Planning for the New Year

I hope that every Grange has made plans for 2011. This is a new year and it should be treated as a clean slate. It doesn't matter what went wrong or if there were failures last year. We learn from our experiences and then we create the future we want.

Planning is critical for all Granges. There are several steps each should take. You should have plans for the activities, events, and fund-raisers for the year. Your Grange should also consider a plan to help each member grow in leadership ability.

First the Grange should adopt an idea. Second a team or committee should be appointed to formulate all the details of a plan. Third, either the Grange should adopt the complete plan, or the team should give a complete report to the Grange. This would depend upon how the Grange adopted the idea. Fourth, implement the plan.

The last part of planning is to ensure that evaluation is done during and after the policy. After all, we need to learn from each experience if we are go grow and do better next time.

The reason that planning is so important that without plans we seldom try new things, or even improve the things we usually do. In the Grange, planning is an essential part of each year. It is never too late to start making plans!

Planning National Session

This morning was spent meeting with the National Grange staff on primarily National Session. It doesn't seem possible that in about 20 days, we'll be in Grand Rapids. It is always interesting to be involved in planning the Session, it is never boring.

The reality is that the broad planning stage is long over. We are down to nuts and bolts planning and dealing with the surprises that seem to pop up every day. Jessie, our convention planner, is sweating out planning an event that she has never seen, but is doing great.

The lessons of planning are that: first you need the broad plan that serves as a road map. Second you break out the pieces and develop more detailed plans that are specific to each piece. Third, you adapt and change as things come together, or don't. Lastly, you implement your plan.

While it often seems difficult to have fun during this stage, you should also plan to have a bit of fun. Insert little things that will show your humor or allow others to share theirs. Never do everything the same way you did last year. Always seek some way of improving things.

Let everyone on your team be a part of the planning. Don't just work them, let them be a creative part of the planning, either specific pieces or in the broad planning. The bigger your team the more success you can achieve.

While there are still a hundred things to do, I am confident that our staff, officers, and hosts will put on an excellent National Session. We have a great team and you will have a fun, educational, and productive Session when you arrive.