I know an App Developer...
I may be out of step with your development plans but there are a lot of very busy business people trying very hard to make BNI meetings work for the good of the Chapter they belong. This could be facilitated so much better by the BNI Global Team with the tweaking of the App ASAP. Our Chapter needs the App to:
- record subs
- record visitors
- allow a pick list of eligible speakers (based on last MSP and last presentation date)
- allow referrals within the meetings to be 'totted up' easily for the VPs immediate feedback
- have a function to download and print the Go Getter Sheet (contact sheet) - even if this is just from desktop application
- give us data details of the 'top' professions across all BNI Chapters that GIVE referrals
- give us data details of the 'top' professions across BNI Chapters that RECEIVE referrals
- allow members to 'sign in' on a tablet rather than on paper
The reasons for 6&7 is that I rather suspect it is easier for some professions (accountants) to do really well out of BNI whilst others (i.e. interior designers) to fare less - this SHOULD rightly have a knock on effect about the 'visitors' we should all be thinking of attracting.
There are some great Apps out there...but it is such a shame that there is LOTS ++++ of duplication for busy business BNI members because the App is so limited. Have you considered extending the platform to something like 'Team App' - which does allow contacts/ messaging/signing in etc.
I am going to suggest to our members that we try this as an experiment - but what a waste for the BNI App to simply then just be a repository for 'slips'.
Please can you give us all an update on your development intentions and likely timescales? - much appreciated.
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Official comment
@lisa - thank you for the very detailed response, you have some phenomenal ideas and we hope to incorporate some of them in future releases. Kindly note that we have a team dedicated to the improvement of the mobile app platform. Most of the changes that are incorporated are the direct result of suggestions that are put forth in this very forum, which is reviewed regularly by the support team, the CTO, and other members and directors around the world - so the right people have seen and heard it :- )
Thanks again and we hope you have an amazing weekend.
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I totally agree with Lisa!
It's the end of 2nd decade of XXI century and BNI org is still telling us stories from XX... At the same time positioning itself as Dinamic...
For sure, BNI community could assist with the resources :)
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Thanks Jeremy - please can the Improvement Team give us an idea of timescales (or perhaps the priorities they are working on)?
Meantime, do you have a repository of electronic docs that would help each Chapter in recording the things outlined - which are interlinked perhaps? The reason I ask, is that we are midst collating documents and sharing via Google Drive. The cross checking and duplication pre and post meetings is driving us nuts! There has to be an easier way...
Or, is there a way of Directors/Presidents being able to 'share' the best systems their teams have come up with?
Any signposting would be gratefully received.
Have a lovely weekend too.
Many thanks
Lisa
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Thanks Jeremy - please can the Improvement Team give us an idea of timescales (or perhaps the priorities they are working on)?
At this time we do not have any publicly shareable information about timescales. At the moment, the biggest project is infrastructure related so that we can further enhance functionality going forward. It is also important to note that this is a global project, so anything that is added must be a globally accepted best practice applicable to a high majority of users.
Assuming it is something that could apply globally, there are also varying degrees of difficulty depending on the type of change that factor into the programming process. For example - there is a high number of requests for recording SUBS, or at least differentiating between visitor, guest, sub, etc.. That change however will require a significant fundamental database change. It will need either an additional field to be programmed into the system or another method of differentiation. Not only is this adding a field, but it also affects the visitor approval process and the flow of credit into the PALMS report. There are also over a dozen reports throughout the system that may need to be updated with these changes. When all that is done, there are over 50 other languages that would need this translated. Finally, it needs to be rolled out and trained.
Meantime, do you have a repository of electronic docs that would help each Chapter in recording the things outlined - which are interlinked perhaps? The reason I ask, is that we are midst collating documents and sharing via Google Drive. The cross checking and duplication pre and post meetings is driving us nuts! There has to be an easier way...
These would be stored in BNI University and shared by either your Executive Director or National office.
Or, is there a way of Directors/Presidents being able to 'share' the best systems their teams have come up with?
You can also check out the discussion groups in BNI Connect, there are lots of discussions like that going on around the world in those forums.
Any signposting would be gratefully received.
I will share this request with the team, though most of the communications in this regard is sent to the national offices and distributed further from there.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks Jeremy - this is really helpful (albeit frustrating). I am serious about knowing App Developers. I used to run large transformational improvement projects at a national level - so am sympathetic to the issues you point out.
It just seems a little bonkers that all 6000+ Chapters are reinventing the wheel in trying to organise how best to record the requisite information to comply with BNI rules and business.
These comments are borne out of frustration only and not meant to be a slur to BNI practice.
I will pursue looking through the forums as you suggest.
Many thanks
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