We all fight against it – the tendency to do what we’ve always done. It’s easy to default to the tools and strategies that we know and understand.
Sometimes, though, it pays to shake up our thinking about getting the job done, question what tools we use, and try something new. And, maybe, make getting work done a little easier.
Here’s our list of what’s out and what’s in for today’s associations, and a short description of how new tools can help your team.
- What’s Out: Email
What’s In: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Rocket.Chat, Fleep, Flowdock
These days staff members can be divided by physical distance, time zones, or work requirements, and staying in touch can be a chore. Email clients like Outlook can highlight email threads, but it’s often hard to keep up with the conversation. No wonder teams have ditched basic email in favor of Slack and other messaging systems that encourage collaboration. With these tools, messages can be attached to a project or a conversation, making it easier to follow the flow of the dialogue. The tools also allow teams to post links and attachments within the conversation. And in most of these tools, team members can talk to everyone in a group message or privately just to selected colleagues.
- What’s Out: Solo spreadsheets & documents
What’s In: Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online, Confluence, Sharepoint, Samepage
When you need to have someone else in your association review a document, spreadsheet, or slide deck, attaching a document to an email is a cumbersome way to get the work done. If you need approval from a group of colleagues, sending solo documents can generate conflicting comments and edits. Instead of sending documents individually, try a collaborative app. These apps allow your team to comment, edit and suggest edits on the original document.
- What’s Out: Working in silos
What’s In: Collaboration tools like Asana, Basecamp, Jira, ClickUp
Project-management tools can enable teams to collaborate on a single platform, track project progress in real-time and share files. By dividing up tasks within a project, managers can see what needs to be done, who is responsible, and when tasks are completed. Managers can also see if something is blocking the project’s progress, making it easier to tackle the roadblock.
- What’s Out: Paying to customize your AMS
What’s In: An AMS that’s flexible out-of-the-box
Paying for customizations to a limited AMS used to be the norm – and many AMS providers built their business around charging for these services. Association staff then had to choose between conforming to meet a limited system – or paying a lot of money to customize their AMS to fit their unique needs. Most associations can remember a time when they were holding their breath when the next upgrade came, hoping that their customizations wouldn’t break.
Paying for pricy customizations to make your AMS fit your need shouldn’t be the norm. Every association is different and many can’t afford limitless customizations, so they need a system that can bend with them to support their unique processes and offerings. At Rhythm, we’ve found the commonality between most customizations and built those settings directly into our platform – meaning you can configure most things that you’ve traditionally been charged for on your own. No more extra costs and no developers required.
- What’s Out: Physically signing paper contracts
What’s In: E-Signatures via tools like DocuSign, Dropbox Sign, Adobe Acrobat, Box
Digital signature software replaces the need for paper-based signatures and simplifies the document signing process by allowing users to sign documents electronically. Electronic signatures save time and reduce the costs associated with printing, mailing and storing paper documents.
- What’s Out: Writing & mailing checks
What’s In: Electronic fund transfers with Bill.com, Square Invoices, QuickBooks
Electronic fund transfers, facilitated by the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, transfer money between bank accounts. They don’t require credit or debit card networks, wire transfers, paper checks or cash. Small businesses most often use ACH payments for the direct deposit of paychecks, but services like Bill.com also allow companies to pay invoices directly to vendors. Service providers charge a fee for processing payments that compare favorably to the cost of preparing, signing, and mailing checks.
- What’s Out: Manual renewal & onboarding
What’s In: Automated renewal & onboarding
Particularly if your association follows an anniversary renewal process, you might have nine or 10 renewal communications each month, as well as several onboarding communications for new members. If you’re pulling lists manually and sending mail-merge emails, you might like an easier solution – automating the process. Your AMS can deliver electronic communications to the right people at the right time. You’ll write your messages once, establish the triggers in the renewal and onboarding cycles, and let the system take care of the details.
- What’s Out: Scheduling group meetings manually
What’s In: Scheduling tools like Google Calendar, Calendly, Zoho Bookings, Appointy, Doodle
Have you tried to schedule a meeting with a small group without knowing who’s available? It’s maddening – and time-consuming. Scheduling apps allow you to see when colleagues are available reducing the time spent on organizing and rescheduling. These apps also often offer automated reminders and notifications, ensuring that important events are not forgotten or overlooked.
- What’s Out: Struggling with writer’s block
What’s In: AI writing apps like ChatGPT, ChatSonic, Jasper AI and Bard
Writer’s block may be a thing of the past. If you can ask the right question, you can instruct an AI writing app to start your next writing project. Be careful, though, because AI doesn’t always get it right. It also tends to write sentences that are the same length and lack the natural rhythms of human writing. A debate is raging about the value of human expression and the limitations of artificial intelligence. Right now, however, the machines are convenient but still need our oversight.
Are You Ready to Upgrade?
As with most things, some of these ideas will be perfect for your association and others won’t be useful at all. Adoption of new technology is always dependent on your team’s needs, openness to change, and budget. Every now and then, however, it’s nice to reflect on “how we used to do things” and celebrate being able to work smarter and easier.
