With Post-It Notes!
Goals Goals Goals.. yes I know the Euros are on but those aren’t the sort of goals I’m talking about…
I’m talking about your educational awards, your progress in the Toastmasters Program.
Now, not everyone wants to set goals and I’m completely fine with that. One of the many wonderful things about the Toastmasters program is the fact that it is entirely self-paced. It’s up to you when you what to do something and there are lots of people who are quite happy attending meetings and just having a good time not concerning themselves with goals and progress and recognition (oh my!)
This idea is for members and club committees who do want to set themselves goals and do so in a fun way.
I spotted this idea on the The Official Toastmasters International Members Group on Facebook. Many thanks to incoming VP Education Kathy Shine, DTM of Cream City Communicators, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Her club completed Moments of Truth two weeks ago. They have already implemented several suggestions from our members and have begun to develop plans for further action that will be included in their 2016-2017 Club Success Plan.
One suggestion was to find a way to display member goals and progress in a non-threatening and non-embarrassing way for all members, and to encourage others who are taking a slower pace as they focus on building self confidence.
Their solution: they invited their members to sign their name and indicate their goal on a super-sticky post-it note, then placed them all on a large poster board marked simply as “2016-2017 GOALS.” They plan to have a second poster labelled “2016-2017 GOALS COMPLETED” and members can move their post-its from one board to the other in a simple recognition ceremony during a club meeting. What a great photo opportunity!
They have several fun, colorful shapes:
- crown shaped post-it notes for members who want to work toward their Triple Crown award
- red apple post-its are for members who want to serve as mentors – they will be paired up with a green apple / mentee
- dialogue post-its for people who want to attend their first conference or convention
- other post-its for goals specific to their club, for example Club Ambassador, being part of their traveling “Cream Team” (a Capture the Banner program, which sounds a lot like Thomas the Travelling Gavel in Area 55)
- stars for Competent Leader and Communicator awards
- clouds for Advanced Leader and Communicator awards
It’s a Club Success Plan on a poster board! Why not try it in your club? If you do, send photos to dltdistrict91@gmail.com.
Thanks for sharing our story, Vanessa. We introduced the poster board and post-it notes to our club members on June 8, and already have 4 members who plan to complete their CC, 7 members aiming for AC (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), and 12 members focused on either their CL or ALB. Looking forward to a fun 2016-2017 program year!