How to Manage a Chapter Certification Study Group

1
How to Manage a Chapter Certification Study Group

• Steven Boshears, CPCM, CFCM
• Chief Knowledge Officer
• NCMA Leadership Summit 2005
• Charleston, South Carolina
• June 17-18, 2005

2
Why have a Chapter Study Group?

• Many members find group study more effective for
  them than individual study alone
• Others find that the discipline of a commitment
  to a group reinforces their commitment to stick
  to their study plan and actually take the exams
• Aid in Certification Preparation is one of the
  most frequently sought services from Chapters
• The presence of a Chapter Study Group Program can
  attract new members to the Chapter or re-engage
  existing members who have not participated
  recently in Chapter events.

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What type of person do I need to LEAD a Chapter
Study Group?

• The ideal Chapter Study Group Leader would
  possess the following traits
• Highly motivated to help others achieve their
  professional and personal goals
• Highly effective in speaking to and teaching
  small groups
• Subject Matter Expert in the Module(s) they are
  preparing the members to test (Federal,
  Commercial, General Business)
• Certified under the new program that they are
  preparing their members for
• Has the full support (financial and otherwise) of
  the Chapter Leaders

4
We cant find anyone with ALL these traits. What
do we do now?

• Of the traits desired, these are the most
  important
• Highly motivated to help others achieve their
  professional and personal goals
• Has the full support (financial and otherwise) of
  the Chapter Leaders
• Even self-directed Study Groups consisting only
  of certification candidates have been successful
  in the past and can be successful in the future,
  when the two conditions above are met.

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Should the duties of Chapter Study Group Leader
be absorbed by the President or other Officer?

• Generally, NO.
• Effectively leading a Chapter Study Group is a
  major commitment of time and energy.
• Unless the individual has extraordinary energy
  and time available, recommend that Study Group
  Leader be his/her only Chapter role until
  completed.

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How large should the Study Group be?

• Most effective size is 6 to 10
• Allows for active participation and sharing by
  all
• Also allows the group to be effective if 1-2
  members are absent from a given meeting
• Larger groups may wish to divide into smaller
  sub-groups, each with their own assigned
  sub-leader
• If this is done, periodic meeting of the overall
  group may be desirable

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How far in advance should I plan for forming a
Study Group?

• As a Study Group will typically require
  individuals to commit to a 3-6 month process,
  plans to form a study group should generally be
  announced 3-6 months in advance
• If you are planning to start a Chapter Study
  Group for the 2005/2006 Program Year NOW is the
  time to publicize this intention and start
  getting organized!

8
What are some things we should do to promote our
Study Program?

• Notices in your Chapter newsletter and on your
  Chapter website
• Notices, ads, or press releases in local papers
• Direct mail flyers to members and
  companies/agencies in your area
• Seek one-on-one meetings with local employers and
  ask for their support for candidates from their
  organization
• Ask the National Staff or a CMCAB Member to speak
  about certification at a Chapter meeting

9
What materials do we need?

• The following are highly recommended for each
  participant
• Federal Module
• Guide to the CMBOK
• Federal Knowledge Module Study Guide
• CCH paperback version of the FAR

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What materials do we need? continued

• Commercial Module
• Guide to the CMBOK
• Commercial Knowledge Module Preparatory Study
  Guide
• Hard copy of the UCC

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What materials do we need? continued

• General Business Module
• One reference set of the General Business Module
  Study Guides, Volumes I-V or
• One reference set of the under-lying textbooks
  from which the GB Study Guides were developed
• AND
• - One copy of each Volume of the GB Study Guides
  or reference textbooks for each participant for
  each area that he/she believes they are weak in

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What materials do we need? continued

• Why not recommend that each Study Group
  participant have a personal copy of all five
  volumes of the GB Study Guide or all the
  underlying textbooks?
• Because the GB Study Guide Volumes are relatively
  expensive, as are the collegiate textbooks upon
  which they are based.
• Each candidate should make his/her own analysis
  of their strengths and weaknesses and make the
  investment in materials and time he/she believes
  is necessary to be successful

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Where do I get these materials?

• The Guide to the CMBOK, Federal Study Guide, and
  Commercial Study Guide are available now thru
  NCMA National
• Discounts are available for orders of 10 or more
  of a single title
• The GB Study Guides will be available in the July
  2005 time frame
• The list of college textbooks underlying the GB
  Study Guides is on NCMAs web site
• The texts themselves are available from Amazon,
  the publisher, or often thru local college
  bookstores or inter-library loan

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What about on-line prep materials?

• On-line certification prep courses for the GB
  Module and the Federal Module are available now
  thru NCMA
• A Commercial on-line certification prep course is
  planned

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What about on-line prep materials? continued

• The on-line courses are NOT designed for group
  study,
• but can be useful to augment group study or in
  lieu of group study
• The on-line GB Prep Courses do NOT use the same
  textbook basis as the written GB Study Guides
• But both the on-line courses and the written
  guides cover the GB CMBOK competencies
• The Federal On-Line Prep Course does use the
  written Federal Study Guide as its foundation
• It is undetermined what will be used as the basis
  for the Commercial On-Line Prep Course

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How often should Study Group meetings be held?

