Committee management
Contents
1. Why have Committees?
2. What is an effective Committee?
3. What is an ineffective Committee?
4. What does a Committee Secretary do?
5. Where should a Secretary start?
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5.1 Get familiar with your Terms of Reference |
6. Business for meetings: the Agenda
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6.1 Meetings with the Chair |
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7.1 Note taking |
8. Record of the meeting: the Minutes
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8.1 Official record |
9. Follow up from the meeting: the action
| 9.1 Recommending to other bodies 9.2 Annual Report 9.3 Follow up from meetings |
1.1 Committees are a key part of the decision making process in a democratic institution. However, Committees have an associated time and cost and should therefore only be established if it can be demonstrated that they add value to the decision making process. Well run Committees with a clear remit afford the opportunity for key decisions to be made by a group of informed individuals and for decisions to be owned by the institutional community.
2. What is an effective Committee?
2.1 An effective Committee has an appropriate membership for its terms of reference, a well briefed Chair, considers items of substantive business and has authority to make informed decisions in a timely manner.
3. What is an ineffective Committee?
3.1 An ineffective Committee has inappropriate or disengaged members, ill informed members who have not received or read the papers, has late circulations or tabled papers, a poorly briefed Chair, deals with unnecessary items of business and does not make timely decisions.
4. What does a Committee Secretary do?
4.1 The Committee Secretary is not just the person who turns up to the meeting as a scribe or note taker. The Committee Secretary is the key individual for managing the work of the Committee and, although the Chair of the Committee has the overall responsibility for the business transacted, the Secretary has a central role in the effective organisation of the Committee.
4.2 A Committee Secretary ensures that:
(a) the business of the Committee is enacted in a timely manner;
(b) the Chair is properly briefed on items to be considered at the meeting;
(c) the decisions of the meeting are recorded accurately;
(d) follow up action to the meeting is undertaken.
5. Where should a Secretary start?
There are a few basic building blocks:
5.1 Get familiar with your Terms of Reference
Make sure that you are familiar with the Terms of Reference so that you know what your Committee is responsible for and to whom. Don't get caught out at a meeting when the Committee looks to the Secretary for guidance. Know what your Committee is there for! Your Committee may be acting under delegated authority for some of its business.
Some Committees have other Committees feeding into them either through reports or by making recommendations. Get familiar with the Terms of Reference of those Committees too so that you can advise the Secretaries of those Committees of the business that you require and by when.
5.2 Draw up a calendar of business
This is essential to ensure the flow of business. A good starting point is to use the Terms of Reference and work out all the things that the Committee in the course of a year needs to do. Some items may be for the Committee Secretary to enact, some items may require input from others. Firstly, work out when certain things need to happen. For example, does your Committee need to report to a parent Committee at the end of the Autumn Term? If so, then appropriate items of business need to be considered at the Autumn Term meeting of your Committee so that recommendations or a report can be made to the parent Committee. If items of business require a report from someone else don't rely on the fact that the other person will automatically do it. As Secretary, you need to commission your reports from appropriate people each year and set deadlines by when the report should be received.
5.3 Establish a good working relationship with your Chair
The relationship between the Chair and the Secretary of a Committee is a key element in the effectiveness of a Committee. Try and make sure that you as Secretary and your Chair work well together. Make sure that your Chair is briefed and promptly follow up action your Chair has asked you to do. If you say you are going to do something, do it! Establish the ground rules with your Chair on how they wish the Committee to be managed so that you both know what the rules are. For example, if the Chair sets a cut off point for papers to be circulated, stick to it!
If a member is ex officio they will not have any length of tenure. If they are not ex officio they will be appointed for a fixed period of time. Make sure that you know who appoints your members and ensure that they are replaced at the appropriate time.
Once you have established your membership, draw up a list of those additional individuals who are not members of the Committee but may attend the meeting. Once you have got this list, this will determine how many sets of papers need to be produced. You should publish your Agenda and papers on Sussex Direct so that others who are not attending the meeting can access the Committee information. If you have someone to assist you in the copying and distribution of papers, make sure that any address labels for distribution match your distribution list. No changes should be made to this list without the authority of the Secretary.
