New Year Goal Setting

Happy New Year! Yes we know we are about a month early and New Year’s Eve is still weeks away.  But, for many of our collegiate chapters, new officers are in place and they have started their “year” in their Delta Zeta position. Which means that this is the perfect time for goal-setting. We all set goals, whether they be academic, personal, health and fitness, professional or for the success of an organization with which we are involved. Unfortunately, most of us have experienced instances where we have not met those goals or felt we plateaued in our progress towards them because we just didn’t know what to do next. Some purposeful work on the front-end, using the SMART goal-setting method, can help us all achieve what we wish in 2015.

SMART (or sometimes SMARTER) is a mnemonic for objective-based goal-setting. While there is no standard definition for each letter, it is commonly interpreted to mean:

·         S – Specific – Goals should be clear and precise. It can be helpful to think of the 5 W questions here.

1.       What do you want to accomplish exactly?

2.       Why is that important?

3.       Who will be involved?

4.       Where will this be achieved?

5.       Which requirements/constraints should be articulated?

·         M – Measurable – Identify criteria by which you can gauge progress. This can help you, or your group, stay on track and meet your target dates. This can also assist with motivation. We all love to check things off to-do lists.

·         A – Attainable – Goals should be achievable. Goals that require you to stretch and think big are appropriate, but goals that are out of reach or are below your typical performance are not as meaningful.

·         R – Relevant – Goals should be worthwhile and important to you. Make sure you are willing and able to work towards this goal.

·         T – Time Bound – Set a target date for each goal. This will help you set incremental goals to track your progress. It also helps prevent this goal from being lost in day-to-day activities.

·         E – This “E” can mean several items based upon your goal-setting environment. For example, ethical, ecological, evaluate, enjoyable, engaging. If one of these words resonates with you and your goal-setting, be sure to incorporate it into your goal-setting.

·         R – Reevaluate, recordable, rewarding, reaching, reassess. Use as appropriate in your goal-setting environment.

What are some of your SMART goals for the coming year? Do you want to raise your chapter GPA by .1 points? Do you want to put an extra $200 in savings each month? Do you want to run your first marathon? Share with us what goals you are setting by leaving a comment on our Facebook page or tweeting them to us @DeltaZetaNatl using the hashtag #DZGoal.

My chapter received a recruitment introduction– now what?

In 2013, Delta Zeta started using an online recruitment introduction form for alumnae to send Legacy and potential new member introductions via our website. The online form saves time for both the member making the introduction and for the chapters receiving the information. Chapters may still receive introductions with the older version of the form via email or the mail, however we have seen an increase in our online submissions over the past year. 

For new officers, or those preparing for deferred recruitment, you may be wondering how you access your online recruitment introduction forms. Each night if you have received any online forms the Vice President of Membership, as well as the Recruitment Advisor and CCD, will receive an email alerting you to log into Chapter Inc. to view the forms. Forms are saved in the Recruitment menu – under Reports. There are two ways to view the forms – either in an excel list for all information using the Full Report of Recruitment and Legacy Introduction Forms or as individual PDFs with photos, if submitted, with the Individual Recruitment and Legacy Introduction Forms.

After recruitment has finished, there is one last step to managing your Recruitment and Legacy Introduction Forms. Chapters receiving online Recruitment and Legacy Introduction Forms via Chapter Inc. can manage them using the Membership – Actions – Manage Recruitment Introduction forms.  Potential new members with information in our database can be either added as new members or marked as not bid. Potential new members who you've received a form for are automatically added to the Delta Zeta database when you complete this membership action. This saves you lots of time when entering new member information because we already have it from the forms submitted! Any officer with access to the Membership Action menu can manage your forms.

If your chapter has any questions on the Recruitment and Legacy Introduction Form, or Chapter Inc., please let us know by emailing ChapterInc@dzshq.com.