I visited a chapter recently in London who were taking part
in the BNI Game and one of the members complained to me that it was a complete
waste of time, as it encouraged members to just make things up.
The BNI Game, as I explained to the member, can be an
outstanding building block for a chapter. But it does depend on the ground
rules set out by the Leadership Team and a strong, but fair, game co-ordinator.
In addition, strong members will not take ‘advantage’ of the game to score
points.
So, what can the organiser of the game do to ensure that
every member plays to the spirit of what is being done for their benefit?
Well, with regard to visitors, this is an easy one to
answer, and just a few basic guidelines are needed. First, if someone has come
as a visitor within the previous six months they can’t come again as a visitor
during the game, unless it’s with an application form. A visitor won’t count if
it’s the same person a member ‘wheels out’ every time there is a membership
drive. An eligible visitor is only
anyone that could apply to join the chapter.
Then there are referrals - always a difficult one! Well,
again this is easy to deal with. It’s why there is a Referral Reality Check. If
there is a doubt over the validity of a referral it can ‘randomly’ be picked
during the referral part of the meeting.
Testimonials, workshops and 1-2-1s are all often part of a
BNI Game and if more of these are done, even if a few are not as good as they
could be, it can only be good for the chapter. As are the wearing of a badge,
BNI Pin and getting to the chapter early.
The only item that is difficult to ‘police’ is the Thank You
for the Business, but even here an astute Membership Co-ordinator can usually
spot the odd anomaly.
Now I’m not naive enough to think that a little
‘embellishment’ of the truth doesn’t take place. But given the amount of extra
business the BNI Game produces for the members of a chapter, I suppose the odd
duff contribution is a price worth paying.
And in any case, certainly where I was concerned, if I knew
that another member was bending the rules it damaged their credibility, and
long term that member lost out.
The BNI Game is a brilliant incentive for any chapter. Just
make sure that it’s not you who is taking ‘advantage’ of the spirit of the
game.
