Carlisle Council for Voluntary Service
committed to excellence in the voluntary sector
History Staff News Services & Resources Membership
Health Fact Sheets Newsletter Funding Volunteering Rural Audit
Organisational Development & Training CVS Toolkit Carlisle Hub
Effective
Meetings
Planning
and Holding Meetings
Think
about all the different kinds of meetings you have been to or heard about. These
might include:
·
a management
committee meeting
·
an Annual General
Meeting
·
a public meeting
·
a “brainstorm”
All
these different types of meetings are held for very different purposes and would
therefore be managed in different ways. This can even change the way people
speak to each other (formally or informally) or the way that meetings are
recorded (jotted notes or formal minutes).
1:
The Management Committee Meeting
Ensure
all the relevant papers (such as minutes of the last meeting, agenda for the
coming meeting) have been circulated. This is especially important when there
are complex issues to discuss. People need to have had time to read and
understand the information before making a decision based on it.
The
chair must keep control of the meeting, allowing equal participation by everyone
and avoiding a situation where one person takes over.
Having
an agenda means that you’ll cover all the issues, and means that you will
manage the time better. Although some committee members like talking for hours,
most just want to get the work done!
Taking minutes is no-ones favourite job, but a clear record of decisions
taken is vital. Before you start the meeting, the minute taker needs to be clear
about the level of detail needed - should all discussion be recorded or just the
outcomes of the discussion? Should comments be attributed to named individuals
or not? Remember minutes must be impartial and factual.
For
each item on the agenda, the minutes should include any decision reached, action
required, who will take the action and a deadline.
You
should keep a Minutes Book as a log of all meetings. Checking and agreeing
minutes at the beginning of the next meeting is therefore vital in order to
avoid later disagreements.
2:
The Public Meeting
Public
meetings are held for many reasons, usually either to inform or consult (or
both). For example:
·
ask local people what
they think about plans for a community building
·
gauging opinion on
the setting up of a new community association
You
need to think carefully about:
The Venue
Somewhere
that people know well and are
The Timing
Day
or evening, weekday or weekend.
Publicity
There
is no point in having a meeting if no-one knows about it in advance. Use local
shops, libraries, local newspapers, Post Office, community centre to put up
posters and distribute leaflets.
Where
possible, consider access issues. This may involve getting a translator or a
sign language interpreter. Ensure the venue is accessible for wheelchairs, and
consider hiring an induction loop, so people with hearing impairments aren’t
excluded.
It
may be appropriate to have an all day event with a number of mini-meetings going
on during the day. Remember that a lot of people who may want to get involved
work full-time, so you will probably have to do some meetings in the evening or
at weekends.
Take
the names and addresses of those attending. When you take notes of the main
points, make sure these are distributed to all those present.
Any
kind of meeting should have an outcome and a public meeting is no different. At
the end of the meeting, it should be made clear to everyone participating what
the next steps are.
3:
The Annual General Meeting
If
you’re worried about organising an AGM, here are a few tips to guide you.
Legal stuff
The
first step is to consult your constitution. This will help your sort out the
timing, framework and business of your AGM.
Timing
Your
constitution probably says something like
“The
organisation will hold the first AGM within 18 months of setting up and then
once in each calendar year, with no more than 15 months between AGMs.”
The
constitution should also tell you the notice period that must be given to
members of the AGM e.g. 21 days notice.
Business
The
usual business of an AGM will include:
·
A financial report
for the year (or receiving of the audited
accounts, if this is appropriate)
·
A report of the
activities in the year
·
The election of
management committee and officers (chair, secretary and treasurer)
·
Appointment of
auditors for the next year
·
Consider your legal
requirements. If you are a registered charity you must send an annual return to
the Charity Commission. If your income is over £250,000 you must send your
audited accounts to the Charity Commission within 10 months of the end of
the financial year - but its usually best to do it once they’ve been passed at
the AGM, so you know it’s out of the way.
·
If you are a company
limited by guarantee, you must send your accounts to Companies House.
If you are not sure what you are, then you really must have a look at
your constitution!
Quorum
This
is the number of voting members that have to be present to make a decision.
Again, this should be defined in your constitution. Remember that it was defined
for a reason, so to act against it (e.g. voting things through without a quorum)
is breaking your own rules. If the meeting is inquorate, there should be a
clause in your constitution to tell you what should happen in this circumstance
-
usually a postponement of the AGM.
If this happens to your organisation, you should ask yourselves what went
wrong with the planning and publicity of the AGM.
Remember your members are not just the people on your committee. The
committee should be voted from amongst your members.
Fun stuff
Some
groups just want to get the job done in order to fulfil the legal requirements.
In which case it can all be over in less that half an hour. However you could
use your AGM as an awareness raising opportunity to:
·
Get more people
involved
·
Highlight the
fantastic achievements during the year
·
Celebrate a
significant anniversary in the organisation’s history
·
Make a photo
exhibition, which is an excellent way of giving a snapshot of the work your
organisation does.
Other
Considerations
·
Consider the timing
of the meeting - what will suit your members best? Morning, lunchtime,
afternoon, evening, weekday or weekend?
·
Consider peoples
childcare arrangements, religion and culture (Friday is an important day for
Muslims and Jewish people and they may not wish to participate in meetings on
Fridays).
·
Aim to have your AGM
in an accessible venue. Get advice on induction loops to enable hearing impaired
people to hear.
For
more information on the role of the management committee as a whole, see Factsheet
3: Management Committees.
4: Further Help
Carlisle
Council For Voluntary Service
Telephone 01228 512513