6. Business for meetings: the Agenda
Plan ahead. Chairs are busy people and often cannot see you at short notice. For most Committees, the timetable of meetings is set out a year in advance. So make sure that your meetings with your Chair are also in the diary a year in advance. Generally you should arrange two meetings, one about a month in advance of the meeting to set the Agenda and the second meeting on the day before the Committee to brief the Chair.
This is where your calendar of business comes in. The calendar of business will have the standing items to be considered each term. In addition there may be matters arising from previous meetings or new substantial items of business. The Agenda is agreed with the Chair at your first meeting. If there are any items that come in after you have agreed your Agenda, make sure that your Chair is willing to put them on the Agenda. Organise your Agenda into five sections.
(a) The first section is the standard business section of apologies, Minutes of last meeting, matters arising etc.
(b) The second section is for the substantive business of the Committee where you want the Committee to consider items and make decisions.
(c) The third section is for items where the Committee is being asked to approve something but where discussion is not needed. The Agenda should indicate that members of the Committee can request that items in this section (and those following) be discussed at the meeting. Otherwise this section should not be discussed and the items approved by default.
(d) The fourth section is solely for items of information.
(e) The fifth and final section is for Any Other Business - check with your Terms of Reference on how Any Other Business items are to be managed. For example, some Committees do not permit items of Any Other Business unless advance notice is given.
Each paper that is presented to a Committee should have a cover template attached. The purpose of the cover template is to provide a summary of the item for consideration by a Committee so that members of a Committee can quickly see what the item is about and what action the Committee is being asked to undertake.
In general there are five main actions which should be included on the cover template:
1. <Name of the Committee> is asked to APPROVE...
This should be used when the Committee has authority to make decisions under its Terms of Reference.
2. <Name of the Committee> is asked to RECOMMEND...
This should be used when the Committee does not have authority to make decisions and must make a recommendation to its parent Committee.
3. <Name of the Committee> is asked to CONSIDER...
This should be used when the Committee is being asked to have a discussion on a paper but not necessarily to agree or recommend an action.
4. <Name of the Committee> is asked to NOTE...
This should be used when the Committee is being asked to note a paper which is not for consideration or for action.
5. <Name of Committee> is asked to RECEIVE...
This should be used when the Committee is being asked to receive an oral report, or a written report where there are other actions following. i.e. The Committee is asked to RECEIVE the report and a) NOTE the information, b) CONSIDER the recommendation etc.
Papers arrive from a variety of sources and in various states. Do not be afraid to challenge what is written. If you do not think that something is factually correct go back to the author and ask for clarification. If you don't follow what is written the chances are that the Committee will not follow it either. Papers are often written in a hurry and may not be properly proof read or are not in compliance with University procedures etc. Read them carefully!
Papers frequently arrive late which is often very frustrating. Because of pressure of time, you may be forced to circulate papers without reading them first. If you spot something wrong post circulation, make a judgement call on whether to circulate a new corrected version or simply report the changes to the meeting. You can make this decision as Secretary and do not need to bother the Chair.
No papers should be circulated to the Committee other than by the Secretary from any other source. The decision of the Chair, in consultation with the Secretary, on whether a paper is to be circulated is final.
Set realistic deadlines for the receipt of papers - you will need to read them and absorb them before you can brief your Chair. Try and set the deadline for papers before the Agenda setting meeting if you can - inevitably the Chair will ask what the paper is about if it is going on the Agenda. At that stage the Chair might ask for additional information to be included so it is professional to have knowledge of the business. A good Secretary will deal with and resolve problems before the Committee meeting which will save the time of the Committee at the meeting.
You should arrange a meeting with the Chair to brief your Chair on items of business. The best time to have this is the day before the meeting. Any earlier and it is unlikely that you will be able to produce the annotated Agenda in time. Any later and you will have difficulty in following up any action required or points of clarification by your Chair prior to the meeting.
The annotated Agenda should provide clear guidance to the Chair. If there is background to the item, set out the factual information in short phrases which the Chair can read and pass on to the Committee. Make sure that for each item you record what the Committee is being asked to do.
