Taking the time to know your individual members is crucial, whether your group has three members or sixty. When you know the strengths, interests, and ambitions of the people in your organization you can assign tasks to their strengths, structure activities to suit their interests, and reward their work. Feeling their president and executive members care about them personally also provides a large morale boost and keeps people invested in the organization.
- Don’t check out during your check in! Practice active listening, ask pertinent questions, and respond to their enthusiasm with your own. For some people this will come naturally and for others it requires work, but your members can tell if you’re just going through the motions, and that can be more damaging than not checking in at all.
- Follow up. Don’t just tuck all this new information in a drawer and never look at it again. When constructing an activity you think might appeal to certain members in particular, make the effort to bring them into the process. Ask their opinions and see if they have any relevant experience to make the job at hand easier.