SPONSORS OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE These committees are one of the ways the current government is trying to engage people in decision making locally. You may already be serving on one of these committees yourself.
TRAINER AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER FRANK NEWBERRY IS CONVINCED THAT WE CAN ALL CONTRIBUTE TO MAKING MEETINGS AT WORK MORE PRODUCTIVE AND MORE ENJOYABLE.
VOLUNTARY SECTOR INVOLVEMENT I was recently asked to stand for election to serve on a number of brand new committees and Boards in the voluntary sector. I could try for Chair or Vice Chair of a Congress size group of people (more than 20 members) or to serve on one of four smaller committees (less than 20 members each).
Once elected to one of the smaller committees I might then be asked to stand for election as that committee’s chair or vice chair. The organisation running these elections was also looking informally for minute-takers.
MOST OF US HARDLY KNEW EACH OTHER
I should point out that, at this early stage, we were effectively electing each other. Everyone was being asked to stand for everything so that people had some sort of a choice of candidate. Again, at this state most of us hardly knew each other or quite understood what the new committees’ powers would be.
A CONSCIOUS DECISION
It was for this reason (the ignorance and the unfamiliarity) that I decided against standing for any of the jobs on offer preferring instead to suggest that there was another way that I might help the Congress level people at their monthly meetings.
Accordingly at the next meeting - under the heading of ‘any other business’- I was elected unopposed and unanimously to be the Executive Secretary to Congress. I was also asked if I would be the Minute Taker but I declined. I figured will have my hands full enough because it is the job of the Executive Secretary to assist the Chair by working to make the meetings themselves more productive.
MY JOB WAS TO BE THE ‘ENGINE OIL’ When I first worked as an Executive Secretary I was told that the committee I would serve was ‘like an engine’ which made all the decisions and carried out the action points. My job was to be the ‘engine oil’ that ensured the smooth running of the engine.
MY ROLE
My job, in a nutshell, will be to work with the Congress Chair - before, during and after meetings - by helping him or her to...
• Prepare and circulate meaningful agendas (before the meeting)
• Determine who does which action points (during the meeting), and then
• Chase up the action points (after the meeting) so that progress is made as intended
Frank Newberry
www.franknewberry.com
In my first stint in this role I served on three church charity committees whose members included foreign bankers from the City of London and top businessmen - all of whom were very busy in their ‘day jobs’. I quickly realised why they were at the top of their profession.
They worked hard and appreciated others who worked hard.
Fortunately for me they all seemed to think that I was a hard worker so they were very responsive to me and my regular ‘reminders’ to them about their action points.
THE BEST JOB I EVER HAD Nowadays if I am asked, I say it was the best job I ever had.
Why? Because I had all of the power (in these relationships with committee members) and none of the responsibility. It was also the best job I ever had because the committees got so much more work done and this benefited many, many people in need.
So if your meetings at work need a boost then consider giving someone the Executive Secretary role. In Part Two, I will look at decision making in meetings and some ground rules to keep them on track.
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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