The Next Generation of Leadership

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["b"],["i"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\nAIA\nWisconsin hosted its 2019 planning retreat on July 26 at the Aldo Leopold Center\nnear Baraboo. Chaired by 2019 Vice President\/President-Elect Andy Malanowski, the\nplanning session started at 8:41 a.m. and concluded at 3:28 p.m.\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n \n\nLocal, state\nand regional AIA leaders were invited to help determine how to grow AIA\nopportunities that benefit the profession and enrich the careers of the next\ngeneration of leaders. To start the conversation on strategies for overcoming\nreasons members are not more engaged and attracting new leadership talent to\nguide the organization, participants were asked three questions: \n\n \n\n"]]],[3,"ul",[[[0,[],0,"\nWhat do you enjoy from your involvement?\n\n"]],[[0,[],0,"\nWhat are the concerns and roadblocks you hear\nfrom members for participating?"]],[[0,[],0,"\nWhat keeps you from inviting members to engage?\n"]]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n \n\nThe group offered\nanswers to these questions and brainstormed a healthy list of potential\nsolutions. Over the course of the day, several themes emerged along with the\ndiscovery that the challenges to greater member engagement share many of the\nsame solutions. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n \n\nBy the end of\nthe retreat, AIA leaders were focused on developing ideas and action plans to address\nthree broad themes \u2013 Communications, Event Planning \u0026 Convention, and\nSection Review. Champions volunteered for initiatives to enhance connections\nwith firms, encourage attendance at state conference, and reduce barriers to\nmember engagement with local sections. Additional details about these\ninitiatives are provided in the \u201cSmall Group Discussion \u2013 Action Items\u201d section\nof this report.\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n \n\n"],[0,[0],1,"Participants"],[0,[],0,"\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n \n\nWith Carol\nSente helping to facilitate the discussion, 24 members participated in the\nretreat, including local, state and regional AIA leaders:\n\n \n\n\n\nJody Andres, AIA; \n\nDiana Davis, AIA; \nDaryl Dean, AIA; \nMelissa Destree, AIA; Matthew Dumich, FAIA; \nKate Edwards, AIA; \nPatricia Frost, AIA; \nCurt Hoffmann, AIA; \nJosh Johnson, AIA; \nKatie Kangas, AIA; \nStacey Keller, AIA; \nJennifer Lehrke, AIA; \nRich Lundeen, AIA; \nAndy Malanowski, AIA; \nPaul Martzke, AIA; \nThomas Meiklejohn, AIA; \nTJ Morley, AIA; \nAllyson Nemec, AIA; \nDoug Pahl, AIA; \nBradley Peterson, AIA; \nKim Reddin, AIA; \nJody Shaw, AIA; \nSarah Skalizky, AIA; and \nUrsula Twombly, FAIA. \n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Welcome \u0026 Agenda Review"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Malanowski\nwelcomed everyone, described the theme for the planning retreat and reviewed\nthe agenda for the day. A rousing mass rock-paper-scissors game (MRPS) got\neveryone involved right from the start."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Sente\nreflected on her experiences as an owner of an architecture firm, state\nlegislator and business consultant to help set the stage and share her thoughts\non engagement. She outlined the different levels and benefits of engagement. Participants\noffered examples of engagement, including the benefits of working with school\nchildren, mentoring emerging professionals and serving as an adjunct instructor\nat a community college. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Paul Martzke\nreviewed the five strategic initiatives that emerged during last year\u2019s\nretreat, which focused on architectural engagement:"]]],[3,"ul",[[[0,[],0,"\nCollaboration \u2013 Work with allied professionals\non education and advocacy programs"]],[[0,[],0,"\nStorytelling \u2013 Highlight contributions to the\nprofession and diverse career paths through a regular Member Spotlight\ncommunication feature"]],[[0,[],0,"\nAdvocacy \u2013 Create resources to demystify the\nlegislative process and get architects more engaged in government affairs and\ncommunity service"]],[[0,[],0,"\nRecognition \u2013 Establish a program to recognize\n\u201ccitizen architects\u201d for their role in improving our communities"]],[[0,[],0,"\nLeadership \u2013 Leverage the new Architect Mentor\nProgram (AMP) to share knowledge on leadership skills"]]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Large Group Activity"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Malanowski highlighted\nthe differences in member engagement depending on whether you are an officer of\nan AIA component or a general member and what this means in terms of developing\nthe next generation of leadership for the organization. The plan to address\nthree ideas or themes as a large group and then break into smaller groups to\ndiscuss the issues in more detail was outlined."