|
Functional points that are helpful to understand: TAB Raleigh is discrete and very confidential. The back-bone of a Member's TAB experience is his TAB Board. Here are some ways we make sure members get value for their money. Confidentiality Everything we do at TAB is confidential. Formally we have a Confidentiality Agreement everyone agrees to and signs. Informally, we always error on the side of secrecy. These are private businesses, our business is private! Financial Sharing. Sharing of Financial details is not a required part of TAB Membership. Remember, your business is called a private business for a reason, it is private. In many instances, Members choose to share the whole picture as they become more comfortable with their Board, and it does make their TAB experience more robust, but it is not a requirement for Membership or success. SBL and SMART STATE, Disciplined Thinking, Practice, Process. (SBL=Strategic Business Leadership) - SBL is The Alternative Board's cornerstone strategy "product". It is in workbook form and there are exercises. With some members we press through the book, for others, who are anti-workbook we adjust and use SBL as a nomenclature, depends on the individual member. In Raleigh, we couple SBL with Smart State (SS) a Strategic Thinking and Tactical Execution methodology that helps us break down our strategic and tactical thoughts into manageable elements. One can view the Smart State process as a filter, coaches use Smart State and SBL during private coaching sessions and Facilitators use Smart State and SBL during Board Meetings to keep things in context. Smart State and SBL keeps everyone focused in the same relative direction. One of the key elements of a successful TAB experience. One on One Coaching: The number one goal of coaching is to prepare each member to receive the most he can receive from the peer advice he will discuss during his Board meeting. The number two goal is to prepare the member so he will be the best board member to his fellow members that he can be. The third goal is for the member's coach+board facilitator to get to really know the member and his needs so he can help facilitate best advice from his board. The forth goal is to help on the strategic thinking front, to formulate and implement accountability and action plans for the member and his business. Coaches v Consultants: We view ourselves as Coaches not Consultants. Just the word Consultant implies one has all the answers, we do not fool ourselves into thinking we have all the answers or are experts in every field. We coach strategic thinking. Surely as Coaches, working closely with members, we can not avoid having to fill a consultancy role every now and then. However, if we get to a point where a plan is being drawn up and significant things are going to happen, we always frame these things/thoughts/plans/decisions and present them to your TAB Board for Peer Consulting and Advise, very strong check and balance system that is quite efficient. Coaching Sessions are monthly and typically one hour in length, at your office. Member Board Meetings: 4 hours in length, once a month, each and every Member attending gets a "Go-Round" turn to solicit advice from his Board. Description of what we call a Member "Go Round": Let's say there are 8 members around the table. We do some math... and each members essentially gets 30 minutes for his Board to focus on his topic. Your TAB facilitator+coach makes this happen. For the fist 5 to 7 minutes the Member presents his issue/challenge/opportunity/plan to his board, for 8 or so minutes his Board asks him clarifying questions, making sure the question is framed well, 10 to 14 minutes is spent on feedback/consulting, 2 minutes is spent having the Member tell his Board what he is going to do, the last 2 minutes is spent with each Board Member sharing a pitfall that the member may want to be aware of. The facilitator takes 30 seconds to summarize and we move to the next guy. At the end of each meeting We ask: "What is the most valuable take-away" from today's meeting... About 30% of the time Members point to another Member's issue, they say. "Sure the advice I got for my specific questions was great, invaluable, but I am going to face the same thing in the next year or so, so was a good trial run and hear how the other guy will do it." Duties of TAB Coaches and Facilitators: How we earn our "keep". First. Facilitators are totally responsible for the vitality of Boards. Vitality begins with recruitment and retention of good members, depends on accurate communication and maintenance and then ends with good meeting facilitation. Second. Coaches are responsible for anticipating and fulfilling the needs of each Member. Your TAB Coach has to be thinking ahead, anticipating and planning where the process will lead, staying ahead in order to best add value to the Member. Duties of TAB Members: The primary duty of a Member is commitment to the monthly process at whatever level a member can afford to commit to based upon time restraints. The key to TAB Member success comes from the monthly process of being required to break away from the day-to-day and spend a few hours each month working on their business instead of in their business. Members are not responsible for recruiting fellow members, are not responsible for scheduling or facilitating. The role of the Member is to show up with their minds engaged and their hearts in the right place to make a difference for themselves, their businesses and their fellow Board Members. Fees and Terms: The commitment is month to month, this only makes sense, if a member is not convinced he is getting value and is not committed to his/her board, we want to free up his spot as quickly as possible, get rid of the deadwood so to speak, and replace his position with a peer who "gets it" and "is switched on", ready to "get on with it", so, month to month is the rule. Members pay an average of $750 per month to be a Member of a Raleigh TAB Board and to Participate in the TAB Process. Fees can vary based upon the coaching time a member requires. Payroll Fee Perspective: Many people like this payroll value proposition example: For the same money one pays the part-time high school kid to come in after school to work in the warehouse... You add:
|