Issue link: https://industrialengineer.epubxp.com/i/920036
January 2018 | ISE Magazine 31 three student chapters we partner with) as part of our chapter. However, if they find a local chapter that they have more affinity with, that's great. It's all about what best serves our members and adds value for them. Another positioning experiment re- quired IISE Board approval. We went back to 2010 and found all ISE gradu- ates from Ohio State who were student members but did not convert to pro- fessional membership after graduation. We found more than 400, used the best contact information we could find and gained about 20 members. A concerted and consistent effort should significantly affect our conversion rates, and it's much easier in the first year than five to 10 years later. Technology can help. While we in- herited websites, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., we did not inherit any process docu- mentation about managing those system components. We have kept our website reasonably fresh more as a marketplace positioning than an active member- ship value exchange component. The LinkedIn account is maintained less, and IISE's new IISE Connect (we're explor- ing and experimenting with its features and functionalities) likely will become the preferred method for managing our community at the chapter level. We're continuing to enhance our Access database to keep data fresh, cur- rent and well-organized for operational analytics to support experiments with new offers. Jared Frederici handles this, along with ISE student assistance. While MailChimp captures data about month- ly memos, email and attachments, EventBrite worked well for registra- tion and payment for our annual dinner meeting, the All Ohio Event. Perhaps the biggest initiative that re- mains in our three-year plan is process definition, documentation, standard work. Ohio State's Integrated Lean- Sigma capstone course has had several successful workflow process definition projects, and the chapter is employing the same methods. We intend to develop visual and interactive workflows for all the major chapter roles, including swim lane workflow maps that highlight IT enablement and reporting requirements. We want to define the work and level of effort required for every seat on the chapter leadership bus, making it easier to help new volunteers understand what they must do, when they have to do it, how they can do it and how much time things will take. This should overcome a major hurdle, because people assume leadership roles are more complex and time-consuming than they really are. While Chapter 1's value and health have improved, the sustainability of this transformation is the big question that must be addressed this year. This three- year project has taken a lot of leadership, and is good practice for me and others. But for young people who engage with IISE, one of the most valuable opportu- nities is the chance to become a volun- teer leader. A continuing journey The stakeholder value exchange optimi- zation model helped transform the Co- lumbus chapter into Chapter 1, an orga- nization that is growing and not bound by geography. Leadership studied mem- ber segments and accepted their require- ments and expectations. Dinner meet- ings, workshops, conferences and even plant tours require physical attendance, and it's tough to get people to sign up. So Chapter 1 crafted a more virtual set of offer elements. For us, true north, or what ISEs call getting to done, involved staying fo- cused on serving our members, provid- ing learning and development oppor- tunities, ensuring our commitment to excellence and maintaining integrity. IISE Chapter 1 was able to deliver pro- fessional society offerings that are high- value give-gets for our membership and that we can sustain, that offer leadership development opportunities for those in IISE's Young Professionals group and give an outstanding member and volun- teer experience. Hopefully, this will allow the chap- ter to optimize the lifetime value of our members by ensuring high value give-get exchanges. This requires that we manage relationships at the segment and one-on-one level. Ultimately, it's all about relationships. These things will optimize the chapter value, in turn opti- mizing our professional society value and then our profession value. The motto was act, do, study and ad- just. We re-established communications with members, embraced underserved members who were not affiliated with a geographic chapter and adopted a bias for action. We thought a developmental team culture and team experience would attract more Young Professionals to join our chapter leadership team. Chapters (student and professional) are the wellsprings of our professional soci- ety. IISE has many affinity groups: soci- eties, divisions, interest groups and other communities such as IAB, CISE and the Young Professionals group. However, the more pervasive, local relationships often happen at the chapter level. As we evolve as a society and integrate new technologies, we have the potential to manage relationships in many different ways. This is perhaps the biggest oppor- tunity for our chapters – a roadmap on how to be successful at managing rela- tionships on a local, face-to-face level as well as in the virtual world. D. Scott Si k is a professio al e gi eer a d Lea Sigma certificatio rogram director i i tegrated systems e gi eeri g at the College of E gi eeri g at the Ohio State U iversity. He has exte sive experie ce i SE, ra gi g from large-scale orga zatio al tra sforma- tio s to se ior capsto e certificatio rojects a d DMAIC projects lasti g six mo ths. He has coached more tha 50 projects of this type i he last 15 years. He also acts as a executive co sulta t i trategic performa ce improvem t pl i g d deploym t d busi ess process improveme t for the Poirier Group i oro to. He was preside t of the I stitute of I dustrial a d Systems E gi eers from 1991 to 1992.