Newsletter Volume 3

Try SWOT to Improve Board Dynamics

Recently, Dick and I have been asked to facilitate a number of Board Retreats at various clubs around the country. It’s been terrific to see how many club Boards are recognizing how beneficial it is to conduct a review of best industry practices (many times at an off site location), and focus on ‘group think’ priorities for the coming year. One of the most effective and insightful segments of these retreats has been to perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) on the Board’s performance and effectiveness in its role.

Now, most of us have done a SWOT on the Club itself, but doing so with the Board, focusing specifically on the group’s ability to be an effective, forward thinking and focused ‘team’, is a very enlightening process. We’ve typically completed this exercise after first talking about ‘best practices’ of consistently high-performing, well-respected Club Boards from around the country. Having those benchmarks to then use in comparison to themselves has prompted great discussions to occur, often resulting in a candid airing of festering or lingering issues. In many instances, these Boards have finally addressed the ‘white elephant’ in the room and set aside long-standing differences simply to do what is best for the Club. In other cases, it seems to have simply gotten folks to be better stewards of their volunteer roles.

One club instituted a new ‘governance’ monitor role for its immediate past president following their SWOT exercise. In this case, his role is to monitor how well the Board follows its agreed upon set of standards for conducting each meeting and interacting with one another. And, he provides a full overview at the conclusion of each meeting.

We’d encourage you to try the exercise at your Club; it may well be one of the best efforts you’ve undertaken to improve Board dynamics at the Club. – KK

 

Kurt D. Kuebler 
Kurt D. Kuebler, CCM, is a Partner of Kopplin & Kuebler, LLC, The Most Trusted Names in Private Club Executive Placement.

Try SWOT to Improve Board Dynamics2015-05-01T16:35:29+00:00

News from the Club Managers Association of Europe

At the annual meeting in Madrid on March 31, 2011, CMAE members will confirm my role as their President for the next two years. To become CMAE’s fifth President and the first from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland feels great and I am extremely honoured. Taking over from John Hunt is very exciting, however not in any way easy.

CMAE celebrates its 10 year anniversary in 2011. The organization has quickly grown into one of the leaders in the golf and club industries. From a relatively anonymous existence in the first years, CMAE has, under the leadership of Jerry Kilby as our CEO, undergone a remarkable transformation. CMAE currently has 24 member countries and fills its role well as the collective body of club management and trade associations throughout Europe. The main tasks are to continually raise standards and promote professionalism in club management, which we live with every day.

CMAE was in its early days an organization which was Great Britain and Ireland, reflected in both Board and membership. Today the organization has become what it was created to be, representative of the club management profession with influences from all over Europe. The current Board is represented by nine different countries which is fantastic.

In the next two years, I see before me a number of great challenges, including to finally be able to deliver a structured education program for club managers and those seeking a career in our industry. The program will be based on CMAA’s “BMI system.” Many of the member countries have their own well-structured program which of course they should continue to develop. However, to achieve a common standard in Europe, coordination among the countries is a must, since the goal of increasing the number of CCMs in Europe is one of my major tasks during my tenure as President.

I also plan to further expand cooperation with other countries that already have adopted programs which lead to the CCM, such as Canada, South Africa and China. The opportunity for our CMAE club managers to learn from and share experiences will become more important in the future.

Another major goal is that Europe must come closer to creating its own “European Conference.” We are hoping our International Congress, now in its third year, will become our annual major European Conference, which we believe is a natural progression for our industry and I hope it becomes a reality before my time as President is over in 2013.

I look forward to meeting you all at future conferences and training sessions, which will give me the opportunity to exchange experiences with you.

Yours Sincerely,

Jörgen Kjellgren, Vice President, CMAE

Jörgen Kjellgren
Jörgen Kjellgren is Vice President of the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) and General Manager of Rya Golf Club, Helsingborg, Sweden

News from the Club Managers Association of Europe2019-09-04T20:00:37+00:00

Ask Nan: “I want to become a Club GM/COO – Where do I start?”

We have received many e-mails from aspiring young club professionals and students applying for our senior club management positions, primarily the General Manager/COO opportunities. While we welcome their correspondence and enthusiasm, it is tough, if not impossible, to parachute right into the top position of a club. Experience and success at every operational aspect of a club are the keys for a club professional to become the Chief Executive.

So I thought a little career guidance was in order. The best way to approach a career in Club Management would be to ‘get your foot in the door’ so to speak at a Club and work your way through all of the departments. There are many committed Club General Managers/COO’s that have instituted internships at their club’s for the expressed interest of grooming the next generation of top club executives.

The next question is: “How do I find out about these opportunities?” Your very best resource would be the Club Manager’s Association of America (CMAA). Consider joining a local CMAA Student Chapter or Regional CMAA chapter to enhance your knowledge and networking. CMAA’s web site has a Career section that lists current MMCO (Mid Management Career Opportunities) and Internships available at Clubs across the country. You do not need to be a member of CMAA to view these position posts.

CMAA has provided an outstanding brochure for those considering a club management career “Club Management, A Path to a Rewarding Future,” that should answer just about any of your questions. You can find it on our web site by clicking here.

We have included all of these links on our web site. Just click here.

Hopefully this will be helpful to you and if you have any questions please just Ask Nan!

Nan Fisher
Nan has worked with Dick Kopplin for over 10 years. She is the Administrative Manager at Kopplin and Kuebler. E-mail your “Ask Nan” questions to:nan@kkandw.com

Ask Nan: “I want to become a Club GM/COO – Where do I start?”2014-12-22T21:08:57+00:00

Favorite Microsoft Office Tips for Your Team

Rarely do we take advantage of all of the software that is installed on our computers. Take Microsoft Office, for example. This suite of applications has so many powerful and handy features for your club management team, but if they don’t know these features are available, they can’t take advantage of them. Listed below are some Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint tips so take advantage of of these handy tools.

Outlook
Outlook has several features that are useful in the Club business world. Here are a few of my favorites.

  • Calendar
    • Events: Create events for items that you want to place on your calendar but don’t want to block off time for. For example, create an event for a wedding or golf tournament so you can see that they are taking place although you may not actually be actively “working” the event.
    • Drag E-mails to the Calendar or Tasks folder: Turn e-mail messages into what they really are – tasks and appointments – by dragging them from the Inbox into the Calendar or Tasks folder. If you have Outlook 2007 or 2010 you can even drag them to a specific day. Once you have dragged the message, the appointment form will open and you can set the date (if necessary), the time and change the subject. You can change the appointment then to an event (by clicking the Event check box) or a meeting (by inviting attendees).
  • Contacts
    • Activities: Each contact in your Contacts folder has an Activities view, regardless of the version of Outlook you are using. Open a contact in the Outlook Contacts folder and then click the Activities tab in Outlook 2007 or prior or the Activities button on the Contact Ribbon (in the Show group) if you are using Outlook 2010.
    • Photos: When you double-click to open a contact in your Contacts folder, a picture placeholder is displayed in the form. Click the placeholder icon and then point to a photo of the contact that you have stored on your hard drive or network location. This is great tool to help remember member names/faces. If you have an Exchange Server as your mail server at the Club, you can create a Member Contacts folder to share with your team that stores photos, names, spouse names, birthdates, food allergies, etc.

Read on to the next page…

Favorite Microsoft Office Tips for Your Team2019-09-04T20:00:37+00:00
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