• To maintain continuity, meeting once a week is
  recommended
• If the Group enjoys strong employer support and
  member commitment, twice weekly meetings can be
  considered

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What time of day and for how long should the
Group meet?

• Evening meetings generally work best
• Breakfast or mid-day meetings can be considered
  if the Group enjoys appropriate employer support
• Weekend meetings can be considered, but require a
  higher level of candidate commitment
• Meetings should generally be 2-3 hours in length,
  similar to a college class
• Shorter meetings tend to not allow sufficient
  interaction between candidates and instructor
• Longer meetings tend to exceed attention span and
  energy level of candidates and instructors

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Where should the Group meet?

• If readily accessible and consistently available,
  an employers classroom or conference room works
  well
• If readily accessible and consistently available,
  a public meeting room such as a library or
  college conference room is also good
• Restaurants or similar venues tend NOT to be good
  venues for this purpose
• Convenience for candidates is an important
  consideration in selecting the location

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Can a Chapter Study Group be held on-line?

• Yes if the candidates and instructor have the
  basic computer equipment necessary
• Absent the supporting technology (which costs)
  and an instructor skilled in its use, simple
  asynchronous email based Study Groups are
  unlikely to be as effective as groups that meet
  physically
• For Chapters with wide geographic dispersion, an
  asynchronous on-line Group may be better than
  nothing

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How many sessions should be held?

• 10-12 sessions of 2-3 hours duration over a 3-4
  month period for EACH exam module is a good rule
  of thumb
• Fewer sessions can be considered if they are of
  longer duration (for example, 4-hour Saturday
  study sessions)
• Generally NOT a good idea to extend the period of
  study much beyond 4 months, as candidate
  retention of knowledge gained deteriorates

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Can we have a consolidated Study Group to prepare
concurrently for multiple exam modules?

• This is NOT advisable
• The GB, Federal, and Commercial BOK are each
  quite extensive there is a LOT of ground
  covered in each exam
• Sequential preparation and testing is strongly
  recommended
• Those few capable of concurrent prep and testing
  are unlikely to need a Study Group any way!

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• How can I construct a Chapter Study Group
  schedule to meet all this?

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Pro Forma Example of a Chapter Study Group
Program Year
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Is the sequence (GB, Fed, Comml) important?

• It could be, depending on the interest and needs
  of candidates in your Chapter
• The GB Module is common to both the CFCM and CCCM
• The GB Module is also statistically (thus far)
  the most difficult to pass hence one approach
  is to tackle the toughest challenge first
• But starting the Program Year with the Federal or
  Commercial could better meet the needs of your
  Chapter and could lead to early success that will
  reinforce the program

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Should we charge a fee to be in a Study Group?

• Most do not
• but people tend to value more that which they
  must pay for versus that which is free
• A fee could be used to offset or partially offset
  the cost to the Chapter to acquire study
  materials, reproduce supplementary materials, or
  even to pay a modest honorarium to compensate a
  highly qualified instructor for the group

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What are some Lessons Learned and Best Practices
from other Chapters experience?

• Allot sufficient time ( of meetings x meeting
  duration) to conduct the program.
• Remember, there is a lot of material to cover!
• Work with the resources you have.
• Do not announce a year-long program covering all
  three modules if you only have an instructor
  commitment for 4 months
• Be flexible
• Plan ahead and have contingency plans for
  candidate and instructor absences

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Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued

• Get a commitment from instructor and candidates
  to pursue an entire Modules prep up front get
  it in writing
• Provide a syllabus and program schedule in
  advance of starting the program
• Establish clear lines of communication
• Have a phone, email, and fax tree for the Group
• Provide a mock-exam environment at least once
  during each Modules program

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Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued

• Train to Task
• Exams are all multiple choice, so use multiple
  choice mock quizzes and exams throughout the
  program
• Study the tricks of the trade for mastering
  multiple choice examinations
• Dont waste time and effort on essay-type
  preparation
• Involve the candidate
• Assign outside reading
• Assign candidates to prepare multiple choice
  questions
• Hold candidates accountable for performing
  assignments
• Require candidates to share their work

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Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued

• Recognize your candidates
• Many Chapters reimburse the exam and/or prep
  material costs for successful candidates
• If this is not feasible, seek employer
  commitments to reimburse successful candidates
• Always publicize candidate success, even if no
  financial recognition is possible
• Privately recognize the effort of those who are
  not successful the first time around and
  encourage them to try again. There are many
  examples of top-notch professionals who failed
  (some many times) before succeeding

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Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued

• Recognize your Instructor(s)
• Publicly and with their employer
• Determine if this experience has put them over
  the top for Fellow qualification (if they are not
  already a Fellow) and nominate him/her for the
  award