral quality)
So, looking at Week 1 Leadership:
We think that most Presidents will want to say something at the start of their term. So, this week you get a hall pass and they can work with you and use the education time for this purpose. To give them some guidance, this nugget has really valuable information for your chapter about what your leadership team is trying to help the chapter achieve over the next 6 months.
The PowerPoint, as attached, needs information entered for your chapter’s vision, current performance and what your leadership team’s goals are. You will need to edit this for your chapter. You can add or delete slides as you see a need. The video explains how to create a vision if your group doesn’t have one and how to calculate the existing numbers and create some goals.
You only have a few days to do this and you can do it over the phone with your president if you don’t have them to hand. The video on the link below of me is about 6 minutes long, subsequent weeks these will be shorter as there are some introductory comments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acUwa1PreBY
Also, worth listening to, is this podcast from Dr Ivan Misner, the BNI Founder: https://www.bnipodcast.com/2017/08/16/four-pillars-of-a-successful-bni-group-rebroadcast/
So, good luck with the education (PRESIDENTS) and remember it’s not just what you say it is how you say it.
Kind Regards,
Richard Foulkes
BNI Director Consultant – Auckland
