Strategies resulting in successful key award applications will be outlined and illustrated on the poster. This includes, but is not limited to, Chapter-related best practice strategies for leadership development, membership engagement, Chapter operations and publicity and recruitment. Examples of successful practices will be provided, such as designating a responsible person or group to collect data throughout the biennium, aligning the Chapter strategic plan with the Key Award criteria, developing processes to sustain and expand successful programs, developing new programs to address changes in the Key Award criteria, ensuring chapter activities are advertised and documented in multiple communication formats, and using available Sigma resources. Specific examples from previous chapter key award applications will be included to help Chapters achieve and sustain efforts to maintain excellence in their activities.
Challenges to attaining and sustaining Chapter excellence in leadership development, membership engagement, Chapter operations and publicity and recruitment will be described. Challenges may include a lack of internal expertise to develop processes that can be sustained, changes in Chapter leadership and activity level of members, not compiling and submitting the annual report in a timely manner, gaps in meeting officer responsibilities, lack of sufficient detail in the narrative on the Chapter Key Award application, not recognizing overlaps that may lead to using the same program or activity for multiple categories, reluctance to incorporate social media as a communication approach, resistance to moving from face to face meetings to embracing online video and web conferencing to increase participation of Board and committee members, and/or not responding quickly enough when updated criteria and forms become available after the biennial convention.
Examples of Chapter-related best practice strategies to overcome challenges will be incorporated in the poster to provide attendees with a toolbox of ideas to successfully develop, implement, and evaluate Chapter Excellence and the processes used to prepare and submit the Chapter Key Award application.