Nine points of an highly effective Rotaractor

(Yes I gave it a title) *chugs*

Disclaimer: The following points that I am going to state are completely subjective and are more of a
personal opinion or an alternative ideological and management approach rather than criticism. The
functioning of the club and its structure has been more than satisfactory and most of my constructive
criticism has been addressed in the past two years of my service.

I think most of my points raised are because we as a club are increasing our potential day by day and
becoming something bigger than our founders envisioned us to be. Management of a club with 700+
members is a critical task considering that a big and sturdy startup has only 20.

Why we face these problems? Because majority of the members are students with no prior experience
or degree in management. Hence when some certain management-oriented issues originate, we
aren't efficient to address it as we are still learning as we go but a stable discussion on them could
seek to improve many corridors in future.

1) RCCH, an ostentatious NGO in or a Society in making?

As the club progresses and each year, we widen the base and scale of events, we must be clear on our
roots. I have seen a very picayune but still paradoxically significant changes in the ideological and
progressive response by the two boards and mostly by their head i.e president. Although too nugatory
with my contribution to judge their position, both of them have been remarkable with their jobs. In last
tenure, RCCH seemed to be heading towards the thesis of an NGO but there seemed to a shift from it to
us becoming a society.

Now what's the difference and the problem associated with it?

a) Society is a form of NGO with intra-club recreational activities along with social welfare.

b) None. There is absolutely no problem with being any one of them.

Then why the point?

Initiatives such as Talent hunt and Himalayan Expression were both innovative and naive. The idea
behind both is noteworthy but it makes idea behind the club is confusing. RCCH advertises itself as an
NGO(Although we still don't have a certificate for the same for the best of my belief ) and it is acting as a
club. Now the thing to be noted is that if Y volunteers do X amount of work, then this X work can be
converted into energy in the form of social welfare. When we introduce intra club activities, the energy
is also divided into it. We should note that increases the amount of responsibilities and hard work put by
Rotaractors.
Are intra-club activities bad?

No! they are great and fun. It’s a great way to increase bonding and improve work culture and I
personally had fun.

One thing to note is that both COTL and Talent Hunt are/were a disaster. Now we need to question why
the response was so low and why we lacked? On thinking about it I came to the conclusion that when
we recruited members, we advertised ourselves as an NGO and that was the main reason for why they
joined. Neither are we so big that HimalayanXpressions can be a very valuable platform or the talent
hunt event can attract big crowd since we did not recruit people oriented with such activities. We did
not clear ourselves then.

When we do an event like Talent hunt or Clash of the Leaders, we could be using that X amount of hard
work to clean places, spread awareness or raising funds instead. I appreciate the intra club activities but
we need to be sorted.

Our failures of intra-club activities like COTL is not because we did not work hard, its because we are not
clear of who we are.

We need to redefine our meaning and come to a conclusion as to where we want to head in the
future and the approach we need to get there.

2) Committee and project heads - heads or faces?

I strongly and firmly believe a need for a change in Committee heads and BOD's relationship. We need
to give more power and independency to the committee heads and their committees. The level of
enthusiasm in the committee members is deeply saddening. We never see group of photographers
excited to click photos randomly in Apni Pathsala or content writers willing to write and publish their
articles on the page. The reason for this is mediocrity. I acknowledge the fact that deadlines are
necessary but we should not forget that deadlines promote mediocrity. Reporting to someone and
changing (Note: "Changing not enhancing") your vision promotes mediocrity. If we allow everyone to
make a teaser that they envision without irritating them with so many changes and not having what
they wanted, they themselves wont volunteer next time. If we keep the articles and posts short,
ideologically weak and politically correct all the time, we miss an array of writers who would write such
articles on women’s day that it could have had a chance of going viral. No matter the engagement on
out Instagram page sucks but I will write a different point on that. The conclusion being if we can inspire
the members enough, and give them power enough that they feel valued and are willing to bring their
potential out for then I aim to have more volunteers for a task than are needed, more excitement in
projects and a better and strong club. Let BOD's listen to the committee heads and sub heads point of
view and how they want to manage things. Let the heads and sub heads listen to their members. Don't
be a boss, be a leader.
3) Work Culture or work Tradition?

Taking the prospective of point no. 2 forward, I sense that we need a philosophical and ideological shift
in our work culture. And I hope you Understand this and read it thoroughly.
Flatarchies
A flat organization (also known as horizontal organization) has an organizational structure with few or
no levels of middle management between staff and executives. An organization's structure refers to the
nature of the distribution of the units and positions within it, also to the nature of the relationships
among those units and positions.Tall and flat organizations differ based on how many levels of
management are present in the organization, and how much control managers are endowed with.
Benefits:
Empirical evidence from Ghiselli and Johnson suggests that the amount of independence managers in
flat organizations possess as a result of the flat organizational structure satisfies many of their needs in
terms of AUTONOMY and SELF- REALIZATION. The idea behind flat organizations is that well-trained
workers will be more PRODUCTIVE when they are more directly involved in the DECISION MAKING
process, rather than closely supervised by MANY layers of management.