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"What\ndo you enjoy from your involvement?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"When asked,\nparticipants mentioned a variety of things they enjoy from being involved with\nthe AIA. Examples include: meeting new people, learning new stuff, getting\ninspired, having a voice, getting out of the office, staying current, solving\nproblems, balancing work experience, gaining leadership skills, and advocating\nfor design."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"What\nare the concerns and roadblocks you hear from members for participating?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Participants\nidentified a number of items that can discourage members from participating,\nincluding: competing demands on their time, unclear expectations, questions\nabout benefits of participation, lack of employer support, resistance to trying\nnew things, unaware of opportunities, lack of awareness about small roles to\nget started, and would rather network with people other than architects."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"What\nkeeps you from inviting members? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Several\nobstacles to inviting other members to join you at AIA events were mentioned as\npart of the large group brainstorming session, including: people have other\nthings to do, geography or timing makes it difficult to attend, don\u2019t know who\nmembers are, an event of interest can get lost in long list of upcoming events,\nafraid of being recruited if show up, and lack of targeted communication."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Small Group Activity"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Participants\ndivided into three smaller groups and rotated through discussions to identify\nsolutions to the issues and challenges emerging from the three big questions.\nEach small group discussion was moderated by a member of the Executive Committee:\nMalanowski [Roadblocks to Participation], Martzke [Invitation to Engage] and\nJennifer Lehrke [Enjoyment from Engagement]."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The\nquestions started a conversation that resulted in tactics and other ways to\novercome some of the common reasons members have for not getting involved and\nto make it easier to recruit new talent and the next generation of leadership\nfor the organization."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Roadblocks\nto Participation"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Malanowski\nreported out on ideas generated for solving the challenges to greater member\nparticipation. Suggestions include: partnering with other community groups for\ndifferent non-architecture experiences, creating smaller groups of members for\ndiscussion about common interests, offering discounted registration fees to\nencourage members to invite a friend to an event and new members to attend the\nstate conference, targeting emails and other communications based on the type\nof event, and rebranding the titles of members leading local section programs\nand activities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Invitation\nto Engage"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Martzke shared\nthe suggestions offered to overcome the resistance to inviting other members to\njoin you at AIA events. Ideas to address these challenges include: identifying\n\u201cchampions\u201d at each firm to promote engagement, increasing flexibility in\nfunding for programs, offering a variety of programs that engage and benefit all\ngenerations, improving the effectiveness of communication and promotion of\nprograms and events, and redefining committee structure to create clubs related\nto emerging interest areas."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Enjoyment\nfrom Engagement"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Lehrke\nreviewed the ideas suggested for solving the challenges to creating enjoyable\nmember engagement experiences. Ideas include: offering smaller group events, establishing\nsubsections of local sections, volunteering for community service events beyond\narchitecture programs and social activities, sharing stories of member\ncontributions, encouraging greater financial flexibility to take risks, and\nviewing everything through the lens of equity and inclusion."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Recap of Challenges \u0026 Voting on Suggestions"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After a\nlunch break, Malanowski outlined the agenda for the afternoon and explained the\nexercise of participants voting for the issues and suggestions of greatest value\nor importance."