When I'm at work: Working on a committee - Trainer's guide
Chapters
- Aim of the 'When I'm at work' series
- Introduction
- Using the resource
- Key resources
- Topic 1 - What is a committee?
- Topic 2 - Why do we have workplace committees?
- Topic 3 - How are workplace committees chosen?
- Topic 4 - What roles are there on workplace committees?
- Topic 5 - What does it mean to represent other people?
- Topic 6 - What happens during committee meetings?
- Topic 7 - Who can you talk to about getting the skills to be a committee member?
- Appendix
Topic 1 - What is a committee?
What you will need
You will need:
- this trainer's guide
- a copy of the learner's workbook printed for each learner
- computer/data projector to play the CD-ROM
- resources to help learners engage in the activity for this topic (details are provided in the notes for Slide 10)
- 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 a committee is
- what a workplace committee is
- what people on workplace committees do
- who workplace committees work for
- at least two workplace committees specific to their workplaces
- what those workplace committees do.
Delivering the topic
Show slide 1
Welcome the learners and explain that they will be learning about what it means to work on a committee.
Show slide 2
Explain to learners that the training will include:
- what a committee is
- what a workplace committee is
- what people on workplace committees do
- why we have workplace committees
- how workplace committees are chosen
- what roles there are on workplace committees
- what it means to represent other people
- what happens at workplace committee meetings
- who you can talk to about getting the skills to be a committee member.
Show slide 3
The slide shows an image of people working on a committee.
Ask learners to talk about committees they know about. These may include:
- the local football club committee
- the workplace social club committee
- the workplace quality assurance committee
- the local sporting club committee
- the workplace safety committee
- Special Olympics
- special interest groups such as asthma, cancer, parents, youth clubs, multicultural, neighbourhood.
Explain to learners that the training will focus on committees in general at first, then on workplace committees.
Show slide 4
What is a committee?
Discuss the following with learners.
A committee is a group of people who work together for others to do things that will benefit everyone.
During the training, it will be important to progressively check learners' understanding of language that relates to committee procedures, and roles and responsibilities associated with working on committees.
It is important to emphasise that a committee works as a group and that committees need to consider the interests of the broader population when they are making decisions.
Your aim for this part of the training is to help learners understand what a committee is.
Explain that during the rest of this training session, we will talk about workplace committees and what it means to work on a workplace committee.
Show slide 5
What is a workplace committee?
Discuss the following with learners.
A workplace committee is a group of people who work together for others to do things that will benefit everyone in the workplace.
Show slide 6
What do people on workplace committees do?
Discuss the following with learners.
People on committees work together for other people in the workplace, to do things that are related to the workplace. These things will benefit everyone in the workplace.
It is important to remember that people who are on a workplace committee look after what's best for everyone in the workplace when they decide about things.
Show slide 7
Focus questions
Summarise the previous discussion by asking learners the following focus questions and discussing their responses.
- Who do workplace committees work for?
- What workplace committees do we have?
- What do our workplace committees do?
Show slide 8
Listen to Bob's story.
Bob's story
Hi. My name is Bob. I am a member of the safety committee at my workplace. I look out for things that keep us safe at work. Workers tell me about things we should talk about at our safety committee meetings.
Show slide 9
Questions for discussion
Discuss these questions about Bob's story with learners. Encourage them to record their responses to the questions in their workbooks in the spaces provided.
- Why do you think Bob is on the workplace safety committee?
- How does Bob's position on the safety committee help the workplace?
- Why do you think it would be good to have Bob on the safety committee?
Show slide 10
Debrief the topic by leading learners through the following activities. Then highlight the issues that this topic has raised in relation to working on a committee and reinforce the focus questions.
After you have discussed the workbook activities 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
What committees are at your workplace?
Talk with learners about the workplace committees they know about. These may include the:
- safety committee
- workers committee
- continuous improvement committee
- planning committee
- canteen committee
- quality committee
- finance committee
- OH&S committee
- social committee
- employee advisory committee.
List the workplace committees on butcher's paper and refer to this list during the training session. Discuss with learners what each committee does and write this information beside the name of the committee. Refer to this information during the training session.
Ask learners to choose two workplace committees that they know about. For each one, ask learners to record the name of the committee and what it does, as discussed, in their workbooks.
Note: Ensure that you have the following resources available to enable learners to take part fully in the activity.
- Have photos of workplace committee members available for learners to put in their workbooks. You could use a workplace camera to take the photos yourself.
- Have a selection of appropriate clippings from newspapers or magazines available, for example, safety signs for a safety committee, a Disability Services Standards poster (download from the Internet) for a quality committee, pictures of food for a canteen committee.
- Have paper glue available for this activity.