Papers for Committee papers must be circulated in time for members to read and absorb them, so in general papers should be despatched a week in advance of the meeting. It is unprofessional to circulate papers just before the meeting or to table substantive papers requiring important decisions. Just because you have finally written that last paper don't assume that others will have time to read it - members of Committees lead busy lives and you can't expect the Committee to drop other things just to read your paper! In addition, as Secretary, late papers can be stressful if you are not involved in the key business of the paper as you may not have time to absorb the content or provide a professional briefing to the Chair. Set the ground rules with your Chair on late circulations.
When taking the notes of the meeting, record the initials of the person making a comment. In case you don't follow the discussion or you need to clarify a point afterwards it is helpful to have a reminder of who said what so you can go directly to the person for clarification. Don't be afraid to approach others for their advice if you are stuck on composing a Minute.
The Chair will be busy during the meeting keeping the meeting in order. Sometimes items are taken out of sequence on the Agenda. It is the role of the Secretary to ensure that the meeting is kept on track and to ensure that all items are discussed. Advise the Chair if they have overlooked any items!
Some items on the Agenda may require specialist input from officers who have expertise on the item. It is helpful to invite them to the meeting to speak to the item and advise the Committee. When you are drawing up your Agenda, agree with the Chair if there are to be any attendees and, if so, check their diaries quickly to ensure that they are able to attend!
8. Record of the meeting: the Minutes
The Minutes of the meeting are the official record of the University's business. They should be short and to the point and clearly record the decision of the Committee. Minutes are not intended to be a verbatim record of the discussion but it is helpful to record a flavour of the discussion so that the reader can understand the reasoning behind the decision.
Ensure that the Minute heading has the same title as the Agenda heading so that the Agenda and Minutes can be cross referenced. This is helpful when you come back to the Minutes later. If there is an item on the Agenda which is withdrawn or not dealt with (e.g. due to the absence of a paper), there should be a corresponding Minute to state the outcome. This is helpful as the absence of such a Minute could indicate that the Secretary simply forgot to include a Minute and it will save time in trying to find out what happened!
It is helpful to have a standard format for setting out Minutes which can be divided into four subsets:
(a) set out the paper number which the Committee received;
(b) provide short background information (if necessary);
(c) record the key points of the discussion;
(d) set out the decision of the Committee (e.g. note, approve, recommend).
A useful tip (and one that is often forgotten) is to include the date from which any decision is effective.
The Chair (and only the Chair) is responsible for approving the Minutes - don't distribute them until this happens.
8.5 When should the Minutes be published?
The first draft of the Minutes should be completed within a week of the meeting and should be sent to the Chair for approval. It is important that Minutes are written in a timely fashion so that, from a Secretary's position, the salient points of the meeting are fresh in the memory and are incorporated in the record of the meeting. Timely production of the Minutes which have been signed off by the Chair as an accurate record (though it is the Committee at its next meeting that formally approves the Minutes) also enables the Secretary to communicate the appropriate action to be taken following the meeting.
9. Follow up from the meeting: the action
Just as important as the meeting itself is the action that is taken following the meeting. There is no point in the Committee making important decisions if you don't tell anyone about them or omit to ask colleagues to take appropriate action!
Action can take three forms:
9.1 Recommending to other bodies
Your Committee may need to make recommendations to other bodies. You will need to write your report in the style that is required for the other body. Generally, replication of the Minute is not the best way to proceed and it is better to write a bespoke report with clear recommendations.
More often than not, your Committee will be required to write an annual report to another body (usually the parent Committee). Make sure that you know which body requires the report and when it is required (link back to the calendar of business). You don't need to wait until the end of the year before starting your report. You can compile it after each meeting and build it up over the year.
Effective targeted communication after meetings is very important. Don't assume that everyone will be anxious to read your Minutes. They won't be. So, unless you write directly to individuals, the decisions that you need to disseminate will be lost. You will need to compose a memo or email addressed to the person that (a) needs to take action or (b) is being informed about a decision that has been made. Copy the memo to others who may be affected/interested. It is fine to set out an extract from the Minutes but you also need to set out who is to take what action. This should be done as soon as possible after the Chair has approved the Minutes.
To keep track of those actions agreed during meetings, it is useful to record them in the matters arising log. This log can then be used by the Chair to refer to at the start of each meeting under matters arising and is a useful summary of progress of agreed actions.