Schedule, organize, plan! Save time, money, and the environment.

Have you ever been at a meeting where everyone takes out their calendars and PDAs and tries to figure out when on earth they could possibly meet again? You watch them one-up each other with all the reasons they are SO busy they can’t possibly meet on this day, at that time, and so the process starts all over again.

Doodle is a wonderful remedy to this situation. One person can post options for dates and times; others can log in when they get the chance and vote for the times that work for them. It’s silent, painless, and quickly eliminates which dates will be the best for the majority, not just the loudest member of your group. We use Doodle Polls to schedule virtually all of our meetings, whether they be online or face-to-face.

Another tool that we use on a regular basis is Survey Monkey . There are varying levels you can choose, though I have only ever used the free version (limited features, number of replies, and number of questions), or the one-month (around $20) subscription (opens up your features and numbers). We like Survey Monkey because it’s efficient, saves us money, and is eco-friendly. We can now quickly and easily survey our membership (asking their opinion of what priorities and goals we should set for the coming year, etc.) before starting off on a plan or project. We can also post evaluations and Continuing Education Certificates following our events. This is a paperles way to provide communication between officers and members; no copies, envelopes, or postage fees are wasted.

We’ve also used Survey Monkey as part of some of our more fun projects for the Iowa Small Library Association. A few years back, we used it to allow members to vote on their favorite of our logo contest finalists.

This particular survey saved us money and resources because we asked respondents for their preferred t-shirt size. Then, when we had a winning logo and produced shirts to sell at our conference booth, we knew (at least proportionately) how many of each size to order, thereby reducing waste.

Doodle polls and Survey Monkey are both cost effective ways to enable your team to meet goals with optimum efficiency. Doodle helps determine the best location and/or time to meet (thereby avoiding the need for additional meetings). Survey Monkey helps to provide paperless feedback and a streamlined way to keep track of responses. Our teams recommend them both!

Tena with State Librarian Mary Wegner sporting ISLA t-shirts.

Tena Hanson
Director, Milford Public Library
Milford, IA

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