When I'm at work: Working on a committee - Trainer's guide

Chapters

Topic 6 - What happens during committee meetings?

What you will need

You will need:

this trainer's guide
copies of the sample agenda and minutes of that meeting to distribute to learners (see appendix)
computer/data projector to play the CD-ROM
whiteboard or butcher's paper to record responses
whiteboard markers or felt-tipped markers.

It is vital that everyone's viewpoints are valued and comments are allowed to be made in an open discussion. You will need to focus on issues relating to the learning objectives of the topic.

Note: Text in boxes replicates the information in the learner's workbook.

What learners will need

Learners will need:

their learner's workbook
something to write with.

Learning objectives

After taking part in this topic, learners:

should be able to describe what happens during a committee
should be able to describe the general structure of a workplace committee
should be able to describe the processes and procedures of a workplace committee meeting
will have had practice in preparing an agenda
will have had practice in taking minutes for a meeting.

Delivering the topic

Show slide 42

What happens during committee meetings?

Discuss with learners that workplace committees:

plan
gather information
meet
talk about ideas
make decisions
carry out actions.

Invite or ask a representative from your workplace safety committee or another workplace committee to discuss how they do each of the above.

Show slide 43

Talk with learners about committee meetings needing to be run properly. For this to happen, there are things that are part of every meeting. Here are some of those things.

Discuss the following with learners.

Agenda

An agenda is a list of everything that will be talked about during a committee meeting. If you want something discussed at a committee meeting, you should contact your team representative or the secretary of the committee. That person will add it to the agenda for discussion.

Show learners what an agenda of a workplace committee meeting looks like (see appendix). Learners have this agenda in their workbooks.

Discuss the following with learners.

Minutes

Minutes are notes of everything that happens during a committee meeting. The secretary of the committee usually writes these notes down. This is called taking the minutes. After each committee meeting, the minutes are sent to everyone on the committee.

Show learners what minutes of a workplace committee meeting look like (see appendix). Learners have these minutes in their workbooks.

Discuss the following with learners.

Parts of a committee meeting

For committee meetings to be run properly, they should follow an order.

The chairperson opens the meeting and welcomes everyone to the meeting.
The secretary writes down the names of everyone there. This is called taking the attendance.
The secretary writes down the names of the people who said they could not attend the meeting. This is called taking the apologies.
The chairperson asks everyone to agree that the minutes of the previous meeting of the committee are correct. This is called accepting the minutes of the previous meeting.
Sometimes, the chairperson reports on any important committee activities. This is called the chairperson's report. Other people, like the treasurer, may give reports too.
Anything from the previous minutes that needs to be discussed is called business arising from the previous meeting, and is listed on the agenda. The committee now discusses these things.
The committee now discusses any new agenda items. These items are called new business. They can include issues that workers have asked their team representatives to discuss.
After all the discussion is finished, the chairperson lets everyone know when the next meeting of the committee will be.
The chairperson then thanks people for attending. This is called closing the meeting.

Using the agenda and minutes of a workplace committee meeting distributed previously, find and discuss each of the points raised above.

With learners, and using the agenda from Evergreen Industries as a guide, prepare an agenda for the workplace Christmas party.

Use butcher's paper to record suggestions for the agenda.

Include items such as:

timing and date of the party
cost of the party
venue
how money will be collected
identifying key people to be responsible.

As items are added to the agenda, discuss these with learners to ensure that everything on the agenda is relevant and appropriate.

This activity leads into the role play at the end of this topic.

Discuss the following with learners.

Making decisions during meetings

Decisions that committees make have to be fair because they affect everyone in the workplace. That's why making decisions during committee meetings involves several steps.

The chairperson reads the agenda item to be discussed.
The committee members take turns to talk about the agenda item.
When the discussion has finished, a member of the committee suggests that the committee makes a decision about the agenda item. This is called moving a motion.
Another committee member agrees. This is called seconding the motion.
The chairperson asks each committee member if they agree with the motion. This is called voting for the motion. If they do not agree with the motion, this is called voting against the motion.

If more people vote for the motion than against the motion, the motion is carried. This means that the committee has made a decision about that agenda item.

Using the agenda and minutes of the workplace committee meeting distributed previously, find and discuss each of the points raised above.

Show slide 44

Summarise the previous discussion by asking learners the following focus questions and discussing their responses.

Focus questions

Why do you think that committees need to be run properly?
What is an agenda?
What are minutes of a meeting?
Why is it important to have an order of doing things during a meeting?
What does voting for something mean?
Do you think that the way committees make decisions is fair?

Show slide 45

Debrief the topic by leading learners through the following activites. Then highlight the issues that this topic has raised in relation to working on a committee and reinforces the focus questions.

After you have discussed the workbook activites with learners, ask learners to write their responses in their workbooks in the spaces provided. Responses can be made in any format, for example, in writing or in pictorial form. Learners are free to express themselves in whatever ways they want to.

Explain to learners that the workbooks are their own records of the information that they need in relation to working on a committee. There is no compulsion for learners to provide their own responses if it is not appropriate to do so.

Workbook activities

Develop with learners a set of meeting protocols, or meeting rules. Record these on butcher's paper. For example:

listen to others
respect other people's opinions
other than what is recorded in the minutes, keep the business of the meeting confidential
don't talk over other people – take turns in talking
speak through the chairperson.

Talk with learners about some of the things that should not be raised in meetings. For example, it is inappropriate to raise concerns about specific individuals and try to have them dealt with in a public forum. They are more properly handled through the workplace's complaints procedures. Lack of meeting protocols can:

breach the privacy of any person talked about
represent only one person's viewpoint
result in rumours being spread
compromise the complaints process that may follow.

Using the previous discussion and the role-play information in the Training and Assessing resource to help you, design and develop with learners the agenda of a newly formed workplace canteen committee. Include some items for discussion on the agenda.

Appoint learners to positions on the committee, and role-play the meeting.
Clarify the various committee roles, and review the responsibilities of those roles.
Reiterate the meeting protocols that have been established by the group, and ensure that the correct meeting procedure is followed.
Ensure that learners are supported appropriately to play their roles fully.
Include some decision making in terms of motions being moved, seconded, voted for and against, and carried (or not).
With learners, develop the minutes from the role-played meeting.

Ask learners to reflect on the experience of being in the various roles and discuss this with the group.

Ask learners what they did well.
Ask learners what they could have done better.
Ask learners what they need more practice in.

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