Meeting Issues

Yesterday I met someone from a club who held a committee meeting that went 4.5 hours… the only reason they finished was because it was midnight and people were falling asleep…but they still hadn’t finished the meeting.

Let’s get serious about this. You will never attract or retain committee members if their commitment is 4.5 hour meetings and equally time sapping tasks.

If you’re using TidyClub you’re in luck as we have allowed for these types of things with our meetings. Here is how you will solve it.

  • Print out list of outstanding tasks.
  • Ensure Meeting Agenda and outstanding tasks has been circulated before hand - so people can prepare.
  • Ensure Minute Taker is following our Meetings format where things can only be one of the following. This ensures that an action item has been achieved for each discussion point. Move on as soon as it has been described.
  1. Task Item
  2. To-Do Item
  3. General Information
  4. A Decision
  • Schedule 5 minutes for each item. If items go beyond 4x this (this should be a rare occurrence) schedule a time for another discussion outside of the meeting.
  • Delegate a time-keeper. They are responsible for ensuring that time limits are not broken. They need to be bold, brash and unforgiving of abuse of time.
  • A meeting goes for as long as it has to… do not publish an end time on a meeting.
  • Minute Taker can instantly send well formatted minutes to all participants and apologies at the conclusion of the meeting.
  • Don’t invite everyone on the committee if everyone on the committee isn’t required.

Your committee will be happier as they know why they are there, they can see the progress skip along quickly and they are more likely to attend again as they know if people are prepared they don’t get bogged down on issues.

Try it. You’ll see.

Have you hugged your tribe today?

We ran across this image today by @gapingvoid (you can buy it here) but made us think about clubs and how the interact with their tribe (community). Most clubs seem to react to their members and supporters rather than getting pro-active and seeing some hug upside.

Clubs already have a massive advantage of having the tribe based on what they do. They’re not like a business who has to work hard to build a tribe. A clubs group of like-minded people is sitting waiting for you.

So give them a hug, send them an SMS, tell them you are looking forward to seeing them, interacting with them and more.

Good things happen when communities and tribes start talking more.

Achieving things with clubs

When you and your committee set out to achieve things for the club, important work, work that is going to make a difference, it will never work out that you will find complete approval from all parties.

Trying to please everyone will end in frustration, stymieing your momentum and ultimately failing. 

The solution is to please precisely the right people, those that will get it and no more. This will give you enough to get the work out the door.

There are always those that actively discourage. Choose what to hear wisely.

Provoke Conflict?

Clubs and Associations are by their very definition a group of like minded people. Which I feel is part of the reason that people eliminate conflict wherever and whenever it appears, in meetings, on the field trip or at an event. 

Obviously there is a time and place for everything, but provoking conflict will only provoke interest and engagement, it will cause people to describe what they really think, or perhaps kickstart thinking along a different tangent. 

It is a very handy mechanism or tool in a good managers toolbox. Handling the conflict actively and professionally and is a whole other discussion. 

Next time you’re in a committee meeting, put out some verbal rope out to play with, highlight a threat or a concern and give it a gentle rub. Sure it may be a little uncomfortable, but resolving these issues in the open will make for a stronger bond. 

After all, if these things were never discussed and actioned wouldn’t that result in an even more uncomfortable position later on?