Guidelines on initiating a new Chapter | |
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I am highlighting usual steps that need to be followed ......... this comes from my personal experience and may not be suitable to you to the same extent as it proved to be for me. So, you could easily find a better mechanism, and if you do, please share it with us. But before the steps, note down some basic ideas: 1. Decision Making: The chapters are 100% free to take any decisions, and work with any organizational structure convenient to them, as long as they don't conflict directly with the vision of BA. We recommend to follow the Concept of Shoora (consultation) as commanded by Allah in the holy in Quran, so that the efforts please Allah and make things easy and rewarding for us. 2. Pooling Resources: The whole idea is to bring people together for strengthening the mission of biharanjuman. Please do remember we wish to do things from individual contributions rather than by begging from charity institutions or the govt. 3. Building a Network: The network must expand so as to reach everyone. One very highly placed person asked why this is necessary for a non-political organization. The answer lies in the above point. We know that probability of finding genuine hands is very low, so in order to find a few such hands we need to approach a large number of people. Every individual deserves to be invited and given a chance to contribute in whatever ways he/ she can. Why should we be selective? We must not jump to a conclusion about any person unless we are very sure. The best way to make sure is to give him/ her a chance. 4. Chain of hands, not chained hands: A network expands through chain. So, we encourage everyone to build a chain and prevent it from breaking. By leaving talented individuals and groups of individuals to take their own decisions, we prevent talents from getting chained or locked inside air-tight treasure-chests. We encourage the talents to bloom which needs a lot of fresh air coming through open doors and windows of opportunities. 5. Interests of participants are paramount: Activities in the local chapter can be taken up as per interests and initiatives of the local talent pool.
6. Utilization of Funds by chapters: Funds collected locally can be utilized towards (a) local activities, viz. arrange coaching classes, arrange special sessions on career guidance (to convince people that moving up the ladder is not so difficult as we usually think) communication skills, etc., and/ or (b) global initiatives 7. Etiquette of commencing a meeting: We emphasise that every meeting MUST start with Islamic teaching (Dars + tafseer + hadees) that affects human life. 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning.
Shikwa-e-zulmat-e-shab se
to kahin behtar tha; Apne hissey ki koi shamm'a jalaate jaatey. [Ahmad Faraz]
Step-1 Acquaint yourself with Bihar Anjuman properly. Go through the websites www.biharanjuman.org and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biharanjuman - go through all the pages of these websites. Clear any doubts, after that, by discussing with me. I'm available for chat almost every evening after maghrib until 12.45 past midnight (IST). Go through http://www.biharanjuman.org/FAQ.htm and http://www.biharanjuman.org/Projects.htm definitely. Discussing with me freely and frankly may be of help. Step-2 Remember you have resolved to build a network (Bihar Anjuman is a network of individuals and organizations which would provide fair opportunity to any individual or organization willing to some constructive work). So, start with meeting those you know and discuss with them your intention. Show them the websites, give them a copy of Bihar Anjuman's profile (http://www.biharanjuman.org/Profile-Anjuman.pdf). Our process is to ask anyone you meet to fill in his/ her details in the
Membership
Registration Form, (modify it as per your Step-3 Corner meetings are great way to reach more people wherein you reach them rather than asking them to reach you. When you have a companion going with you for these corner meetings (more is better), you are more likely to continue and get encouragement rather than when you attempt to go alone. But, of course, whether somebody is with you or not, you must continue on this mission to pass the message to as many of the community members as possible. Step-4 Please do announce a meeting once you have received positive response from 5 or 6 people, record a MOM, circulate the decisions taken through the minutes of meeting in the group, and continue to meet regularly. Step-5 Next step is to announce the chapter and its representatives along with the minutes of this first meeting. Please circulate the MOM with list of attendees to the group, and pass on the profiles of chapter representatives. More representatives can be added later, as you recommend, and as per the desire of other benevolent members. No formal structure should be established until the message (invitation/ dawat) has reached every nook and corner of
the city, so that active members are identified and get a fair chance to be incorporated in an organizational structure. A minimum 6 months period should be given to this task for consolidation and expansion. The best way to reach everyone is to arrange small "corner meetings" at least once a week, and a monthly meeting to take stock of previous month's achievements including accounts-taking (and scrutiny), setting new targets, inviting people's suggestions, announcing new active members, assigning "zones" etc. Tell the people in all the meetings about this plan of formulating a formal structure. |