It seems that everywhere I look there are subliminal messages supporting major changes to the traditional association chapter model. The latest comes from a blurb I saw in AssociationsNow.com
referring to a CMSWire piece that nearly half of all workers tend work in more flexible environments, outside of a
traditional office.
The trend cited is about activity-based working or “smarter working” which is “about giving people greater freedom and flexibility to work however, whenever and wherever they want to, using whatever device is preferred, to get the job done.”
The trend has impacts on our association models in two ways. First with 49% of the workforce working flexibly, we can expect that these workers will be in our association membership and so expecting flexibility from us as well. Second, the trend is reinforcing the notion that there’s more than one way to work and that includes more than one way for our chapters to work.
The message I see for us is that if corporations are modifying their structures and offices and thereby maximizing employee happiness, efficiency and boosting the bottom line, imagine how modification could enhance our chapter networks.