It's Time for Your Checkup

Preventive Care

The assessment is divided into broad sections that map out specific information for an association to gather, from insurance policies and governing documents to financial procedures and leadership development strategies. The completed document serves as a quick reference guide, detailing where the information resides and who is responsible for it.

“I thought the staff-directed information—staff positions, benefits and training—was particularly interesting and helpful,” Lasky says.

Answering the questions often triggers insight. “There’s a section that references having graphics showing membership growth and loss for the past five years,” he says. “I read that and got to thinking about the value of having those graphs for the individual months, since this tends to be directly related to the time of year.”

The assessment can also prove beneficial for orienting new staff members—especially those from outside the real estate world who might not immediately grasp the specific nuances of the profession and the organization. “What a great way for a new hire to dig in,” Lasky says. “I find context is really important, and explaining the value of this goes a long way toward explaining the organization.”

As the AE of an association with almost 4,000 members and a staff of 13, Lasky is directly involved with the creation and maintenance of the checklist, working with two other staff members. Associations larger than his might have the work fully done by director-level or operational staff. For smaller organizations like Budde’s, which has 385 members and only two full-time staff people, it’s usually the AE who does the heavy lifting.

From a continuity perspective, the checklist may be especially useful to smaller associations—especially those that don’t have a full-time staff executive or staff secretary, Lasky adds. “While the larger associations might not always be able to find all this information, they likely have it somewhere, whereas those smaller organizations might not and could therefore really profit from having it intentionally compiled and stored.”

“The organizational checklist allows us to create the same spirit of excellence that a larger association can provide,” says Budde. “We can still do big things and make a big difference with the same guidance and strategic planning. That’s what I love about the resources NAR provides.”

Most days, the information compiled for an organizational audit won’t be needed. But when a specific issue does arise, it’s good to know that you’re prepared, Lasky says. “I use every opportunity I can to look a bit smarter than I really am, and something like this helps,” he says. “It allows me to able to put my hands on a document right away and give a quick answer.”

An Apple a Day

Lasky and Budde encourage other AEs to use the checklist. Though Lasky admits the 20-page document can appear intimidating at first, he cautions against feeling overwhelmed by it.

“Once you start looking into it, you realize it’s not nearly as onerous as you thought it was going to be,” he says. “We decided that once a week we’d sit down and knock out a page, and we easily had it done in less than half a year. Some things go faster than others, but nothing takes a long period of time.”

Budde agrees that the benefits—in knowledge, preparedness and operational awareness—far outweigh the effort. The checklist can also help illustrate the demands of the position. “Whether they scan it or really read it, it can be a tool for leadership to understand what you’re dealing with,” she says.

It’s been two years since Budde conducted the organizational audit; she’s ready to update the document, after which she’ll share it with her new president. Lasky anticipates thoroughly revisiting the assessment every three years in conjunction with the creation of his association’s new three-year strategic plan.

Increased Wellness

The ongoing beauty of the checklist, Budde says, is its continued usefulness and its ability to expand to changing times.

“There’s always something you want to work on, whether it’s there and you want to improve upon it, or whether you go to a conference and learn something new that you want to implement,” she says. “The checklist helps you constantly strengthen your foundation.”

And a solid foundation at the local level leads to a stronger organization overall.

“I was just on a call that discussed how, by working better together, the national association and the state associations and the local associations can maximize what we do for our members and the relationships we have with each other,” Lasky says. “The Organization Assessment Checklist is an example of something NAR provides that does that. It helps us individually and makes us collectively stronger.”