Chief of Staff/Extension: Mentor and Enhance Your Auxiliary Member’s Meeting Experience

Mentor and Enhance Your Auxiliary Member’s Meeting Experience

Are you or someone you know feeling a little lonely these days? Lonely when it is in regard to affliation with the Auxiliary?

Take a look around at your next Auxiliary meeting.

• Is there member or two who could be feeling a little lonesome (nobody is talking with them)?
• What about members who used to attend meetings and you no longer see them? Do you think it could be because no one paid attention to them?
• Does it seem there are only a few members who always interject their thoughts during a meeting leaving others feeling they are not valued members?

NOW is the time to reach out and start a mentoring program within your Auxiliary.

Whether it is a member attending for the first time, or a member who has belonged for many years, each individual is a valuable and important resource for our organization and we need to nurture them. We cannot take for granted that our members know how the Auxiliary functions and what benefits we have to offer. Change is constant; we need to embrace those changes and make sure our members are aware of those changes.

Take a moment to think about how the meeting experience can be enhanced for your members, and how to reach out to those members that do not attend meetings.

Ask following questions to get a feel of the atmosphere being created:

• How are members greeted when coming in to a meeting?
• Is everyone given an equal opportunity to share their thoughts or participate in a program or project?
• Is there an opportunity to try new things?
• Who explains the structure of the meeting and organization to a new member?
• Can someone ask a question freely without feeling like everyone is judging them?
• Does your meeting consist of a lot of bickering?

Keeping the above questions in mind, consider doing the following to create a positive meeting experience:

• Request a different member be a greeter each month.
• Ask a member to mentor to a new member. (This is SO important to their continued desire to be a participant.)
• Think about how a seasoned member could be mentored. Maybe they haven’t been in attendance for a while and need to be caught up on changes within the Auxiliary.
• Ask or assign a different member to be a mentor at each monthly meeting. Request their assistance a month ahead of time in order for them to think about and prepare a brief report to be shared at the next meeting. The Bylaws and Ritual can be a valuable tool to help chose a topic, as well as their own thoughts on what it means to mentor someone.
• Keep in mind, a mentor doesn’t isn’t criticize. A mentor is a wise and trusted teacher.
• Embrace the opportunity to give back to others and have fun while doing it!
• Check out various resources available on the National Organization’s Program and Publicity Resources webpage under Chief of Staff/Extension.

Remember that membership in the Auxiliary means different things to different members:

• The Auxiliary may be a member’s way of demonstrating their patriotism.
• A specific Auxiliary volunteer program may be the passion of a member.
• The Auxiliary may be the only place a member feels safe and loved.
• The Auxiliary may be a member’s only opportunity to visit with others.

We must make belonging to the Auxiliary and attending meeting a pleasant and enjoyable experience.