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Many solutions\nwere generated during the group brainstorming sessions in the morning. Similar\nsolutions often were suggested to address different challenges. Several emerging\nthemes were highlighted. For example, it may be easier to create smaller\ncommittees or clubs, which would be responsible for preparing annual reports on\nactivities. There was interest in partnering with other service organizations offering\nlocal programs other than vendor-provided educational presentations over the\nlunch hour. An overarching issue of promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in\nall programs and events also was identified."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The voting\nexercise allowed participants to highlight the solutions they wanted to\nadvance. The top-ranked ideas and suggestions were grouped together under three\nbroad topic headings:"]]],[3,"ul",[[[0,[],0,"\nCommunications"]],[[0,[],0,"\nEvent Planning \u0026 Convention"]],[[0,[],0,"\nSection Review"]]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Small Group Discussion \u2013 Action Items"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Participants\nbroke into three groups, with each group focused on one of the emerging topics\nor themes. Their assignment was to develop actionable items to implement the\ntop ideas over the next year and identify champions to guide these efforts. Following\nthe small group discussions, a representative of each group reported out the action\nplans developed."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Communications"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Katie Kangas\nreported on ideas for keeping members engaged, including spreading the word via\nsocial media and webinars, developing posters to promote upcoming events,\nscheduling events routinely on specific days of the month, and creating\ninformation for member spotlights. The group also discussed identifying firm\nchampions that would provide a personal touch point and scheduling firm visits\nto discover the challenges that firms are facing and what the AIA can do to\nhelp, with "],[0,[0],1,"Martzke"],[0,[],0," volunteering to\nbe the champion for this initiative. "],[0,[1],1,"[Group\nmembers: Kangas, Martzke, Davis, Lundeen, Hoffmann]"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Event\nPlanning \u0026 Convention"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Lehrke reported\non suggested items to increase participation and expand the variety of programs.\nSuggestions included having a point person in each section and guidelines with\nchecklists to provide a structure for volunteers. The group also discussed\nideas for non-CES programs like firm crawls and peer groups that would appeal\nto more than just members. The concept of utilizing policy statements on\nemerging issues to help members become \u201ccitizen architects\u201d was suggested. Incentives to encourage new members and\nstudents to attend the state conference and other members to bring a guest were\nmentioned, with Bradley "],[0,[0],1,"Peterson"],[0,[],0,"\nvolunteering to be champion for this initiative. "],[0,[1],1,"[Group members: Lehrke, Peterson, Dean, Destree, Frost, Skalitzky,\nMalanowski]"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0,1],2,"Section\nReview"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Stacey\nKeller reviewed the action items discussed by this group to break down barriers\nto member engagement in local section programs. A suggestion was to find a task\nforce champion in each area to review the structure and identify programs of\ninterest to members in each section and clusters of members within each\nsection. The group also discussed studying communications and funding to\nencourage participation. TJ "],[0,[0],1,"Morley"],[0,[],0,"\nvolunteered to be the champion for this initiative. "],[0,[1],1,"[Group members: Keller, Morley, Twombly, Reddin, Edwards, Shaw, Andres]"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"The Last Word"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Malanowski\nthanked everyone for participating and contributing to the great ideas and\nconcepts developed during the retreat. He noted that the AIA has a lot of\nthings already in place to support success. He also was pleased that a number\nof people stepped up to volunteer as \u201cchampions\u201d for specific initiatives.\nSente commended the group for coming up with fantastic ideas. She commented on\nhow good it will feel when these ideas are implemented."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"While the planning\nretreat didn\u2019t provide the magic answer for recruiting the next generation of\nleadership, it did generate good discussion on AIA programs and identified\nimportant themes for addressing challenges. Through a combination of the ideas\ngenerated and observations from the day, the planning session provided member\nleaders and the Board of Directors with some nuggets to explore over the course\nof the next year. With the assistance of the initiative champions, the\ndiscussion will continue on how to make AIA Wisconsin an even stronger\norganization."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Approved by\nAIA Wisconsin Board of Directors, August 23,\n2019"]]]]}