Club meetings...

I agree with Dai again (blimey thats twice in a day )

Anyway, it needs to be nipped in the bud, otherwise you'll never get anything done. The chairman's role is to keep discussions limited to the agenda items and prevent people going off at tangents. Otherwise these sorts of meetings become a venue for people to show off their talking skills and endlessly discuss their pet subjects.

Sounds like you have a duffer for a chairman.

 

One of the problems is that, as with all newly formed Clubs, it hasn't {a] yet got the ability to work together because every member of the Committee are trying to find their own position and duties, with a consequential mix-up of duties, The formal side of the functions and set stages of meetings hasn't be thought or talked through thoroughly, again adding to the clash of duties, as a consequence of the former issues the human element enters with a mixture of politics and personal likes and dislikes making the situation worse..........unless it is dealt with quickly.

I would advise, Steve, that you call an meeting of the Committee, under whatever name you want to give it, to ask for a proper laid down format of stages of procedure during Committee meetings, and don't give up until you have everyone recognising the need for such things and it being put down in writing. Then you can put your ideas on the table as to how meetings should be carried out with each member of the Committee duties being defined and as to when that duty would come to the forefront in that meeting.

I can understand you being peeved about the Chairman's actions, which obviously came out of inexperience and ignorance in being in the role. But if you allow that to fester it's the recipe for losing the spirit of the Club and it just become yet another Club that is full of politics, personal bias, and petty spite.

If you can get the Chair and the Committee to understand that there are procedural stages to such meetings and that at each meeting one of the first questions to be asked is "Who's writing the Minutes" and that no meeting should be carried out without such writing of the Minutes. I can tell you one thing, it isn't going to be easy to get the Club to run properly and keep it that way as it can so easily just become a jousting field of petty politics and personalities.......get that recognised and you're on your way, Steve

 

Sorry about the length of this

Whilst i'm typing it I'm sure that you will get lots of other suggestions. :D

Dai is correct in what he says but there are normal procedures that need to be followed.

Setting up a group, no matter how informal it is, needs guidelines and that is what the Constitution is for.

Does your Constitution say how many General and Committee meetings there should be.

With General Meetings a fixed amount is set and can't be changed without a change in the Constitution. The AGM should also be during a set time of the year but Extraodinary General Meetings can be called depending on on minimum numbers (set in the Constitution) be adhered to.

Committee meetings should be the minimum as per the Constitution but the committee can meet as many times as they like. The Committee are there to run the organisation as they think right - within the Objects of the organisation which should be set in the Constitution.

The members elect the committee to do what is necessary to fulfil the Objects of the organisation and the committee should be able to do this without interference by the members.

This is where we get to your questions and problems.

You say that the committee are Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. This is not normally enough to run anything. You also need committee members - which should be specified in the Constitution. Then, the committee decide how to do what the members have said the Objects are.

There is nothing wrong, at the first committee meeting in going over the Objectives (the only purpose of the organisation). They are not for the Committee to accept - they are set in stone (unless altered at an AGM or EGM). You then decide how you are going to achieve this and which have the highest priority. Your deliberations and decisions are what should be minuted.

It appears that the second General meeting came next - much too soon in my opinion. At a General meeting you do not read out the minutes of the committee meeting. You read out the minutes of the previous General meeting. You then report on what decisions the committee have made and how you have progressed - this is why I think your General meeting was too soon. You can also ask the members to decide on things - if you want to. Members are able to comment and make suggestions but they have voted you in to do the work and do it as you see fit. The committee have been put in place to run things and must be left to do so.

The chairman reading the committee minutes was totally wrong and this is why you got nowhere. I don't think there should be a vote of no confidence. You're all new to this and will make mistakes.

The chairman is allowed to alter the order of the agenda but it must be for a good reason and he needs to state why. This is normally done to accommodate a committee member who may have to leave early or because the chairman thinks you won't get through everything and is prioritising (this can be done during the meeting).

You (the organisation) need help in organising yourselves and in learning how to follow the correct procedures. Some of this may seem a bit stuffy but the possible problems have been thrashed out so many times that the procedures can handle most of the problems. It doesn't take long to get things sorted.

The main thing is getting your Constitution sorted properly. I don't mind giving help, from a distance :D, and I'm happy to revamp your Constitution for you if you wish. I've written, and still amend, constitutions from single page ones to 100 page ones. Yours should only be one page but you need the right things.

I can send you a copy of a short Constitution that I've done, for another group, that will give you the idea of what should be there.

Committee members are there to run things and the members, at a General meeting, can make suggestions etc. If they don't like what you are doing they can vote for someone else at the next AGM but the important thing is the committee need to know how they go about doing things.

In most small organisations you don't need more than four General meetings (including the AGM). If members have suggestions they only need to speak to a committee member and that person will bring it up at the committee meeting. They have elected you to do things and should let you do it.

 

I'm completely in agreement with you, Pete!!! Bureaucracy, and the petty use of it by misguided, self important individuals can distort and smother the real purpose of a Club. My present job is to look at organisations and cut out unneeded and strangling bureaucracy, empire building, etc so I have a natural abhorrence of such. But while Clubs do need some form of organisation and formality, with only a small element of the latter, it should be done on a relaxed manner. Unfortunately, that in many cases isn't the case and people won't join clubs because of the petty politics and jostling for power. I'm a member of the local Gardening Club, which follows procedures in a very relaxed and humorous way, with everyone laughing and joking, having a cup of tea and generally enjoying themselves. Should it change for the wrong reasons I would be the first to leave.:D

 

I quite agree with you, ARMANDII . That's one of the reasons I'm asked to revamp Constitutions - in order to keep a good framework but allow the committee to do things without interference and as informally as possible.

An allotment club needs very little and as gcc says, the committee should just be able to get on and do things without any interference.

 

There is one qualification to non committee members not attending Committee meetings in that Minutes of the meeting should be published and given to all members of the Club. Which is why it is so important to nominate a member to write the Minutes of the meeting at every meeting. It should also be made plain that members of the Clubcan attend in an observing capacity should they want to.

 

Not the way I write the Constitutions. :nono:

Non-committee members can attend by invitation only. There are a number of good reasons for this which I shan't enumerate. :D

 

What I don't understand is why you want a committee in the first place with so few people on the allotment.

What is there for you to decide?

If it's for the administration of the lotties then, surely, the landowner has laid down rules. Of course, it would help him if a committee did the administration for him but you would need to make sure that you were being fair.

Or, it could be so you can get together to represent the lottie holders with the landowner if he is difficult to deal with.

Bulk purchasing is another reason for getting together but doesn't really need a committee.

not having had a lottie myself I don't know what else there is to do!