Reaching Measureable Objectives

Katie Paine, author of Measure What Matters, discusses the importance of measuring relationships throughout this book. In chapter two, she takes a look at how to get started when measuring objectives you want for your business or company.

When choosing what measureable objectives you want to reach you should have six basic steps in mind.
1. Understand your background.
-When looking at this step it's important to know what you want to measure and the outcomes you would like to happen. It's also going to be important to rank your key messages, stakeholders and competitors and then rank them by importance.
2. Assemble everyone on your team.
-With this step when they say everyone on the team should be involved, they mean everyone. In this meeting all the staff should be involved, all the staff's bosses should be involved, along with the boss's boss.
3. Ask them what they mean when they say "We got our butts kicked".
-In this step, you want to know what makes individuals in your company feel as though they've been beat by another company. Write down these responses on a flip chart, so you are able to use these responses in a later step.
4. Ask them what they mean when they say " Congratulations, we kicked butt last week".
-Similar to the last step, you know what to know what makes individuals in your company feel as though they did something better than their competitors. As with the last step you will want to write these responses down on a flip chart, so they can be used in a later step.
5. Ask everyone what their objective are.
-In this step, we are now going to look at the flip chart where we wrote down responses to both the positives and negatives. We will then want to go through all of these steps one by one and ask "
Why does this matter?". We will then want to write down the response and then ask again "Why does this matter?". Then write down this response and again ask "Why?". You will then want to keep asking why until you reach a measureable objective which relates to your bottom line.
6. Have individuals vote on what their highest priority is.
-With this step you are able to get a clear, agreed upon definition of how you want to achieve the perfect measurement system. By having everyone agree on a standard definition of success, you will then be able to more easily judge your performance in the marketplace and against your competition.

As a company it's important to know what objectives you're trying to reach as you want everyone in your company to be reaching for the same goals. By going thru all of these steps, everyone on your company will not only be on the page, but will also be striving for the same objectives.

Big Little Reveal

Last week Friday, was the long awaited big little reveal for our new members. Every year the the date of big little reveal is always a secret and after some time the new members begin to guess when they think they will get their big. Going thru this night on both sides, I'm not sure if I was more nervous to get my big or my little.

Since the new members didn't know it was big little reveal, our New Member Orientation Chair took their keys, as she had every night, so the bigs could go to their littles room and drop off all the crafts made for this night. My little and I went over to Brittany's room to drop everything off and lay everything out throughout her room, so when we brought her back to her later that night she would be able to see everything Ashley had made.

This year's game was similar to Guess Who. On a piece of poster board there were pictures of the actually characters in the game. All the potential bigs and a few extra sisters sat in the chairs and held the poster board in front of their faces. The new members were called in one by one and asked clues, such as is my big a boy or girl and does my big have brown hair. The clues for each person were written on the back of the poster board, so they would know when to sit down.

This year my little received a little and I became a G big. My little, Ashley was the third to go out of the sixteen girls. Ashley received Brittany as her little. It was super exciting to see Brittany's reaction as Ashley pulled the poster board down and let her face show. We then waited thirteen more people till we could finally begin all the family and line pictures.

Once everyone had gone and all the new members knew their bigs, then picture time began. Every year we had certain pictures we always do, so we had to make sure we continued these as we will want to see how our family grows throughout the years. I am excited for my little as she is taking on the big task of becoming a big and I can't wait to see what I am able to do in my new role as a G big.

Be KIND to your body

Public Relations students involved in Ohio Northern's Firm, True North PR are working on the KIND snacks campaign to not only promote these snacks, but also to promote being kind to your body. The students joined forces with the bookstore and are allowing students a chance to win a gift card to the bookstore, where KIND snacks are also sold.

The students started off with a survey to gage how much students on campus really knew about KIND snacks. They are now promoting KIND snacks to both the athletic teams on campus and the dance classes. Another thing they are doing is a KIND selfie challenge, where students have the opportunity to win a gift card to the bookstore.

Lani Coleman, a junior Public Relations and Musical Theatre major promoted KIND snacks to the dance classes. When doing these presentations, Lani showed students the proper ways to stretch, and also talked about the benefits of KIND bars and they are the perfect on the go snack for busy students. Lani also took to social media as she used #KINDbears and directed her tweet @kindsnacks. Other individuals on this campaign did the same thing as Lani did with the dance classes, but instead they did athletic teams. The volleyball team, football team and cross country team all participated in the KIND presentation and learned why KIND snacks are the perfect snack for athletes who are always on the go. 

You can also join the team's mission to bring healthy living onto ONU's campus by posting a selfie or a brief description on Twitter and Instagram about how you live a healthy life, both in exercise and appetite. Take a KIND selfie with the hashtag, #KINDbears and tagging @KINDsnacks to enter out contest. By posting a selfie you are giving yourself the opportunity to win a gift card to the bookstore. 

The goal of KIND snacks is not only to promote healthy eating, but also living a healthy life, in all you do.Kind snacks are a wholesome and delicious snack, and they are also gluten free and non GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). Go join the KIND contest by posting a selfie, my friend Allie and I have.