Building a High Powered Program Board, Part Two

Posted by: Del Suggs - Saltwatermusic.com

Last month I discussed organizational matters (officers, titles, responsibilities, and membership) to improve efficiency, performance, and diversity.   I also covered office hours, and the need for structure to improve your program board.  Even if your board is functioning well, there is nearly always room for improvement. 

In this column, I’ll deal with time management tools, and conflict resolution.  Perhaps you’ll get some ideas here that you can use to take your board to the next level.  It’s all part of building a High-Powered Program Board.

 

Time Management Tools

There never seems to be enough time to do everything.  And yet, some folks get much more work done than others.  A lot of productive people use good time management tools.  Such tools enable you to do more work in less time, and assist you in doing a better job.  While it’s important to work quickly, it’s even more important to do the best job you can.

First of all, have a good scheduling system.  It doesn’t matter if you use a Blackberry or another PDA, a Day Planner, a plain old calendar, or a pad of sticky notes.  What does matter is that it work for you, and that tasks don’t go uncompleted or forgotten.

Everything you do in programming, from scheduling events to promotion to election of members, has a deadline and a timeline.  A deadline, of course, is when something needs to be completed.  A timeline is a list of actions that must be completed-- and when they must be complete-- in order to meet the deadline.   

 

Timelines Matter

Create a timeline for your events by listing everything that needs to be done, starting at the end.  Do it like a David Letterman “Top Ten List.” 

Let’s use my concert for an example.  Take a page and have two vertical columns labeled “Date” and “Action.”  List the concert as the at the bottom of the page:  “Del Suggs Concert.”  Then list the date of the event to the “Date” side:  let’s say “February 14.” Above concert write:  “put up posters, and start publicity blitz.”  Since you want to do that a week before the show, count back seven days, and write “February 7” in the date column.  Say the campus newspaper comes out on the first of the month.  Write “Newspaper story” as an action.  Then find out the deadline for that issue of the paper-- it may be five to seven days before publication.  When your find out, fill in that date: “January 21.”

When you’ve finished this action and date list, you’ll have a timeline for everything that needs to be done for the event.  Try this for your programs.  It’s like an old school “To Do List” only with the deadlines for each item.  It’s a great way to both break down the big event into smaller tasks, and to make sure that the tasks are completed at the proper time.

 

Using a Form

Schedules and forms are excellent ways to manage the myriad of tasks involved in activities programming.  I’ve drafted a “Campus Event Form” and posted it at my website for your use.  Go to www.SaltwaterMusic.com, and click on the “Ed Resources” link in the menu bar.  Near the bottom of the page is the form (it is a PDF, so you’ll view it with Adobe Acrobat Reader).

This form covers most of the steps involved in presenting an event on campus.  Each item (such as “Request Contracts” or “Reserve Venue”) has a line for you to date and initial upon completion.  The idea is to have a list of everything that needs to be done, and to keep a record of when it gets done.  Feel free to change it in any way to fit your own program board needs.  I really believe you’ll find it helpful.

You can always create your own forms, too, for completing frequent yet complex tasks. For example, I have a personal form I created for tracking every single concert or lecture I present.  At the top, I have blanks for the school, date, showtime, topic, and all those little details about the actual event.  Then I have a date and checklist of business matters, such as “Contracts Sent,” “Contracts Returned,” “Promotional Material Sent,” and more.  At the bottom is pertinent information such as “Accommodations,” “Directions to Campus,” and a general “Remarks.”  I even have a blank for “Thanks to:” that I complete immediately after the show, so I don’t forget the people who helped me out when I was visiting your campus. 

 

All That?

Do I have to have a form for all of this?  Probably not, because after more than 750 college appearances I know what needs to be done.  But you and your student programmers probably don’t have that depth of experience.  In fact, some of your board members won’t even know everything that must be done, much less when it should be done.  That’s why a form can be so helpful.

And, it makes things simple because I can look at the form and see exactly when I send posters to a campus, rather than having to go to my computer database and search.  I generally apply Occam’s Razor to my use of technology.  In Latin, “entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,” which translates to “entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.”  To paraphrase-- simpler is better!

 

Resolving Conflicts

Let’s look briefly at conflict resolution.  Every program board has conflicts and disagreements between members.  Why are there conflicts?  Let me give you five quick causes of conflict:

 

• Interdependence:  Every member of the board depends on other members for help and support.
• Differences of Values, Goals, or Beliefs: Board members can be diverse, and have widely varying assumptions of worth, what is important, and even basic ideas.
• Stress: Program board members have an important job to do in producing major events on campus. Sometimes they actually have to take exams and write papers, too!
• Scarce Resources: Imagine a program board meeting when the homecoming budget just got slashed after the planning was completed. Who gets their event cut?
• Uncertainty:  Not knowing the outcome of an issue, problem, or concern.

It can be difficult to resolve conflicts.  One reason is the concept of winning and losing.  If you feel strongly about something, then stepping back from that conviction might make you feel like you lost the conflict.  Nobody likes to lose.

Another reason is sometimes referred to as “zero-sum.”  That’s like a balanced budget, where in order have one thing you have to eliminate something else.  So, in order for the conflict to be resolved, some one has to give up something.

The last reason conflicts can difficult to resolve can be the famous divorce term: “irreconcilable differences.”  Some times the sides just can’t be resolved.  In that case, you have to agree to disagree and move on.  But when that happens, you can count on conflict recurring.

 

Conflict Management and Strategies

Here are some ways to handle conflict.  See which strategy works best for you and your program board.

 

• Competition: Essentially, having each side compete against each other. You might see this as a discussion and vote on the matter.
• Accommodation:  This means finding a way to have both sides win.  It can be tough to do.
• Compromise:  Basically, each side gets part of what they want, while giving up something they want, like a negotiation.
• Collaboration: Having both sides work together, and come up with a mutually agreeable outcome. This can be the ultimate team building experience.
• Avoidance:  Just ignore the conflict.  This is a bad choice, because it won’t go away by itself.

Negotiation to Resolution

If you are faced with a dispute among your board members, you may need to take action. Here are some important things to keep in mind when your resolving conflicts.

First, prepare for the negotiation.  Just because you will be the mediator doesn’t mean you can enter the negotiation without adequate preparation.  Learn as much as you can about the issue, what is involved, and who is involved.  It’s important to be ready when you face the two sides.

Second, focus on the process.  You do this by keeping the people separate from the problem.  If it’s a budget matter, that means looking at the budget process and the outcome of that process, not “Brandi wants this much money, and Billy wants this much.” Try to take the people-- and the personalities-- out of the problem.

Third, deal with the actual issue or interest, not the position.  That means look at the Big Picture.  for example, it’s less important what program each of the opposing sides wants to present than it is to consider whether  the entire event matters.

Ultimately, you want to seek a balanced solution.  You may have to pick one side as the winner on occasion.  You may find a way to have both sides win sometimes.  But true long-term conflict resolution involves compromise and collaboration.  The sense that you are fair to both parties in resolving the conflict will go far in reducing future problems on your board.  Plus, it’s the right thing to do.

Next time I’ll deal with some exciting concepts called Branding and Marketing. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you.  Just drop me an email, and I’ll get back to you.