I understand the importance and proven effectiveness of the current organizational structure and
hence I don’t propose a radical delayering process but instead a virtual inclination to the hierarchical
structure stated above. A more closeness in relationship and a more Swaraj approach may lead to
people volunteering themselves as they sense a value for them being created in the club and a feeling of
importance.
We work when we feel we are valuable and are making a difference.

This structure doesn’t want to eradicate management positions. A lot of studies have proven its
effectiveness. “The overall goal in such flatter organizations being that management isn't a promotion
so much as a totally new role with different skills that you are expected to learn.”

It may seem offtopic but even google tends to lean towards an approach of this structure.
4) A pyramid with a Square on top.

Here is a Comical Diagram representing the current hierechcy. (Laughs like Janice, // Thinks I am R.K
Laxman)

As I walked the alleys of UIET towards the conference room where the FBM was being held, I could see
Himank sir teasing Harwinder sir , Sumeet sir giving out his bright smile, people looking super bored with
the surprise appearance of Grey shades and Rotaractors gossiping and mocking the Bus full of BOD’s we
have with new positions being created in mid tenure. We get it and completely understand that we
need people in top level management and to reward the hard workers with BOD certificated before the
tenure ends but a consideration should be given for the Rotaractors to vacate the position with all due
respect , integrity and sense that not to hold a chair they cannot sit on. Its only the most logical thing to
do which wasn’t done. I won’t write much about it as I am sleepy and tired.

5) If You want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

“NGOs need a third way: collaboration”
the twin temptations facing an NGO board are to compete and to compromise.
When we talk of dominating the Rotary or two donation drives happening at the same time, it reminds
me of an episode of Recess. Recess was a cartoon I enjoyed at my childhood. In one of the episode the
boys team and the girls team had to collect cans which could be sold to raise money. Both of them
worked super hard and ended up tying. After that they fought and it lead to ruining of all the cans.
Then one of the characters proposed to work together and not only they brainstormed ideas but
gathered twice the cans as the total of before with half the work and half the time.

How many collaborations did RCCH have in events? Can we get more sponsors through partnerships? X
number of restraunts are approached by Y NGO’s in CHD. What if few approach them and hence more
money the deal settles. The end goal is public welfare and education. Can we achieve more through a
‘Mahagathbandhan’? Can we raise more money? These are few questions to think over.

When times are hard, NGOs should eschew competition and compromise and instead co-operate to
achieve better results.
That leads us on to the second temptation: compromise. Another way to increase funds from private
givers, and ensure continued funds from changing governments, is to compromise on policy positions or
ways of working. These pressures – to compromise and compete – are the inevitable bedfellows of
wanting to remain relevant and powerful. NGOs need to maintain broad public support and a decent
relationship with governments if they are to play an important role in society on behalf of the poor in
other countries. But how far should they dilute the message to keep in with the money? And how far
should they seek to increase market share if it means other NGOs, with similar mandates, might suffer?
The decisions are hard, and life at the top of an NGO involves constant contradictions.

5) Pressure is force per unit Rotaractor

You can take the red pill or the blue pill. If you take the blue pill, you ignore this point and if you take the
red pill, you come to a realization. Everyone does not have the same leniency in attendance, same
difficulty of subjects/profession they are pursuing and same distance of travel to UIET or Chandigarh.
Note that they also have varied level of determination. If you stop promotion on this basis then it will be
unfair and demotivating but if you do an expect them to travel 3hrs midway exams or to attend every
event with 75% attendance just because they are promoted then it will be unrighteous.
There can be a lot of argument on this but the point is not of argument but of realization. The social
media team works their ass of and there are still delays. The solution to every problem is not just hard
work. We are volunteers in a not for profit organization with majority of people still students making
their couriers. Even company at a point surveys the input and workload with efficiency and I think this
is a big point that we are missing. There are several ways to reduce the work load and increasing
efficiency and the very first being is to reduce the expectations which will result in the volunteers to
surpass it.

From increasing the number of heads to involvement of BOD’s in petty work, this is a issue to be
brainstormed on and is a need of the hour.

6) Cream is leaving behind the ice.

What is the biggest failure of a club? When a Rotaractor who has the potential and a fair choice of
continuing, leaves; specially if holds a position of responsibility.

This could be because of two reasons

a) He sees no future personal growth in the club

b) He is unable to manage both his goals and club duties

Now arguably b could be taken as a positive in few cases but it isn’t in the majority. Now this could be
due to my point of work load at 6) and no sense of adding value or making decisions at 2) and 3).

We should hold frequent all committee and project head meetings to listen to how they want to run it
and their future roadmap and plans. The BOD’s should listen to their opinions and perspective.
An anonymous feedback form is a need of the hour which should be circulated around the club.
7) RCCH Social Media: Marriage without engagement

How do you measure the impact of your social media presence? Through the engagements. Despite
our social media team and the duo of snapshot and illustration working like they are handling a
company, we see very little results. The output percentage to the input given is a very scary figure and it
should be taken very seriously.

