Tips from guest speaker Nancy Orr at the 2018 ARCH Annual Meeting. Topic: things you should consider when running a meeting.

-Be on time (start and finish)

  • Starting the meeting late rewards people that are not on time and penalizes those who are on time. Be sure to reward the people that made an effort to be on time.
  • Have a set end time so that the meeting is productive and doesn’t run on- and stick to it!

-Have a set meeting date

  • If you set a date for the meeting 6 months in advance, people can schedule around the meeting. This can help boost attendance.

-Have a purpose

  • Don’t just hold a meeting for the sake of it. Have a purpose and accomplish this task!

-Have an agenda

-Stay focussed on the meeting

  • Phone calls and emails can wait until after the meeting.
  • Leave personal discussion until after the meeting.

-Follow up on the meeting

  • Try to circulate the minutes within a couple days after the meeting.
  • Highlight action items and deadlines.

At a meeting, everyone has a role and everyone should have a say in what is happening. Here are some responsibilities of the participants and the president:

Participants responsibilities

  • Arrive on time and be prepared.
  • If you are responsible for a report or an agenda item, get it out to everyone before the meeting so that other participants can review it.
  • After the meeting, follow up on any tasks that you were assigned.

President responsibilities

  • Ensure there is quorum so that business can be done.
  • Keep the discussion on topic.
  • Ensure that everyone who wants to speak has the opportunity.
  • If the discussion is not going anywhere, the president can “park” the discussion and return to it later in the meeting.
  • The president must present and introduce the topic, but they should not be involved in the discussion. If they wish to partake in the discussion, they must give their seat to the vice-president while they do so. They do not make motions or vote. The president can only vote to break a tie.

Agenda: an agenda is an outline of what has to be done at the meeting. Here is an example of what your agenda could look like:

  1. Welcome and Call to order
  2. Roll call
  3. Review of Minutes of the last meeting
  4. Business arising from the Minutes
  5. Reports
  6. Unfinished Business
  7. New Business
  8. Adjournment

Motions

Motions are made to make meetings easier and run smoother. A meeting is just a series of motions. They are used to get a topic discussed and recorded. They are important because all members can have their say and they force everyone to come to a decision. Usually, there will be a discussion about a suggestion, then it will be moved and seconded. The discussion will be continued, then a vote will take place. Then, the motion is either passed or defeated.

This will be my last blog post of the summer. I hope that the information I have shared over the past 6 weeks has helped your hall. If you ever have any question, you can email peihalls@gmail.com.