Leadership

Social Media Roundup: Ensure Positive Board Dynamics

Improving board performance only takes a few easy steps. Plus: Starwood Hotels hopes to help guests dodge the check-in desk with an app.

Improving board performance only takes a few easy steps. Plus: Starwood Hotels hopes to help guests dodge the check-in desk with an app.

The relationships your board members have with one another can determine your organization’s level of success. But what’s the right mix, anyway?

How to figure that out and more in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Build an Effective Board

It’s all about dynamics: The quality of a board of directors can determine an organization’s success—so choosing members shouldn’t be casual, says Solange Charas, president of Charas Consulting, discussing her research into board dynamics in a Harvard Business Review post. Using the Team Dynamic assessment tool developed by Case Western University’s Tony Lingham, Charas asked a number of directors to rate how their board members interact with one another, then asked them what elements would be optimal in creating an effective board. The boards that saw the highest levels of success were the ones where the gap between behavior and aspiration were smallest. So what does that mean for your board? Charas says that, beyond optimizing the makeup of the board itself, team coaching may help. “I have personally worked with over 25 board teams, and the results are consistent—improve dynamics and overall board performance, creativity, innovation, and satisfaction are enhanced,” she writes. (ht @votenet)

Look Ma, No Keys

Access granted: Who needs the front desk? Starwood Hotels and Resorts is ready to do away with the check-in process entirely. The company is testing a new smartphone app that will allow guests to check into their rooms themselves. According to Conference & Incentive Travel magazine, guests at hotels in the company’s Aloft chain in Harlem or in Cupertino, California, can receive a message on the Starwood app containing a virtual key that allows travelers to unlock their doors via Bluetooth technology. The potential benefits for conferences? “This will enable [guests] to bypass the check-in desk and head straight to their rooms, making it ideal for corporate events where large groups of delegates often have to check in at the same time,” CI&T’s Susie Hardwood writes. (ht @CITmagazine)

Think mobile hotel check-ins are the wave of the future? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(Fuse/Thinkstock)

Alexis Williams & Alexis Davis

By Alexis Williams & Alexis Davis

Alexis Williams & Alexis Davis are contributors to Associations Now. MORE

Got an article tip for us? Contact us and let us know!


Comments