Why does this happen?

a) People are not passionate about it. When you hate you work, you just complete the deadlines.
Just like I said let the heads decide or at least have a say on what to post. Stop “Drawing the
Line”.
b) We need to be proud of ourselves and show it. When we built the happy school, flaunt it that
we did something that the government was supposed to do. This election season we could have
campaigned like hell and maybe reached an audience so huge that we would have finally got the
slide up option. We could have interviewed or written to different candidates and their roadmap
for public education sector in the city while promoting our initiatives in each post. It could have
been bigger than we imagined
We are doing it all wrong. Google Apple’s Crazy ones campaign. Advertisements and social
media campaigns do not lie is just posting what you have. It lies on adding value and sending a
message. On women’s day we had a chance to write articles that people would have shared it on
their story but for SOME REASON THE BOARD WANTS TO STICK TO MEDIOCRITY AND A LAID
BACK SAFE PLAYING GENERIC ATTITUDE WHICH PROUCES NOTHING BUT SUCKS OUT THE
HARDWORK. Yes I am angry about this hence the caps lock on. And yes this is how you gain
“attention” which is #1 thing for social media – ATTENTION.
c) Refer to point 2 if you want to improve it. Head towards decentralization! I should have written
a separate point for it but I guess I need a proper speaking time to explain this concept.
d) Be ideologically strong yourself. I remember the Bakra-Eid post where only after I pointed out
that we are vegan that the board decided to remove Bakra from the post. If we follow the god
damn PETA then why don’t we get a little spine from them? PETA did a campaign on vegan EID.
They did a campaign on Muslims sharing vegan recipes. They shared articles on Islam and
Veganim. It was beautiful. It was revolutionary. YOU CAN’T BRING A CHANGE IN SOCIETY BY
BEING SUPERFICIAL.
Also a campaign for women’s day is like bonkers while not for men’s day. Seriously the heads of
social media can bring exponential growth with 50% of the work if they work smart.
e) Cross Promotion. Ever heard of it? Why so much Ego RCCH? During Photowalk RCCH denied a
post for Umeed Ki Kiran and Nomad Spirits. If you post for them without asking it only shows
goodwill. Share posts of other NGO’s on your story with similar without them saying or
responding. Share their events once a while and see the difference it makes. One of them will
share us back. We grow together and not alone! This is a very sensible strategy used by all the
big names in social media when they were small. I myself have seen some personal accounts
grow 10x the size we are at from 100 followers. Be logical! Be sensible! Don’t build a wall of ego
and pride.
8) Opening the closed gang

I have seen NGO’s do wonder to a city. I have seen NGO’s become a trend. MAD Dehradun has so many
volunteers at their event who come without a membership or a certificate. Will anyone do the same for
our club? Never!

We have beautiful initiatives and alluring projects and committees yet very few know about them in the
Tricity and since follower’s hungry social media account sucks so much, we need another approach.

Now considering we are heading towards being a society ( Refer to point 1) here is an approach.

Spread the Vibes ( PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY )

Photowalk being one example of how people can connect to out NGO, we can organize
community based event to introduce them to us. Not everything is money and profit. Build
strong fundamentals and a family, and then you won’t need marketing.
If we organize open community events with a lot of collaboration or alone we can gain so many
people and get a whole city following us. Illustration can open their workshop to all. Canvas can
hold city drawing competition, Snapshot can hold Photowalks and Eloquence can hold Open
Mics. Lets start without any form of sponsorship. Lets start by promoting talent in our city and
spreading happiness. In each event we gain their numbers i.e database and get us to introduce
ourselves to them along with out upcoming events. We publish photos of winning photo or
painting or video of winning open mic entry on our and get loads of organic followers! We do
collaborations with communities of that like Open mic and get So many people attached to us
that we can at a point oversell our passes.

9) Quality over Quantity. At least use your Manpower(and womenpower).

Can we please lessen the number of recruits each year because we select almost everyone and it ruins
the point of such a big interview process. All my friends were so amused to know that each and
everyone got selected even If they stayed silent the whole time and this is what they spread and the
mouth wording went on about how ‘prestigious Rotaract is’.

I acknowledge that we need that 900₹ but there are so many ways to get money if we have people.

I brainstormed for like about 10 minutes and got some good ways for it –

a) Get BAT donations in Brave browsers. Each browser can send around 4$ tip and if 900 people
send the tip to RCCH Youtube channel through 2 devices we have 7200$ in a month or 5.04 Lakh
₹!
b) We can sell some merchandise designed by Illustration and give each Rotaractor who sells it a
share of the profit.

I am tired of writing this hence the point 9 was so small but I sincerely wish the Board thinks about it.
Have an agenda of your meetings and M.O.M shared in the TC/TL group. The Board should be
accountable to the TL’s and TC’s.
There are various things I want to write about but They frequently find their way into discussion and
criticism and for if they haven’t been acted upon until now then they won’t be in future. I believe
discussing the fundamentals and strengthening it is more important as of now as compared to
improving the superficial issues. The icing on the cake looks good but it won’t last long and the bread
needs to be up to the mark of the standard of the shop its trying to sell itself.