Why was a taskforce important?
As an organization, CSI knows the local, in-person networking experience is highly valued by members.
Yet, we know that there are disconnects and inefficiencies that get in the way of providing value to the member in concert with each other. We experience this through CSI’s declining membership and see it in a dues structure that has literally thousands of dues combinations that contribute to a member value that is difficult to navigate, understand and that is inconsistent. Based on leader surveys, unfilled leadership roles and roles that remain the same for years and comments directly from leaders, we know that leaders struggle to provide that highly sought-after local value.
The CSI Board of Directors discussed these challenges for years in search of a way to better serve members, together.
It determined that Region and Chapter leaders were essential to ask and answer the question of how to provide maximum member value. As a result, the CVTF was formed.
What did the taskforce do?
The taskforce was charged with exploring how to improve the member experience and to make recommendations to the CSI Board of Directors. Recommendations were completed in Jun. 2021, with the focus on the alignment between the Chapter, Region, and National organizations, as well as changes to the dues structure.
Their work kicked off via an online meeting in Dec. 2019.
Through Oct. 2020, their efforts were led by an outside facilitator who guided their discovery. As the pandemic unfolded, work progressed differently that initially imagined, and their work took longer than initially anticipated. For example, a series of in-person meetings were planned. The first meeting in Chicago kicked off the weekend the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic, so the task force had a quick lesson in working with virtual team members as only half were able to travel to be in-person
Overall, the taskforce met a total of eight times, worked in sub-groups that each met multiple times, interviewed individual Chapter or Region leaders, helped craft and review survey results, explored how other association are aligned, did a lot of “homework” in between meetings and provided updates to the Board of Directors as their work progressed.
This was a significant time commitment for each individual and one that expanded as they worked through pandemic restrictions.
Their formal recommendation was put forward to and accepted by the Board of Directors in Jun. 2021.