The key to running your club is regular meetings.
Executive members should be given fair warning of upcoming meetings and appointments. You should try to set meeting dates at least seven days before. Try and set a schedule at the beginning of the year so that all exec members can organise their study and other commitments around their commitment to your club.
All meetings must be chaired or led; this is usually done by the president but can also be done by the VP or Secretary when the president is not available. The chair’s role is to steer the meeting, stick to the agenda, and should act fairly and neutrally to all members.
Before the meeting
It is important that you create a meeting agenda and that this is sent to all members at least a week prior to the meeting. This helps them to prepare for the meeting. Ensure the chair is comfortable with the agenda and understands what is being discussed.
The Agenda
- Put simply: it is a plan that goes over what will be discussed at the meeting
- The agenda items should reflect the overall purpose of the meeting
- Individual agenda items, put forward by exec members, should reflect what that individual member is trying to achieve
- Agenda items should always have a purpose and have a title and name attached
| AGENDA ITEM | PURPOSE | NAME |
| Welcome | To finalise membership and set yearly goals, agree on values and direction of the club. General introductions | President |
| Apologies | Accept | Secretary |
| Goal setting | Aims for the year | President/Vice President and all members |
| Calendar | To discuss and approve | All |
| Event planning | Process to discuss and look to approve | President/Treasurer |
| Next meeting date | Any closing remarks | President/Secretary |
At the meeting
Try and stick to the following: discuss 20% about the past and 80% about the future of your club. It helps to look at what has happened, but don’t dwell on the past so much that you can’t move forward in a positive manner.
Set Ground Rules:
- Start and finish time
- No cell phones
- One speaker at a time
- Agree on values (see below).
Set Values:
Let’s face it, an executive has a wide range of people who have to learn to work together to achieve the club’s goals. Everyone will not always get along. Have a go at setting values which should be applied both inside and outside the meetings. Try and remind your members to use these as guiding principles when dealing with each other. Some examples are:
- Be vision and purpose focused
- Be open and honest
- Respect others views
- Stay on topic
- No surprises
- No swearing at each other.